The Soul

[1137]

I want to keep this short to maximize responses. What exactly is the soul? I've been considering that maybe we do have a soul, though it is preceded by the physical brain and still ceases after death. Just our deepest self perhaps. Emotions are non-physical and caused by the brain, yet we accept they exist. Maybe it's the same with the soul?

Thoughts?

 

[Sir Doom]

I want to keep this short to maximize responses. What exactly is the soul? I've been considering that maybe we do have a soul, though it is preceded by the physical brain and still ceases after death. Just our deepest self perhaps. Emotions are non-physical and caused by the brain, yet we accept they exist. Maybe it's the same with the soul?

Thoughts?

The type of soul you describe is essentially my worst case scenario. I am unwilling to abandon the idea of a soul, and so whatever energy my body contains within its normal processes essentially becomes the default answer until something more 'soulish' is discovered (not that it ever will be). I like to think that there is much more to it than this, however I can't really demonstrate that belief beyond pure speculation. I will indulge that speculation shortly...

Okay, so we know that energy is contained within our bodies in various forms and from various sources. The same can be said of all life and really all matter as well. I think that a vast majority of this energy could be said to have its source in the Earth, with a fair part of the rest coming from the Sun (ultimately the energy from the Earth would be from the Sun as well but that's less relevant to life, I think).

Anyway, when we die the energy contained in us disperses back to the Earth from whence it came. Worms eat us, birds eat worms, cats eat birds, etc blah blah. The circle of life as it were. I don't think that whatever we are now has any bearing on that soul. We will not even be a whole being any longer and will become bits and pieces of other things so much so that it would be insane to maintain any coherent thought anyway even if such a thing were possible.

Now, I also believe that there must be some way to remove yourself from this cycle. I don't think its very easy, as I've been trying everything I can think of for some time and had no conceivable results. Basically, I assume that in order to maintain a coherent soul after death, you must be able to maintain a soul outside of your body before death. If I ever accomplish this particular feat, I should go down in history as I will likely share the method with everyone I can on some network talk show or another. It seems that most people that have out-of-body experiences do so on accident and are always close to death which means they have no clue how they did it (which doesn't help me at all). Similarly, there are accounts of Buddhist monks in Tibet being able to do this after decades of meditation which is a process I'm completely unwilling to undertake. I'm not interested in the idea enough to dedicate my entire life to it. They are also pretty close-lipped about the actual method, so I am forced to work on my own and just try whatever comes to mind when it comes to mind. Good chance I'll never figure it out. I'll keep trying though!

 

[Orias]

I believe the soul to be the heaviest elements of a humans existence.

Since we essentially are made up of the same materials stars are, I wouldn't doubt that some of part of us may remain every now and then, like a star that is so dense that when it goes supernova it leaves a dense core behind, called a neuron star. Either that or it creates black holes, which as many know sucks in all matter that get within its gravitational reach.

The two could essentially be compared to angels and demons, though the connection there is very metaphorical and debatable at most.

 

[Curious George]

In Hinduism there is the concept of the Atman which is the individual soul and the Brahman which is the universal soul. While this distinction is made there is also the concept that the Atman is Brahman. If you were looking at this from a scientific perspective you might gather that it suggest all energy is connected.

 

[Curious George]

Emotions are non-physical and caused by the brain, yet we accept they exist. Maybe it's the same with the soul?

Thoughts?

oops, I didn't read this part I guess. Emotions are physical and can be traced to chemicals such as neurotransmitters.

 

[Breathe]

What exactly is the soul?

My view the soul is the big C Consciousness; I do not believe it is the result of our body or brain or chemicals. I don't pretend to have the ins and outs of it all, though, or how it works. I'll leave that for the sages, mystics, and teachers.

I've been considering that maybe we do have a soul, though it is preceded by the physical brain and still ceases after death. Just our deepest self perhaps. Emotions are non-physical and caused by the brain, yet we accept they exist. Maybe it's the same with the soul?

Thoughts?

Sounds more like the ego than the soul to me personally; I believe the ego to think itself to be the soul, when it is actually not and is something which is shaped by the life we live and our conditions, and so on. I do not believe the soul is shaped by our lives or anything like that.

 

[apophenia]

Here is a Hermetic analogy which I found useful.

A plant can be placed in alcohol (or other solvent) to extract essential oils, which contain the 'essence' of the plant.

The solvent is spirit. The bulk of the plant material is the cellulose etc which is referred to as the body.

The 'essence' of the plant, obtained when the body is distilled using the spirit, is called the soul - the qualities which characterise the plant, in other words.

 

[InformedIgnorance]

Personally I do not believe in any supernatural concept of a soul; the concept of a soul that I find most appealing is the characterization of the self (or other), the individual's existence, their awareness, personality, memories and so forth.

Given that particular description of a non supernatural soul, I consider its existence is encapsulated within the physical storage of the brain within humans (although potentially other mediums may be capable of housing these characteristics... this 'soul' provided that they have sufficient storage and processing capacity - i.e. with sufficient technology synthetic devices could potentially provide the required functionality). The soul by my description is not a fixed concept, but rather an emergent one, it changes over time. Upon death, there is no credible reason within the natural universe (as we understand it) to believe that the 'soul' would continue to exist after the physical container (the brain) ceases to function, perhaps if functionality only partly ceases or is impaired in some way (such as when an individual receives brain damage), it may be possible to reconstruct those characteristics that were dependent upon the functionality within the portion of the medium that was capable of being restored. Similarly; were the characteristics somehow copied to another medium then the 'soul' could be duplicated; or, were the medium and/or its functionality to be modified it may modify the 'soul.' The existence of a soul (by my description thereof) after death would only refer to the existence of remnants or copies of the individual's characteristics stored in some physical medium somewhere.

While it is entirely possible that some supernatural dimension might exist and therefore the soul might in some way be translated into this supernatural dimension (or perhaps include a supernatural component itself) this would be pure speculation with no capacity to ever be verified in any form.

 

[Gjallarhorn]

I want to keep this short to maximize responses. What exactly is the soul? I've been considering that maybe we do have a soul, though it is preceded by the physical brain and still ceases after death. Just our deepest self perhaps. Emotions are non-physical and caused by the brain, yet we accept they exist. Maybe it's the same with the soul?

Thoughts?

The most common answer I get for the soul is a non-physical entity which holds all your experiences after your death and somehow allows for free will.

So, the soul is essentially a back-up of your hard drive coupled with a random number generator.

 

[Thief]

The most common answer I get for the soul is a non-physical entity which holds all your experiences after your death and somehow allows for free will.

So, the soul is essentially a back-up of your hard drive coupled with a random number generator.

Sounds good to me.

 

[Quintessence]

To keep it equally simple: I usually define "soul" as the sum total essence of some aspect of reality and is virtually synonymous with how I define "deity/spirit."

The implications are more complicated. A few of the more important ones that tend to clash with the more conventional ideas of "soul" in my culture:

• Everything, without exception, has a characteristic soul or essence (aka, animism).
• Soul includes the physical.
• Soul can be understood as individual, but it is never an independent entity.
• Soul cannot be understood in isolation from its context.
• Soul changes and transforms; it is not immortal.
• The above may or may not apply depending on the aspect of reality in question (except the principle of animism, which universally applies).

 

[Cassiopia]

The most common answer I get for the soul is a non-physical entity which holds all your experiences after your death and somehow allows for free will.

So, the soul is essentially a back-up of your hard drive coupled with a random number generator.

I'd more or less agree with this. I think your soul is your essence contained in some form of pure energy which exists outside of normal space time and is simultaneously connected to everything else.
It is your back-up in the cloud as google might say. As such it is connected to any physical body you might occupy at any time or place.

 

[Looncall]

I'd more or less agree with this. I think your soul is your essence contained in some form of pure energy which exists outside of normal space time and is simultaneously connected to everything else.
It is your back-up in the cloud as google might say. As such it is connected to any physical body you might occupy at any time or place.

Please explain this. What do you mean by "essence"? Since energy is just the potential objects have to effect changes, and is not a substance, how can energy contain anything? How do you know there is anything outside of space and time?

 

[Cassiopia]

Please explain this. What do you mean by "essence"?

I don't think there is another word which explains it better. Essence. The attributes that make something (in this case a personality) what it is.

Since energy is just the potential objects have to effect changes,and is not a substance

That definition of energy is inadequate and false. Energy predated all forms of matter.

how can energy contain anything?

Turn on your computer. Listen to it hum. And see what comes next.

How do you know there is anything outside of space and time?

I don't know. However I do believe in the theory of the multiverse postulated by many scientists particularly in the field of physics and sub-atomic particle theories. This might include the posibility of things existing outside the dimensions we are familiar with.

 

[BSM1]

I believe the soul, like God, cannot be define. If you do, you haven't. But I feel the soul is the essence of your true consciousness that laughs at the illusion (Maya) long after the illusion is gone.

 

[1137]

Cassiopia, you cannot just claim the definition of energy is false because it doesn't work with your beliefs. Actually what should be done is labeling the beliefs false and finding some that do not require to call facts incorrect. I don't see how energy could predate matter when matter and energy go hand and hand.

 

[Penumbra]

I want to keep this short to maximize responses. What exactly is the soul? I've been considering that maybe we do have a soul, though it is preceded by the physical brain and still ceases after death. Just our deepest self perhaps. Emotions are non-physical and caused by the brain, yet we accept they exist. Maybe it's the same with the soul?

Thoughts?

Although consciousness and the brain are not yet fully understood, I'm not aware of any rigorous scientific evidence that anything like a soul exists.

I think it's rather hasty for people to dismiss the idea that the brain is responsible for certain things like consciousness or the will, when it's the most complex structure known to exist, and instead to assert that something magical or otherworldly, with basically no further description or explanation than that, is responsible for those things instead.

 

[Thief]

I'd more or less agree with this. I think your soul is your essence contained in some form of pure energy which exists outside of normal space time and is simultaneously connected to everything else.
It is your back-up in the cloud as google might say. As such it is connected to any physical body you might occupy at any time or place.

It was good up to this word.

Mind and emotion as one....the soul.

But there seems to rules about occupation.
Your body is your own.
Your thoughts and feelings are shielded.
No one will know what you think or feel, until you write it down or
speak of such things.

Death changes the scheme of things.
You are no longer shielded.
You came into this world naked...you leave this world naked.

Occupy another body?....reincarnation?
I haven't ruled it out.
But it seems unlikely.

 

[Looncall]

I don't think there is another word which explains it better. Essence. The attributes that make something (in this case a personality) what it is.

So essence is not a substance, just a description of something. Why are you treating it as a substance or object? Chairness is not a substance. People merely agree what attributes define chairs.

That definition of energy is inadequate and false. Energy predated all forms of matter.

This is inaccurate. There has always been something that posessed the energy, if only photons very early on. Please don't fall prey to new age mumbo-jumbo.

<drivel snipped>

I don't know. However I do believe in the theory of the multiverse postulated by many scientists particularly in the field of physics and sub-atomic particle theories. This might include the posibility of things existing outside the dimensions we are familiar with.

Why believe it before it has been verified? Do we now have cosmological mysticism to go with that dreadful quantum mysticism?

 

[1137]

Quantum mysticism is appealing, but it is nothing more than a last gasp of superstition before the acceptance of reality.