Where does the soul reside?

Quote: Nareed

This is all true. And the proof that it is a a function of the brain is simple. Brain damage can change it. Not all instances of brain damage and not in every case, but the cases where this happens are well documented. If the damage is severe enough, as in cases of comma or ischemia so severe parts of the brain die, the soul is shut down along with the brain.

I think the key word in regards to your argument here is damage. If the brain is damaged then again the vessel of the soul is damaged in how it can express itself. After a stroke the person who all the sudden curses like a sailor is not the behavior of the sweet grandma. The soul of grandma is still there but can no longer be expressed like it used to be able to when the body and brain were undamaged.

Quote: FrGamble

I think the key word in regards to your argument here is damage. If the brain is damaged.

It's meaningless for the soul. It has
no location in the body, how could
it. The soul is non physical, you can't
find it by physical means. It's not
your personality, that's a fleeting
thing you develop to cope with daily
life. The soul is something every
living thing has, but humans are aware
of theirs, and this has caused more
problems than can be imagined.

Quote: Evenbob

It's meaningless for the soul. It has
no location in the body, how could
it. The soul is non physical, you can't
find it by physical means. It's not
your personality, that's a fleeting
thing you develop to cope with daily
life. The soul is something every
living thing has, but humans are aware
of theirs, and this has caused more
problems than can be imagined.

Given some of your earlier posts regarding reincarnation EB do you believe that the soul of a dead person relocates to a new person? Were does it reside if a new body isn't instantly available while it's waiting?

Where is the soul in the case of somebody who is brain dead and kept "alive" by machines?

I would say that the soul is still present in the body.

Quote: Wizard

Where is the soul in the case of somebody who is brain dead and kept "alive" by machines?

Gone :(

Quote: kenarman

Given some of your earlier posts regarding reincarnation EB do you believe that the soul of a dead person relocates to a new person? Were does it reside if a new body isn't instantly available while it's waiting?

Dunno. Some of the kids who had past
memories report various things. Some
said they just hung out near where they
died, in a timeless place, till they were
born again. Others reported nothing at
all, they just remember dying and all of
a sudden they're born again. It's vague because
it's not a focused place like this is. You don't
have a physical brain, so it's not like what
we experience here. The time varies, some
don't come back for years and years and have
no idea where they were in the interim.

Quote: FrGamble

I would say that the soul is still present in the body.

Where else would it go. Your soul is with you
as long as the body is alive. Mormons believe
our souls go to heaven for eternity and live
with all the members of the family we had on
earth. They believe in baptising family who
are long dead. Can you imagine, your family,
most of whom you avoided on earth, you're
now stuck with forever? We love to invent fairy
tales about what happens after we die.

Quote: Evenbob

We love to invent fairy
tales about what happens after we die.

</irony>

So some believe a dual brain transplant wouldn't result in the complete transfer of the person's identity to a the new body.

John is Jay, and Jay is John. And that's all it would be.

Your brain is your soul, if you have one at all.