The Soul - A Thought Experiment

Just hang with me for a moment:One thing that seems to be consistent in most Christian religions is that it is possible for a person to die and yet somehow continue. This continuation may be in some other place (heaven, hell, or purgatory) or at some other time (i.e. a resurrection or recreation at a later date). This continuation implies that whatever happens, YOU (as in the person that sits behind your eyes and thinks) will either continue or be brought back as though you were waking up from a deep sleep.So let’s pretend that you die, and God at a later date decides that you should be brought back. It has been quite some time so everything that was you physically has long since disintegrated. God recreates you. He recreates your exact body, exact brain (down to the last neuronal connection), and exact memories. (By the way, if the whole God thing bothers you too much, just pretend an advanced alien race recreates you this exact way, or that the Enterprise finds your pattern and recreates you on the transporter pad.) From your perspective, the last thing you remember is the bus barreling down upon you and then POOF, you are sitting somewhere at a later time.So here is the kicker: Is the you that is recreated the same YOU that got hit by the bus? The simple fact is, if we assume God (or Scotty) can make an exact copy of you at some later date, what happens if He (or he) makes a copy right now? That copy would certainly think that it was you, but YOU would know that it was just a copy.This is similar to the thought: What if you didn’t really wake up this morning, but instead were created at 8AM with all of your memories (down to going to sleep the night before), how would you know the difference?Is there something that makes us, US? Or would an exact copy of you, BE you? Is the problem that there could never be an exact copy (quantum physics and all)? Finally, is the concept of a soul really just a primitive people trying to deal with the fact that they seemed to go to sleep and “die” every night (as in lose consciousness) and yet they woke up every morning not being able to remember what happened in between?I would prefer that this be in a Science forum. Perhaps Human Origins.P.S. Please direct all religious debates about the soul to the Faith and Belief forum on the subject (http://EvC Forum: What is a soul? -->EvC Forum: What is a soul?).

Hey Ender,I don't see that your topic is all that different than the "What is a soul" thread.I'm not inclined to promote this topic since that one is still open.I suggest you join that thread and see where it goes.