Here we come to the scientific evidence for reincarnation that is most interesting and persuasive.

Sometimes a child, perhaps at the age when he first begins to speak, will talk about a “past life.” He may give details about that life, sometimes enough to enable one to identify a particular deceased person as the “former personality” whose life the child seems to remember.

The child may yearn to go back to his “former home.”

He may show interests, habits, mannerisms or skills characteristic of the “former personality.”

He may show knowledge of personal matters that few but the previous person would have known.

He may show fears that match the cause of the previous person’s death—for example, a child who speaks of having been killed by a lorry may have a particular fear of lorries.

If the child is brought to the town or village where the previous person lived, he may be able to lead the way to that person’s house. And there he may show signs of recognizing the former person’s friends and relatives. He may show strong emotions towards them, emotions fitting for the previous person. He may act towards them in ways suitable for the relationships that the former person had—like a son towards that person’s parents, like a parent towards that person’s child.