The Immortality of the Soul

How does an atheist and skeptic deal with the idea of the immortality of the soul? That should be a major stopper right there. Again, semantics comes to the rescue. It all depends on what you actually mean by the words used. The biggest problem word is 'soul'. Most people really don't have a solid meaning for this word. They mostly have a handwaving description vaguely referring to some paranormal, non-physical material that the soul is made up of, and some of it's properties/characteristics. This is the real problem; no one really knows what the word means.

Well, I know what it means. At least according to my observations and some rational thought. The soul is what makes me 'me'. It is all of my experiences, combined with my genetic pre-dispositions. I can hear it all already: "How can that survive? How is that immortal?" I am not alone in the world. The universe has a me shaped imprint on it, and all of the people I interact with are affected to some degree by this imprint. Because of my interactions with people and things, this imprint becomes established and actually self-sustaining. Even if I am not around, the people I have interacted with still retain some part of my imprint. And since they have been affected by this interaction, they then pass along this effect to other people they interact with. This continues on and on into infinity. You can almost consider it a mirror image of yourself, reflected out through the universe, with your skin forming the interface between image and object.

Another argument that is sure to raise its ugly head is the fact that your consciousness no longer exists after you die. This question is a symptom of the delusion called the ego. More and more research is showing that the ego, and consciousness for that matter, is an illusion created by the brain to aid it in trying to map the universe and plan its route through it. If so, then how can we sensibly talk about the survival of an illusion. Surely, the parts of us that actually are real and matter in any sense is our interactions with the world around us. This is where the metaphorical rubber meets the existential road. If this is the reality of who and what we are, then the argument that we live on in the people we've touched is no longer just metaphorical fluff, but actually the TRUTH (yes I just yelled that out).

This is why I believe in the immortality of the soul. Because of the fact that everything that really makes me who I am is constantly being reflected out into the world around me. Granted, it is a diffuse, spread out reflection, but I am there none the less. Like so many things theological or philosophical, it really comes down to semantics. What do you really mean by the words you are using? That will decide everything else.