What is a soul?/Do you believe in souls?

Thalia · Jan 9, 2003

As a follow-up to a lot of "soul talk". For those of you who believe in souls, what are they? (not a challenge, just a question) 
I, personally don't believe in them, as I think in the way most people do. 
It's possible that living things have some energy, but I have serious doubt that there is some discreet soul that keeps one's personality or has a consciousness. But then again, I don't know what other people mean when they say "soul".

spud · Jan 9, 2003

My soul is a fragment of the One seeking to be reunited and it's the thing that goes travelling on the astral plane.

GhostUser · Jan 9, 2003

I don't believe in anything unless I'm 100% sure about it....I lean more towards Einstein's theory of energy and matter. If there is a soul...I see it as a force of energy....it can't be destroyed. Even matter can't be destroyed...it just breaks down smaller and smaller, or becomes something different. In that sense, the "soul" lives after you die. That's my favorite theory, although I don't even believe it 100%. One thing I know for sure....there is something in living creatures more than just matter....more than just instinct and brain activity. This is something that maybe can't be explained with science, but I do believe it through the core of my being. Whatever it is....it's something beautiful, and well, for instance all animals eminate different, like you feel when there's tension in the air...or on the other hand, you walk into a room, and you just relax completely because the atmosphere is a good one. And people and other animals create that. If that's energy eminating from the soul...I kind of like that theory.

GhostUser · Jan 9, 2003

Perhaps there are aspects of this universe that are still beyond the comprehension of mere humans. It may be that there is a part of every creature that is not measurable, cannot be disected, cannot even be seen, heard or felt. That 'something' may be the very thing that makes creatures so much different from even the most advanced and complex machine. 
Science has produced some amazing inventions but cannot create anything anywhere near to intelegent life - could be the 'soul' is what makes the difference.

BigWaxJesus · Jan 9, 2003

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally posted by Herself I don't believe in anything unless I'm 100% sure about it....I lean more towards Einstein's theory of energy and matter. If there is a soul...I see it as a force of energy....it can't be destroyed.</div>
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That's kind of the basis of my idea on what it is. When I think of a soul I think of it as a sort of essence of the energy & matter that you were made up of as a living being. Sort of like a candle flame, you can blow it out and extinguish it but the energy given off by the flame burning still lingers.

LadyFaile · Jan 9, 2003

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally posted by spud My soul is a fragment of the One seeking to be reunited and it's the thing that goes travelling on the astral plane.</div>
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yep. it's not souls, it's one soul, we all share it. we're all connected because of it, most of us just ignore that fact. and i think if we allowed ourselves, through meditation and stuff, we could get more in touch with that energy and stop obsessing over our physical selves.

GhostUser · Jan 9, 2003

I have to admit that I've never really thought much about this. 
I've never thought about there being just one soul that we all share. I've always thought that each person had a unique soul and, just like Herself and BWJ, it is a force, an energy that is never truly destroyed. 
I'm really interested to read what other folks have to say.

luckiecharms · Jan 9, 2003

I think a soul is a persons personality and what causes their different emotions. well its hard to explain what i think it is.

Thalia · Jan 9, 2003

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally posted by LadyFaile yep. it's not souls, it's one soul, we all share it. we're all connected because of it, most of us just ignore that fact. and i think if we allowed ourselves, through meditation and stuff, we could get more in touch with that energy and stop obsessing over our physical selves.</div>
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That's the kind of idea I am most comfortable with if I were to believe in souls. I guess this also ties up with the debate in philosophy over dualism- are our brains our personality and experience or is that something different. I strongly lean towards my experience as "me" as a distinct person is my brain.

kirkjobsluder · Jan 9, 2003

I don't believe in one. Body is mind and mind is body.

luckiecharms · Jan 9, 2003

So kirk you dont think that people have everlasting lives? Do you think that when we die that its the end? Because if people dont have souls then when they die thats the end.

kirkjobsluder · Jan 10, 2003

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally posted by luckiecharms So kirk you dont think that people have everlasting lives? Do you think that when we die that its the end? Because if people dont have souls then when they die thats the end.</div>
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Yipee! 
Quite honestly, I do not understand how everlasting life can be viewed as something other than a nightmarish wraith-like existence, (or vampiric if one is a believer in naive reincarnation). Even in Buddhism where reincarnation is not a simple replication of the spirit in a new body, reincarnation is a problem to be solved, not a delightful reward for a nice life. 
The thing that makes living so enjoyable is the fact that things change. They come into existence and they go out of existence. We live and then we die. We did not exist for billions of years before we came into existence, the fact we will not exist makes the current life to be uncountably precious. 
"I hope the exit is joyous, and I hope never to return." -Frida Kahlo. 
"Let ashes sleep like ashes, let nothing disturb their rest." -Kurt Vonnegut

luckiecharms · Jan 10, 2003

kirk- I see most of what your saying. I dont really beleive we will have everlasting lives or that when we die it is the end. simply because I do not know. But i agree with you when you say "We did not exist for billions of years before we came into existence, the fact we will not exist makes the current life to be uncountably precious." I have often thought about that myself. If we will live forever then why did i never exist before? or something lol. Well either way I do not want everlasting life because living forever and ever is a long time and i might get tired of it. And I dont want it to be the end when i die becasuse im afraid when I lose a family member they are gone forever. and to think i wont exist anymore or that none of us will.

GhostUser · Jan 10, 2003

My brain hurts...I have to stop thinking about this for a minute...I thought I had it all figured out at one point but now I'm not so sure.

mushroom · Jan 10, 2003

Luckiecharms, our "personality" is in our brain. It is a physical thing that can be altered by drugs, illness or injury. Our personality is the way it is because of our genetics and our environment. 
We have a hard time accepting the idea that WE just end at death, but for some reason, it is easier to accept that a spider 'just ends' if someone steps on it. 
Many atheists say, what is important is NOW and our lives are important, though short. I hate death. I would rather live forever, or have the option to do so. When my own daughter was 4, she would tell me often, "I don't want to die" I would try to comfort her, by telling her that she would live a very long time and by the time that she did die, she would be a worn out, tired old lady. She didn't buy it and said, "But, I NEVER want to die." 
She just turned 9 and now I tell her that maybe she won't have to die. Maybe science will find a way for her to live forever. 
No. I don't believe in a soul, but I have "faith" in science.

luckiecharms · Jan 10, 2003

mushroom- I dont think our personality is in our brain because for example me and my sister and brother have grown up in the same environment and are completely different. i used to be extremely shy and my brother and sister have always been outgoing. We think act completely differently. Illness or drugs doesnt alter our persoality. Drugs just make you more tired and lazy but thats not really a personality. And an ilness can change our views on life but not make us a different person. But im not sure.

ceryna · Jan 10, 2003

I believe that every living being on this Earth posesses a soul of some kind. I believe that without these souls, we would be nothing but biological automatons, moving to and fro merely because our bio-machinery is functioning as per the program (DNA). 
I believe that our capacity to love, feel compassion, dream, and create art, literature, and music comes from our souls. 
This being said, my spiritual beliefs are very eclectic, and I'm not, in any way, a person who could be considered "religious", as I do not identify with any particular belief system. I interpret things my own way, much to the chagrin of my family. ^^;; 
Just my opinions, no offense intended to anyone, in any way. ^_^

LadyFaile · Jan 10, 2003

actually drugs do alter the personality. they can make people paranoid, angry, greedy, depressed, they change the person's environment and sense of reality which in turn changes their personality. i do believe the personality is in the brain, but i also believe the soul has a part in choosing what that personality will be like before we're even conceived. 
i believe that in death we go home, and this place is temporary, and for learning. i do also believe in reincarnation, in a sense. when we rejoin the collective energy (home) a part of that energy comes back here to learn more lessons, and a part of us goes with it. we're reincarnated not into a specific person or animal, but into -every- person and animal.

Funkified · Jan 10, 2003

oh geez. 
yes, i believe in souls. 
i belive in reincarnation as well. and heaven. and i belive in unicorns and talking wombats. 
i agree with ceryna.i was raised catholic and occasinaly go to that church but i wouldnt consider my catholic. i wouldnt consider myself religious at all. 
but pretty much ditto everything ceryna said <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/smiley.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="

"> thanks for making it easier for me, ceryna. heh <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/smiley.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="

">

kirkjobsluder · Jan 10, 2003

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally posted by ceryna I believe that every living being on this Earth posesses a soul of some kind. I believe that without these souls, we would be nothing but biological automatons, moving to and fro merely because our bio-machinery is functioning as per the program (DNA). 
I believe that our capacity to love, feel compassion, dream, and create art, literature, and music comes from our souls.</div>
</div>
 
Why would any of these things require some trancendental mojo? Isn't this a bit of a false dichotomy? Either we must be ghosts that are simply driving around a body like we do a car, or we are just automatous robots following deterministic programs? 
The amazing thing in nature is nothing is deterministic. It only takes a few simple ingredients to produce more novelty, more wonder, more delight and more amazement than anything possible through some metaphysical hookum about souls. All that dreaming about a soul does is replace a mystery of nature with a even worse mystery of the soul. Given a choice between the spiritual determinism mandated by belief in a soul and natural freedom offered by naturalism, give me naturalism.

What is a soul?/Do you believe in souls?

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