What is a soul?

[Daniel Nicholson]

A soul is conciousness itself
A soul is eternal

Under this definition, consciousness (the soul) is dependent on brain activity, and could not be eternal.
Consciousness can be easily altered by alcohol, lack of oxygen, sleep deprivation... all kinds of things. Where does the soul go when we are unconscious?

 

[seekandfind]

What is a soul?
How does a soul interact with the physical world?
How does one's soul relate to consciousness?

Depends who's definition. If you want to know it according to scripture from God through the Hebrew and Greek I explained it and "spirit" as a thread. Its around here somewhere

 

[syo]

What is a soul?
How does a soul interact with the physical world?
How does one's soul relate to consciousness?

Rust.

 

[Starlight]

Under this definition, consciousness (the soul) is dependent on brain activity, and could not be eternal.
Consciousness can be easily altered by alcohol, lack of oxygen, sleep deprivation... all kinds of things. Where does the soul go when we are unconscious?

consciousness (the soul) is not dependent on brain activity

Your soul is the real you. Your body is the vehicle that enables your soul to do its work in this world. Just as a driver controls a car through its control mechanisms while sitting in the driver's seat, the soul uses the brain to control the body.

the soul control the nervous system and, through it, various organs in the body.

Soul is the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal and eternal. the body is only temporary

 

[osgart]

The soul is the unifying principle that creates personal identity, qualitative experience, and all the qualities of being there are potentials to choose from. Consciousness, and the brain are there to inform the soul of the reality we must navigate and learn from. The brain informs consciousness to make us self aware.

The soul is mind, heart, and volitional will unified with capacities for memory, reason, character qualities, and understanding.

 

[Jimmy]

It’s that part of you that resonates with the universe.

 

[Echogem222]

What is a soul?
How does a soul interact with the physical world?
How does one's soul relate to consciousness?

[What is a soul?]: I understand the soul to be just being an individual, nothing more. In other words, you're yourself because you're not someone else, that's all. In other words, the soul is not your body, mind, memories, personality, gender identity, etc. And though all of those things are not truly you, they are your "personal belongings", in other words, something that matters to you a lot. By understanding the soul this way, death has no reason to be the end of us. If your body and mind were alive but without your soul, your body and mind would be like an AI, in that, if you asked it if it has a soul, it'd say no (or something along those lines).

[How does a soul interact with the physical world?]: The soul is literally yourself, and consciousness is just being aware of yourself, in other words, being aware that you exist as an individual. It is through you existing where you are (connected to a body/mind) that enables you to live as you do in this world.

[How does one's soul relate to consciousness?]: As I said before, consciousness is just being aware that you exist, consciousness does not cause us to exist as individuals.

 

[dybmh]

thoughts, feelings, speech, and actions can be changed/ altered/ influenced by many things (age, alcohol, brain tumors, drugs, to name a few). Is the soul effected by them as well?

In my faith-tradition: simple answer: no. No different than having a broken ankle. Even if the soul intends for the body to run a 5K in 25 mins, it will not be able to do it. But it doesn't change the soul in any way. It just changes/limits the manner which the soul is capable for interacting.

The capability for the soul to interact with the material world is affected by the material condition of the body. The hostage being held, bound head to foot in rope with a gag in its mouth is not going to be able to interact with the material world. That same bondage can be accomplishd chemically. And it doesn't need to be bondage it could be intoxication, sedation, maybe even hypnosis, propaganda, etc.

However, the body CAN and does effect the soul. The most common example is sin where the soul collects dross, for lack of a better word, which decreases its sensitivity to wholesome pure pleasures, and reduces its "capacity" for any pleasure regardless of the source. Capacity is in quotes because it doesn't really have physical volume.

This effect of engaging in sin sets up a sin cycle. And this is an example of the idea that the body can indeed effect the soul.

 

[Daniel Nicholson]

consciousness (the soul) is not dependent on brain activity

Your soul is the real you. Your body is the vehicle that enables your soul to do its work in this world. Just as a driver controls a car through its control mechanisms while sitting in the driver's seat, the soul uses the brain to control the body.

the soul control the nervous system and, through it, various organs in the body.

Soul is the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal and eternal. the body is only temporary

The "real me" is my brain, and it is being altered all the time. If someone has a brain tumor that results in them being extremely aggressive, what is the effect on the soul? What about autistic children? Do they have souls that are deficient?

 

[dybmh]

The "real me" is my brain and it is being altered all the time...

Hmmm.....

The real you is more than your brain isn't it? Consider: if, heaven-forbid, you have a traumatic brain injury, and you lose all memory. It doesn't change your lineage, correct? The real you is Daniel Nicholson ( or whatever your name is ). [given-name] the child of [parent's-names]. Nothing ever changes that.

 

[Daniel Nicholson]

The soul is the unifying principle that creates personal identity, qualitative experience, and all the qualities of being there are potentials to choose from. Consciousness, and the brain are there to inform the soul of the reality we must navigate and learn from. The brain informs consciousness to make us self aware.

The soul is mind, heart, and volitional will unified with capacities for memory, reason, character qualities, and understanding.

We know now that all of this happens in the brain. There is no evidence for a soul, and no need to invoke the idea of soul to make things work. It's all done through the brain

 

[Daniel Nicholson]

Hmmm.....

The real you is more than your brain isn't it? Consider: if, heaven-forbid, you have a traumatic brain injury, and you lose all memory. It doesn't change your lineage, correct? The real you is Daniel Nicholson ( or whatever your name is ). [given-name] the child of [parent's-names]. Nothing ever changes that.

Your concept of me is more than my brain, but the actual me is not

 

[dybmh]

Your concept of me is more than my brain, but the actual me is not

I hear you, but that doesn't address the point that I made. If you were born without a brain, you would still be [brainless-body] born from [parent's-names]. That would be "the-real-you".

Limiting 'the-real-me' to a brain excludes all others which do not have a brain from being real. That's good reason to include rocks, trees, even ideas, symbols, and words when discussing 'soul'.

 

[Daniel Nicholson]

In my faith-tradition: simple answer: no. No different than having a broken ankle. Even if the soul intends for the body to run a 5K in 25 mins, it will not be able to do it. But it doesn't change the soul in any way. It just changes/limits the manner which the soul is capable for interacting.

The capability for the soul to interact with the material world is affected by the material condition of the body. The hostage being held, bound head to foot in rope with a gag in its mouth is not going to be able to interact with the material world. That same bondage can be accomplishd chemically. And it doesn't need to be bondage it could be intoxication, sedation, maybe even hypnosis, propaganda, etc.

However, the body CAN and does effect the soul. The most common example is sin where the soul collects dross, for lack of a better word, which decreases its sensitivity to wholesome pure pleasures, and reduces its "capacity" for any pleasure regardless of the source. Capacity is in quotes because it doesn't really have physical volume.

This effect of engaging in sin sets up a sin cycle. And this is an example of the idea that the body can indeed effect the soul.

Why would souls reside in bodies that significantly limit their power? Seems like it would be torture

 

[RestlessSoul]

We know now that all of this happens in the brain. There is no evidence for a soul, and no need to invoke the idea of soul to make things work. It's all done through the brain

Your third sentence doesn't deductively follow from the first and second, even if the first and second were shown to be true. Your reasoning here is unsound.

 

[shunyadragon]

Devil's advocate: a lifeless rock.

What about a living rock? My 'pet rock' is alive and well in my desk drawer with my broken computer mouse..

 

[dybmh]

Why would souls reside in bodies that significantly limit their power? Seems like it would be torture

There's multiple reasons. Based on the way you formed the question, I'll answer simply. It's not all torture. One way to think of it is, not torture, but instead 'longing with an opportunity for reunion'. The reunion is amazing. The metaphor brought, and please, it's only a metaphor, not literal, is like a bride who is lovingly reunited with her husband in a holy pure consumation. *blush*.

The soul is described by mystics as the "matronita".

 

[shunyadragon]

For most the living essence that survives death. Though some Christians believe there is no such thing as a soul, and it is the Body of the righteous believers in Jesus that will be resurrected or taken up in the Final Judgement Day.

The interesting alternative is traditional Black Soul music.

 

[dybmh]

What about a living rock? My 'pet rock' is alive and well in my desk drawer with my broken computer mouse..

Great minds think alike I had the same response.

I object: the rock has a soul. Remember pet rocks? Are you too young?

 

[YmirGF]

What is a soul?

I prefer the term "personality energy essence", as that phrase does not suffer from the eons of religious baggage. What is it? It is me, or rather the soul is my primary identity whereas my current incarnation is my focus identity/personality. My current identity wells up out of what soul is, but is largely autonomous.

How does a soul interact with the physical world?

Through me. In effect, I am an "agent" of the soul or our larger identity. That, however, does not automatically make me a perfect spokesperson.

How does one's soul relate to consciousness?

The soul sees consciousness as an imperfect lens through which reality is parsed.