Where are we before we are born?

Ashes to Ashes, dust to dust.
It's one long cycle, where only mass and energy are interconvertible.

If you weren't created, you don't exist.

I thought mass and energy were convertible, what was that entire E=MC^2 for if not to convert energy to mass and vice versa?

Isn't that what I just said?

does the soul exist? or are all our thoughts feelings and emotions just created by the brain in the form of chemical reactions and electrical impulses?

does the soul exist? or are all our thoughts feelings and emotions just created by the brain in the form of chemical reactions and electrical impulses?

does the soul exist? or are all our thoughts feelings and emotions just created by the brain in the form of chemical reactions and electrical impulses?

Which leads to question: Does fate/destiny exist?

Initially it seems like a silly question. But technically if all our thoughts are a product of chemical reactions and everything we do is governed by a set of universal physical laws, on an atomical level, how do we decide anything? How can we change what reactions and interactions occur within ourselves? Who are we but a bunch of atoms to change anything? How can we alter 'destiny'?

Yeah its an interesting thought. I once read somewhere that according to newtons laws if it were ever possible to know the position and velocity of every particle in the universe then it would then be possible to predict with utter precision the future of every particle and therefore the future of the universe. which suggests maybe that maybe the universe runs like clockwork down some utterly predictable path wound up and set in motion by the "creator" therefore leaving no place for human free will or chance.

I've read a book called "The Lovely Bones" and it's a lovely concept of the afterlife. The story lines a bit tough though!

What you read is technically right up to a certain point (Newton's laws stop applying in many circumstances), but it's impossible to actually know; the more you are certain of a particle's position, the less you can be sure of its speed and momentum, and vice-versa. It's called the Heisenburg Uncertainty Princple; to actually detect something about a particle, you have to shine a light onto it. This light (even an individual photon of it) gives the particle energy, which changes what you're trying to measure. It's impossible to know what is going on in a system, past a certain point, since things technically happen in every possible way at once. It's all rather complicated, and often makes no sense at all, but that's nature for you. It's impossible to predict the future with 100% accuracy, and it's impossible for there to be a 'deterministic' universe.

But if every single atom follows a law, where basically every other atom around it affects it, how is it possible for the universe not to be pre-determined?