the soul

[poopnoodle]

do you think living creatures have souls? if so, how would you define the soul; do you think it's a single entity we're connected by, or that we all have separate, divergent souls? do you believe in the afterlife- that the soul is designated to and stored in a specific location (heaven or hell) that holds distinctive standards to which the soul would have to match regardless of complexity? what makes a soul virtuous, what makes a soul villainous? is morality not an ever-evolving tool molded by man for the advancement of society; if it is, would heaven and hell adjust their standards to the "morality" of modern times?

 

[Livewire]

Yes and no. I think the soul is more of a Ideal/concept, more than an actual truth. If anything, I think the Soul of a person=the Mind.

Morality is a tool of civilization, i completely agree with that.

I also believe in a higher plane of existence than this world, but what that is, would be naive to say. We'll never know exactly.

 

[Åzurε]

I found something interesting pertaining to souls in my Christian Worldview homework the other day. It presented the thought that animals have souls as well as humans, the difference between the two being that only human souls were made in the image of God, are accountable to the standards of good and evil, and continue on forever. It may not sound like much to many other people, but it was a new idea to me and seems to make a great deal of sense.

 

[Livewire]

I found something interesting pertaining to souls in my Christian Worldview homework the other day. It presented the thought that animals have souls as well as humans, the difference between the two being that only human souls were made in the image of God, are accountable to the standards of good and evil, and continue on forever. It may not sound like much to many other people, but it was a new idea to me and seems to make a great deal of sense.

^ That also ties into the Philosophical argument pretty well. Animals may indeed have souls, but Morals (i.e good and Evil) only apply to human beings.

 

[Rogue planet]

I believe in something which can only be called a "soul" although not the typical concept of what most people might think of when they hear the word. I just believe everyone has some sort of 'life force' inside them, something I can't describe with words at all. I think the concepts of fate, destiny and other similar inexplicable things to do with our lives, could be a result of this. Just one of the inner mysteries of the human body and life itself, like how we only use a small percentage of our brain, and how people have supposedly "supernatural" experiences. Although I don't have a religious viewpoint and I think these things could be explained by science in the future. I just use the word soul because I think it's something that's totally untouched upon currently, so I can't think of any more accurate word to use.

I don't have anything to base these beliefs on. I just think there's something deeper than what we already know. When I use the word soul, I mean looking towards possible future discoveries, rather than looking backwards with the concept of souls that people had hundreds of years ago.

I don't believe in the typical view of an afterlife either. I don't deny the possibility of an afterlife, it would be arrogant to claim to know anything about what happens after death so I don't deny any possibilities.

 

[Percy Thrillington]

The only thing I associate with a 'soul' is our moral compass that seems to be programmed into all of us. I don't really believe in an afterlife so why would I believe in a supernatural part of us?

That said, I read somewhere (don't ask for a citation, I don't have one), that when someone dies, their body mass decreases by .37 of a gram or something. Take that as you will.

 

[Zebeedoo]

Yes. I believe humans and animals have a soul. I believe that what keeps us alive (like Vendak has already mentioned; a 'life force' of sorts) is undescribable, and moves off elsewhere (such as heaven/hell) to reside. I also believe that if someone sees a ghost (IF ghosts do exsist..) that it could be somebody's soul. As for the afterlife.. I really don't know what to think about it for that matter. I supose one won't find out about it until they actualy do die. And when that time comes, it's impossible for them to let us know.

 

[SIN1488]

I think of the soul as our consciousness, which is a collection of thoughts. We collect many thoughts, and depending on certain ones we hold most closely to us, we decide which ones are good or bad, right or wrong. And whether we like it or not, through living life, we share our thoughts with others, so our thoughts become part of their consciousness.

So when we die, the source of our thoughts may or may not be gone, but the thoughts we shared live on in other people and whatever things we used to express them. And the good part about that, is that people might continue to learn from them and spread them long after you die, so that's why I think if you have good ideas, opinions, or whatever, you should try to spread them as much as possible. The worse that could happen is people disagree with you, but so what?

 

[Timbjerr]

The way I see it, all living things have a soul. It's what gives them their consciousness and their sense of self-worth...okay, maybe the latter is exclusive to humans, but still...

As for good, evil, and morality. I believe we're all born with equal potential for good and evil, and as we live, we sway one way or the other based on our experience and philosophical/political views. People that grow up to be virtuous will make more moral decisions than immoral ones and the people that grow up to be villainous will make the immoral decisions. :P

 

[Rich Boy Rob]

No. I don't believe that creatures (and yes that includes humans) have souls.

do you believe in the afterlife- that the soul is designated to and stored in a specific location (heaven or hell) that holds distinctive standards to which the soul would have to match regardless of complexity?

Hehe, that sounds like the afterlife is a computer system, with the gods designating to which memory location souls should be saved.
Now there's a religion I'd like to see; Technilism.

 

[PlatinumDude]

Well, I do believe and not believe in souls at the same time. I believe in them because they are essentially our consciousness. However, I don't believe in them as well because the brain also gives people their consciousness. (correct me if I'm wrong on any of these).

 

[uskelly]

No. They only feel pain. It might sound cruel or cold but plainly, a bug won't feel sad when his bug girlfriend leaves him for another. I would appreciate them as creatures but not put them to the level of humans. A famous sayings says, Man is the Measure. We see things in our eyes. This may seem egotistical but it's the truth. That's why the sun is large and a bug is small. Simply, we can't compare human thought/soul to that of animals which is much less complex.

It's as if comparing a ball of yarn to segements of string, if that makes sence

 

[Alice]

Humans obviously do. A lot of people are unsure about animals though... imo, there's no way there aren't animals in heaven. They are so many people's favorite thing about life, and what better way to have animals in heaven than to use the souls of animals on Earth?

 

[Åzurε]

Well, I do believe and not believe in souls at the same time. I believe in them because they are essentially our consciousness. However, I don't believe in them as well because the brain also gives people their consciousness. (correct me if I'm wrong on any of these).

The way I think of it is that the soul is a person's innermost being, and the brain is interface from the soul to the body, the outside world, and other souls by way of their bodies.

Thinking on it, it's like all of us at our computers. A computer and modem is a brain and body, the internet is the external universe by which we contact other computers, and by extension the people behind them, the souls.

Bleh, I don't like the way I wrote this. Oh well. *post*

 

[poopnoodle]

No. They only feel pain. It might sound cruel or cold but plainly, a bug won't feel sad when his bug girlfriend leaves him for another. I would appreciate them as creatures but not put them to the level of humans. A famous sayings says, Man is the Measure. We see things in our eyes. This may seem egotistical but it's the truth. That's why the sun is large and a bug is small. Simply, we can't compare human thought/soul to that of animals which is much less complex.

It's as if comparing a ball of yarn to segements of string, if that makes sence

so you're saying you do believe in the concept of a soul and it equates to consciousness and emotion? if you believe the soul is a spiritual entity residing in humans and not just a synonym for high-level cognition, why does that have to rule out other species? while we can guess that some less complex species lack the "wiring" to be aware/feel emotion on the same level as we do, i think it's a little...as you put it, egotistical to hold humanity above all other species for that reason alone and mighty presumptuous to say that NO species other than humans can feel at all. elephants have been observed grieving over the loss of other elephants in cute (but sad ;c) lil elephant ceremonies; apes, dolphins/whales, and elephants have shown signs of developing a certain degree of self-awareness. if the soul is only to do with cognitive abilities, where is the line drawn, at what point in a continuous development is a species entitled to a soul? is the cluster of cells in a woman's womb that's potentially developing these "exclusively human" senses you speak of given a soul from the beginning?

 

[SIN1488]

No. They only feel pain. It might sound cruel or cold but plainly, a bug won't feel sad when his bug girlfriend leaves him for another. I would appreciate them as creatures but not put them to the level of humans. A famous sayings says, Man is the Measure. We see things in our eyes. This may seem egotistical but it's the truth. That's why the sun is large and a bug is small. Simply, we can't compare human thought/soul to that of animals which is much less complex.

It's as if comparing a ball of yarn to segements of string, if that makes sence

I think that all living things have the same basic instincts, and even if an organism is complex enough to have emotions, those emotions are the same instincts in a bigger form. I think the driving instinct is the will to live, and that one drives the three basic instincts, which are thirst/hunger, reproduction, and fear. So yes, bugs do have those instincts, and though they may not have emotions, they still have their own system. And like humans, they want to live.

But really, there could be organisms out there somewhere that are much bigger and more complex than us, and to them emotions may seem "pathetically small". I don't think it's good to do nothing but compare, why not try to see from their eyes instead?

Humans are just creatures too, and even though it appears we do some great things, I will remind you that it's still those same basic instincts that drive us to do those great things.

And that comparison of the ball of yarn to segments of string doesn't make sense, unless instead you said the segments of string were atoms, and a large ball of yarn represented a human, while a small ball of yarn represented an insect......

But yeah, this is just my opinion, so think what you will of it. :P

 

[Spinor]

The way my Sub-Religious beliefs go is that a Person consists of a Body, Mind, and Soul. Everything physical being the body, knowledge, consciousness, and thoughts being the mind, and of course the Soul, which I'll explain my theory of in depth.

With a scientific lean, the Soul is a sort of 4th dimensional energy that unifies our Bodies and our Minds, and makes a fully functioning person if nothing is abnormal. The mind will of course be limited by what the brain is capable of and the soul will continue its flow through our bodies in our dimension as long as the body keeps living. The body is basically a link from the 4th dimension, being divine or whatever, to our dimension, being physical and real

When the body, dies, the Soul no longer has a link to our dimension, so it wanders outside our space into its Hyperspace and takes the mind with it.

After that, fill in the blanks with whatever the hell your religion tells you to believe >__>

That said, I read somewhere (don't ask for a citation, I don't have one), that when someone dies, their body mass decreases by .37 of a gram or something. Take that as you will.

People loosen their vowels when they die. Please don't ask for citations because I don't have one.

 

[Pumpkin Fields]

If anything, I think the Soul of a person=the Mind.

That's what I think too. Your personality, beliefs and feelings come from your mind, which deteriorates once you die. Once your brain dies so does everything you once were.
Additionally, if there is such a thing as a soul, it can't think, smell, hear, see, feel or taste once your body dies.

 

[Swolligator]

I think the soul is more of a Ideal/concept, more than an actual truth. If anything, I think the Soul of a person=the Mind.

I also believe in a higher plane of existence than this world, but what that is, would be naive to say. We'll never know exactly.

Socrates called it the "unaided intellect", he saw it as a part of the human body that by resisting earthly temptations and taking the time to meditate, one could achieve. However, to reach this meant to go to the brink of death, he proposed that there must be something in the mind that moved on from the body into some sort of afterlife.

In Plato's "Last Days of Socrates", there is a chapter called "Phaedo" dealing with the circumstances prior to socrates drinking of hemlock. From page 127 of the penguin classics book, it says:

"...with the unaided intellect, without taking account of the sense of sight in his thinking, or dragging any other sense into his reckoning - the man who pursues truth by applying pure and unadultered thought to the pure and unadultered object, cutting himself off as much as possible from his eyes and ears and virtually all the rest of his body..."

He said that it was a philosophers job to die, as dying is the time with which we can connect with our soul.

I believe that too, there is a higher plane of existence, whether it is above or interwoven into our realm, there is definitely somewhere where we pass onto, where our souls go to.

 

[poopnoodle]

I believe that our souls are pretty much eternal, that our souls are the strongest things in our bodies besides our minds and our hearts.

No, this is nothing that I've gotten from anime. Heck, I don't even watch anime anymore, unfortunately. I don't have the time for it lol. It's...hard to explain, but getting to the point, yes, I completely believe in an afterlife. I'm not going to go into specifics since it isn't really called for and the question really doesn't ask for more than that. :(

i don't think my questions were very surface-y, i'm sorry if i gave that impression. i am asking for extensive answers, and there's nothing wrong with expanding discussion so long as the topic is regarded. so please, feel free to proceed.