The Ban is Repealed!

After far too long, the law banning HIV+ people from becoming US citizens has finally been lifted. Huzzah! It’s sad that people still face discrimination from this disease, but at least this one barried has been removed at long last.

Lost Souls?

So I’m watching an episode of The Simpsons where Bart sells his soul to Milhouse. This has me thinking about the concept of the soul and where I stand on it.

Souls don’t exist. Sorry. Conciousness exists, but it dies when the body dies; there’s no proof otherwise. Some people are terrified of this notion, but I don’t entirely understand why. Once you’re dead, you’re dead; there’s not going to be any part of “you” that remains to be worried or feel adrift or anything like that. You won’t go onto any great reward, but on the other hand, you also won’t suffer eternal punishment for finite crimes.

Even if souls do exist, I don’t see how you’d be able to transfer ownership from one person to another, or even sell it to the Devil, or whatever (though I never understand why, in movies and books, when someone sells their soul to the Satan, he screws them over. Why not do exactly what he says? Then the person who sold him their soul can go around telling everyone else what a great idea it is). Surely if you have a soul, it’s yours and can’t belong to anyone else?

I understand the attractive nature of the concept of the soul, but like any other religious/spiritual concept, there isn’t any proof for it. I can easily understand how the idea evolved, but, well, absent proof I don’t see any reason to go around assuming souls exist. Conciousness does, but we have to assume that ends when the body dies, since there isn’t any proof that contradicts that notion.