Michael Shermer's "Instant Refutation of Reincarnation"

[Finn McR]

Let's try an exercise:

Take a deep breath, let half out and repeat these two statements in your head:
Michael Shermer was wrong in this statement;
Reincarnation is in no way demonstrated by evidence.

See, not even as hard as thinking two *actually* contradictory statements at one time.

 

[mrgrouch]

in some religions you can also reincarnate as plant, they are also new souls created all the time and every soul's goal is to reach the place where they will have to reincarnate no more.

i don't believe in it at all... all i'm saying is that the proposed argument doesn't disprove every reincarnation belief.

cheers

 

[Bikewer]

Far and away the silliest notion about reincarnation I ever read was by a "neo-pagan" fellow who postulated that "lower classes" of humans (he didn't actually mention race...) were recently-reincarnated gorillas and other great apes....
Hadn't learned to be proper humans yet...

The fact that at the time there were perhaps but a few hundred gorillas alive didn't seem to enter his calculations.

 

[carlitos]

Don't forget animals!

Heaven is full of cockroaches.

 

[Scott Haley]

Some traditions teach that bad people reincarnate as animals. I suggest that with more people in the world, and a lot of wildlife habitat destroyed, theyve had to relax their standards about who gets to come back as human. That explains some of the people around these days.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

Just goes to show that even intelligent rational people can sometimes make stupid comments.

Or vice versa ..

 

[Earthborn]

In fact, most reincarnation opponents use the exact opposite of Shermer's logic; i.e., how can there be more people alive today than were alive at any given past time?

True. That argument is the basis for this comic. Can you spot the flaw in its reasoning?

While it is true that animals such as sheep are dying at a faster rate than ever, they are also made to reproduce faster than ever, and just as humans there are more of them today than ever before. There should therefore be also a shortage of sheep souls.

There are several possible answers to this -- the most simple of which is that there are other inhabited planets in the universe or other dimensions of existence.

I think a simpler answer would be that souls are not singular monolithic things, but can merge or split in two whenever necessary.

 

[Ron_Tomkins]

I thought reincarnation included all types of animals, not just humans.

Depends on the religion.

Bingo.

And thus, the crux of it all: It all depends on the Religion, and ultimately on the person. Each individual will shape their mind around the question differently, to better fit their pet beliefs in a way that sounds consistent to them.

 

[dasmiller]

True. That argument is the basis for this comic. Can you spot the flaw in its reasoning?

I'm a little concerned that you felt the need to explain the logical fallacy of a cartoon that claims that people are watching more TV because they're reincarnated sheep.

 

[Joey McGee]

I think a simpler answer would be that souls are not singular monolithic things, but can merge or split in two whenever necessary.

And they use this one too. Apparently your male and female aspects can split and incarnate at the same time. Examples have been given of people in relationships where this supposedly applies. Hey that's kind of like having sex with your sister or something

 

[Resume]

Let's try an exercise:

Take a deep breath, let half out and repeat these two statements in your head:
Michael Shermer was wrong in this statement;
Reincarnation is in no way demonstrated by evidence.

See, not even as hard as thinking two *actually* contradictory statements at one time.

Thanks for keeping the eye on the ball.

 

[tsig]

So how about making a logical case for reincarnation?

Oh, sorry, you can't.

I don't think Rodney believes in reincarnation he just believes in believing.

 

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

It was an ill-considered throwaway line.

Believers search out such lines and revel in repeating them over and over.

~~ Paul

 

[Rodney]

Believers search out such lines and revel in repeating them over and over.

~~ Paul

And skeptics don't?

 

[Joey McGee]

Believers search out such lines and revel in repeating them over and over.

~~ Paul

Paul, thank you for making this comment

I'd like to throw in the fact that we crave a consistently firing reward system and the brain and we have many conflicting modules shaped by evolution! It's the same pathways as addiction pretty much. And we can use evolutionary biology to help people figure out what is happening and get out of a cult-like mind-frame.

Rodney, I see where you're coming from, obviously because I posted this, (even though Shermer might actually be trolling me ) but you gotta admit you lept onto that like a shark to blood or something.

It's all good man I was just havin' a little fun with Mikey that's all

 

[Joey McGee]

And skeptics don't?

They sure do Rodney! We all have the same biology shaped by evolution, to some degree, it's just some of us are on a higher road. I fail constantly at this myself, albeit in steadily more trivial ways due to my awareness of it.