Reincarnation

Interesting because it is an anecdote from a christian couple
tells how they gradually come to the conclusion after their toddler starts recounting uncanny facts about WW2

comes in 4 parts, each at about 2-4 minutes

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

(watch the spontaneous logical fallacy escape from the lips of the accredited skeptic)

Given this (and many more similar reportings) how come reincarnation wouldn't make sense to someone?

 

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There are several videos floating around about childhood memories of past lives. The best book on the subject is 'Life before Life' by Dr. Jim Tucker:

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Before-Scientific-Investigation-Childrens/dp/0312321376

"Is reincarnation possible? Tucker's book full of real-life evidence and an explanation of how quantum physics allows for it makes one think the better question may be Is it impossible? Basing his argument on a study of more than 40 years' duration into the lives, present and past, of more than 2,500 children, psychiatrist Tucker makes a pretty solid case in favor of reincarnation. He opens with the story of William, born five years after his policeman grandfather, John, was killed, with birth defects similar to John's fatal wounds. William was able, at three, to report John's last moments, of which he couldn't possibly have had any knowledge. Then there is the Turkish child who insisted on being called by the name of a man who had lived 50 miles away. Taken to the man's town, the child proceeded to the man's home and identified the man's parents in a roomful of people. All the stories were checked by scientist-interviewers, and all potential deception was eliminated; hence, Tucker introduces powerful grounds for credulous speculation."

 

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Lightgigantic - What's your point?

 

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Often reincarnation is described as an aspect of some eastern doctrine (ie relegating it to a cultural aspect)

That doesn't appear to be the case ....

 

Perhaps asking the question "How come reincarnation or rebirth don't make sense to you?" would give an interesting and revealing spin on the matter.

 

sounds good - assuming you don't mind, I will slip it in

 

Go right ahead.

 

Looking back at my own experience, I would say:

1. Because one just isn't used to think in terms of reincarnation/rebirth.

2. Because to think in terms of reincarnation/rebirth would be "Eastern bullshit".

3. Because one thinks of oneself as a "unique and special person", and thinking in terms of reincarnation/rebirth would challenge this notion of what it means to be a "person" too much.

4. Because one's system of ethics or morality is built on different principles than the principles that would arise from reasoning in terms of reincarnation/rebirth.
Ie., in a one-life scheme, the reasons for behaving ethically/morally revolve around "being a good person". In a many-lives scheme, the reasons for behaving ethically/morally revolve around getting a favorable rebirth and not causing harm to anyone.

 

Could rebirth in buddhism be the equivalent of 'forgiveness and atonement' in Christianity?

A clue that humans should forgive themselves for the wrongs they have done in order to 'move on' with their lives?

 

I think the notion of reincarnation means that life moves you on regardless. Coming to the right mental state (which would include issues of forgiveness) contributes more to getting free from the cycle of repeated birth and death

 

Everyone has RAM and ROM in their brains. The ROM is what gets us started at birth, the programmed responses which allow us to breathe, etc without even knowing what we are doing. They come from our genetic line. RAM is our thinking self which we develop.

It might be argued that somehow genetic memory could come from our parents and be incorporated in us, as eye and hair colour, etc are but it would have to be in the exact right place to be accessed by our thinking processes.

I know in certain religions, people start from the bottom (insect or whatever) and work their way upto human, and then becoming ever better humans over various reincarnations. This would suggest a god at work in the matter though I can't see that being realistic.

I know false memory syndrome, the ability of the brain to literally rewrite our past, etc can account for most incidents of so-called reincarnation.

 

So, does it exist or not?
When are we gonna get any more good information on rebirth?

 

i think it probably exists on some level - iquestion some of the "memory evidence" but i do not see why scientists would cheat to make people believe in re-birth.

i do not, however think that it is some metaphysical force deciding whether you become an ant or a human based on your actions.

 

Holy Crap. I don't believe in this stuff, but I'm going to have to rethink my position. Dang, thanks lightgigantic.
Very skeptical, but I'm not closed minded, so....

 

stuff ike this has been around for quite a while, its a shame scientists haven't come out with detailed evidence on a more public scale - the only when for the general body of the population to hear about this stuff is through tv programs - which obviously arouses certain suspicions.

 

There appeared to be no proof that the claims the parents made were true, it is just their word. And even accepting them as true, there was, conspicuously, no scientific testing of their proposed explanation. I did skip about 4 minutes total (I could only take too much of that slow paced bull****), so I might've missed it, but I'm guessing I didn't.

This was just a few coincidences. The mothers line of thought seemed to be:
boy talks about airplane, and a few airplane terms, when he only watched teletubbies ---> he must be recalling them from a past life!

I find this to be a load of crap. But I shouldn't be rude, because Plato believed in reincarnation for pretty much the same reasons.

I am personally open to the idea of reincarnation, though not remembering things from a past life. I remember someone saying in past discussions that people who remember past lives seem to only remember having interesting lives. No one seems to be reincarnated after being a boring accountant. :shrug:

 

My point ^ was that there is nothing to show for. There is no proof. Without proof, we are left "proofless" entirely. The concept might make entire sense, but when you think about ... it you start to say "how the hell does this exist?" And you get down to, eventually, "it can't exist. There is no proof. There is no evidence. There is nothing to show for."

Although, I haven't read those links

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Do they show "ANYTHING"?

 

you can try reading this

being an accountant is probably one up on being an indian village housewife

 

If we are all reincarnate, with or without memory of past lives, then is it unreasonable to assume heaven does not exist or maybe heaven is overcrowded and a few souls spill out now and then? Also, whose past lives did the first humans possess?

 

Because how can something which doesn't make any sense, make sense?:shrug: