89
Atheists/agnostics of Lemmy, do you believe in the existence of souls? (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
164 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

If you do, then what exactly defines a soul in your view?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] 6 points 3 years ago (1 child)

This conversation reminds me of the book, Fall, by Neil Stephenson. In it, the main character dies but his essence is captured in software. It raises a ton of interesting questions about that process, including how would a software version of the brain function without the other organs, blood flowing through it, etc. In my head canon, it couldn't. I.e., we are the sum of all of our parts.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [โ€“] 4 points 3 years ago

    Well the thing is, it would change without those inputs. It would have to adapt to new inputs.

    One would imagine that any successful replication of a human mind in technological form would also need to replicate those inputs - at least at first, until the pure mind itself could be weaned off them - if that's even possible. They are, after all, just another series of electrical signals, but they are also integral to a sense of self.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent