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Reincarnation data & modelling

digithead said:
Who's to say that a person can't be reincarnated into multiple beings at the same time? Ergo, multiple people claiming to be the same person in reincarnated form might be telling the truth. So I would think the first step is to prove that reincarnation exists before one goes applying Poisson processes to model it...
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I understand it to be some type of disease to want to get super hyper complicated when investigating wierd claims, but let's stick with the simple question in the OP:

"Is there any database of persons claiming reincarnation?"
 
T'ai Chi said:
I understand it to be some type of disease to want to get super hyper complicated when investigating wierd claims, but let's stick with the simple question in the OP:

"Is there any database of persons claiming reincarnation?"
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You're the one who wants to model reincarnation with Poisson processes (e.g, M/M/1, etc in your first post). All I asked is that shouldn't one prove that reincarnation exists before one uses complex mathematics to model it?

So who is being super hyper complicated?
 
digithead said:
You're the one who wants to model reincarnation
...
So who is being super hyper complicated?
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I don't "want" to model it. I simply proposed a possible way of looking at a claim. In fact, if you read closer, I said "think", "might", "could", "fun".

I am, however, definitely inquiring about a database of claimed reincarnation, something whose existance is irrelevant to asking if reincarnation is really true or not.
 
I read somewhere that Napoleon Bonaparte's building one as we speak, though I'm not sure which Napoleon Bonaparte that would be, sorry.

I hope you have fun building a database full of these unverifiable claims, though I'm not sure what the result of your efforts would be, you see as the old maxim of computery things states "rubbish in, rubbish out".
 
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I think the previous poster was suggesting that your analysis will be based on assumptions - e.g. re-incarnation is one in one out - that may or may not be true. Unless you can find something that defines what re0incarnation is and how it works (i.e. what is the process) then modelling the process is impossible.

So there is no need for data, which is lucky since it doesn't exist.
 
T'ai Chi said:
"Is there any database of persons claiming reincarnation?"
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I have, in fact, just completed exactly such a database. It contains each and every independently verified instance of reincarnation ever recorded from 1961 to the present day. Not only that, but I am making the entire database available to the public at no charge. I have encoded it in binary and am uploading it in its entirety to the JREF along with this post. The database follows:

0

I hope this helps in your research.
 
I'm with Digithead, Cuddles and others--you can't do science on reincarnation when there's no reason to think reincarnation even exists.

I'll go one further, I don't think a definition of reincarnation exists. What exactly is it that is constant from one life to the next? (Not language, hair color, finger print, culture, gender, etc. No one has offered any explanation for how memory can transcend the brain.)

So not only is there no evidence for reincarnation, there's also no sensible theory of reincarnation in itself. If there is, I'd love to hear it.
 
T'ai Chi said:
I don't "want" to model it. I simply proposed a possible way of looking at a claim. In fact, if you read closer, I said "think", "might", "could", "fun".
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T'ai Chi said:
Snip

I think models, using queing theory (the branch of probability theory that looks at various aspects of waiting in lines), might be able to be constructed to model claims of reincarnation.

snip
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So you're relying on conditional statements (e.g. might be able) so that you can't be pinned down if someone points out logical inconsistencies. Ok, I think you might never provide a direct answer to anything, but it could be fun if you did...

T'ai Chi said:
I am, however, definitely inquiring about a database of claimed reincarnation, something whose existance is irrelevant to asking if reincarnation is really true or not.
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And what exactly would a database of claimed reincarnation tell you? What happens if you find patterns, statistical significance, etc.? Since it presupposes that reincarnation exists, you're still back at square one: is there proof of reincarnation? Since your database can't answer that, you've only proven that your database has patterns and structure in reincarnation claims, not that reincarnation exists...
 
T'ai Chi said:
I don't "want" to model it. I simply proposed a possible way of looking at a claim. In fact, if you read closer, I said "think", "might", "could", "fun".

I am, however, definitely inquiring about a database of claimed reincarnation, something whose existance is irrelevant to asking if reincarnation is really true or not.
Click to expand...
Edgar Cayce's readings include a number of cases in which he specified the exact or approximate date a person supposedly died and then was reborn.
 
While I myself subscribe to the idea of metempsychosis, including the idea some strong traits are retained, it is only a responsible philosophical position, and certainly not a comforting one. I don't, conceptually, see how it is possible to "track" someone's history and destiny (as Buddhists, especially the Tibetan flavored kind, believe), any more than it is possible to track a drop of water after falling into the ocean; it being something the almighty knows only. There is also the question of what a "soul" would be conceptually. Everyone that occupies a human form shares twelve basic interdependent factors with everyone else, the interaction of which constitutes a superficial identity. Even if you turned these interdependent factors into independent factors (through self-discipline), you would still, like two identical cars driven down different roads then immaculately restored, retain a seperate identity (until, being completely self-absorbed and lacking any reason to live anymore, you willfully chose to annihilate yourself forever). Also, reincarnation and transmigration by themselves, aren't a remotely balanced way of looking at things. If it only existed - with the only refuge being self-annihilation, handing you a mint and compounding trillions (actually indeterminately infinite) of years of uncertainty and suffering, would be a sadistic, capital crime. So consider this form of madness next time you view one metaphysical idea singularly saner than another.
 
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