Do you guys seriously believe in reincarnation????

A thread begins on an anonymous message board about “life after death” and “reincarnation,” one of humanity’s most fundamental questions. Unusually for this type of discussion, there’s a variety of perspectives rather than emotional conflict.

I believe it exists

From the thread starter’s brief statement, various opinions about reincarnation are posted one after another.

• [2]It doesn’t exist
• [3]I can’t get through life without believing it exists
• [4]Even if it exists, without continuity it’s the same as not existing
• [5]As long as there are people who say they “believe” in something at that level, I think they’re a cancer to society
• [6]It doesn’t exist. Consciousness just cuts out like when power is unplugged. The human body ultimately operates through science
• [8]Something other than consciousness might be continuous
• [9]Most things in the world are like that
• [10]If memories aren’t inherited, can we say we’re reincarnated? If they are inherited, then reincarnated into another world? Nobody in this world inherits memories. Is this world the first stage?

• [11]Looking at social animals, I think there is an intention that manages the whole
• [12]I’ve come to think that acting like science explains everything might be arrogant
• [13]The soul is shattered and mixed with other souls before rebirth. Reincarnation exists, but not with the same mind intact
• [14]It’s a mystery, but don’t you feel like some people are on their nth life?
• [15]The number of living things in the world increases and decreases, so how does reincarnation work? Are they constantly being born anew, ignoring reincarnation, or forever waiting in line?

• [16]If reincarnation or whatever really exists, I wish they’d clearly tell us beforehand. Like memories of past lives or notifications from higher beings who oversee it

As the discussion deepens, philosophical perspectives and Buddhist concepts of reincarnation begin to emerge.

• [17]The individual is part of the whole. The whole is orderly and radiant. They say everyone who’s reached enlightenment says this
• [18]In the end, it’s not “I think it exists” but “I want it to exist,” right? It’s the same kind of faith as wishing good deeds will be rewarded and evil deeds punished
• [19]Using living things as an example, the body is a bucket and the soul is sand filled in the bucket. When you die, the sand is emptied from the bucket back into the sandbox and mixed. In reincarnation, sand from the sandbox fills a new bucket. So it’s just about the increase or decrease of sand in the sandbox, right?
• [20]That science doesn’t fully understand everything either
• [21]This world = Earth? Maybe not
• [22]If souls existed, they wouldn’t be affected by gravity, so they’d probably be scattered throughout the universe
• [23]Maybe there are complications in telling us beforehand

The topic suddenly shifts to the Tibetan Buddhist system of reincarnation.

• [24]If reincarnation doesn’t exist, what are Tibetan Lamas?
• [25]Once brain waves stop, consciousness disappears. The body is cremated, so what cycles?
• [26]People who talk about reincarnation or ghosts really like coming up with “far-fetched settings to make things consistent based on the premise that they exist”

The discussion expands into the context of society and evolution.

• [27]That’s right. If reincarnation doesn’t exist, then strategies of taking resources from others should become commonplace, but there are plenty of individuals who don’t adopt that strategy
• [28]At least reincarnation doesn’t happen just among humans. Earth’s population keeps increasing. Maybe there’s a circulation of soul-like elements among all living things
• [29]Soul

From here, the discussion takes an epistemological and scientific-philosophical turn. Classical questions about proving existence and observability appear.

• [30]If you can’t prove its existence, it’s equivalent to not existing, right?
• [31]We’re just treating it as non-existent because it can’t be observed
• [32]See, if it can’t be observed, then it can’t be real
• [33]Both “I wish it existed” and “I don’t think it exists” are present
• [34]Consciousness exists but can’t be observed either. But you admit that exists, right?
• [36]We realize and perceive consciousness, right? Equating it with the soul is a stretch
• [37]You can’t objectively demonstrate your perceptions or realizations in a way that has objectivity and reproducibility. It’s the same thing
• [38]I think it objectively doesn’t exist, but emotionally I live believing it does. Otherwise, some things just don’t add up

The discussion begins to focus on the definition of “soul.”

• [39]Are you discussing with the definition of soul being vague? If you connect soul with conscious existence, then being aware of your own consciousness = soul exists. But whether it remains after death is a separate issue
• [40]Right? So my point was just extending that discussion to life and death
• [41]There’s a world of difference between existence not contradicting facts and existence being reasonable
• [42]Do you know about quantum brain theory?

Finally, a new approach to the concept of reincarnation is presented from an evolutionary biology perspective.

• [43]Considering biological evolution, apart from individual competition, there’s the proposition of species preservation. If you thought there was nothing to gain from sacrificing yourself, you wouldn’t take any self-sacrificial actions, which would ultimately affect species survival. If we find value in self-sacrificial spirit, the emergence of reincarnation-like values is somewhat inevitable and might be instinctively embedded. Looking at it that way, such values are merely concepts, so objectively they don’t exist lol
• [44]If there is a previous life but no memory of it, then it’s not reincarnation, it’s a different personality

As it gets late, the discussion reaches the fundamental theme of scientific philosophy: the relationship between existence and observation.

• [45]The arrogance of modern people seems to be deciding that something “”””””””unobservable”””””””” through science doesn’t exist
• [46]Goodnight everyone
• [47]They haven’t decided. It’s just that there’s no reasonable basis for its existence at this point
• [48]So if you get amnesia, you become a different personality? I don’t think that’s right
• [49]Yes, that’s right
• [50]What happens when the original memories return but the memories from during the amnesia also remain?
• [51]You’re the original personality with memories of having amnesia