Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Real body swap

I just heard a story about a guy becoming an insect. Suppose a soul is an indivisible and indestructable nonphysical item, like a magic atom, that brings life and continuity to human body. If that were true, to make a body swap happen, you just swap souls. But, a soul is only a concept. A good body swap would require a central nervous system swap. There isn't enough room in an insect for the central nervous system of a human, so it wouldn't really work. The idea that life is continuous (as a soul is) even to an individual is a perception maintained by the brain's machinery. We keep track of our selves both in a moment and over time. The one place a soul really does exist is in the logical framework of a mind. (Imaginary.) Even people with no religious beliefs keep track of others and themselves with something like a soul concept.

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