On Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:56:49 -0700, Ed wrote:

On still another hand 'soul' is the oldest thing known to humans.

For the sake of argument, there is such thing as a soul and no it can not
be detected by science because it is outside, for now, the physical realm.
If so what is this soul and what proof, outside science, is there that it
exists?

Stay with me here: Lets begin with the now classic but very unscientific
pop definition starting with 'soul music'... "that music has soul". Rip
away the ethnic stereotype and what is left is 'feeling'. Something that
makes one deeply feel. There should not be any musician that will dispute
what happens when they play music nor actually anyone who listens to
music that makes them feel something, it is very much beyond description.
A dance might be the closest way to describe it but dance also is wrapped
up in this mysterious something, I will call soul for now.

Anything else? bunches of stuff. Sex is a good one, love, hate, envy..
etc etc..

Even knowing what part of a brain becomes active during these feelings
says little about what feeling actually is. Sort of like defining gravity
as dripping water, like seeing the shadow of a shadow.

Religion has always rushed to the meta-physical. That idea which can
account for all things experienced. A prime mover. The preexisting
spirit. In short, the unexplainable. So religion only captured this
concept of unexplained, unexplainable human experience and has made use
of it. It is not the real property of religion but of each human.