Staying Alive
I am bit surprised by the diversity of discussion. There seems to be so many strong opinions on both sides of the same argument that has raged for centuries.<p>Immaterialist:<p>There seems to be as many people that believe in a soul very strongly, to the point where they can&#x27;t fathom the questions. The questions almost have no meaning in a worldview with souls. Or extreme, the belief in soul has changed their mind to extent they can&#x27;t see the point of these questions, can&#x27;t get the point of the questions. (belief in soul in context of the questions in post means dead in a lot of cases)<p>Materialists:<p>There are just as many people that so strongly believe there is NO soul, scientific minded, that the third question that contains the word soul invalidates the entire questionnaire. Materialist think that modern science and technology has rendered the question pointless, that all the answers are already known. This is also false, there might not be an immaterial soul, but the nature of self and its continuity is still open question, and a lot of people equate that with soul, for better or worse.<p>Soul is just all around bad word to describe what we are getting at with consciousness, or sentience.  It is too loaded with baggage.<p>Thus, it is a successful questionnaire, it makes both sides think a bit more.