Without a soul, the concept of reincarnation doesn’t exist. Else we are just talking about energy transfer, which absolutely happens after cellular death. Your physical matter is absorbed and becomes part of other organisms.
Perspectivist@feddit.uk 1 day ago
Even if you were a human your memories would still be in your previous brain. I see no reason to assume you’d remember anything from your previous life unless you believe there’s a “soul” that carries your memories rather than your brain.
viking@infosec.pub 22 hours ago
PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 23 hours ago
I assume that belief in reincarnation requires belief in something like a soul to be reincarnated
Perspectivist@feddit.uk 17 hours ago
In the traditional sense yeah but it could also be linked to the idea of the multiverse or quantum immortality. Or maybe our physical brain only acts as some kind of a receiver that tunes onto some greater consciousness.
PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 17 hours ago
I would call all of those “something like a soul”; an embodiment of your essence external to your physical body.
If it’s not an embodiment of your essence external to your physical body, then it’s difficult to really call it reincarnation, since it’s not you
Perspectivist@feddit.uk 16 hours ago
I see it simply as a continuation of experience after this current biological vehicle dies. I think that the idea of a “soul” - in the sense of there being a center to consciousness where “you” are located - is an illusion anyway, so the notion of that moving into another body isn’t something I’m concerned about.
Of course, it’s an abstract term, and people use it to mean different things, so in that sense, I suppose the transfer of your “soul” is necessary too. I just don’t agree with what most people mean by that term. Even now, the people who do believe in reincarnation assume they’ve already had past lives they can’t remember. So if “you” aren’t your physical body or your memories, then what actually remains? I’d say it’s the bare fact of experience - consciousness itself. The feeling of being.