Soul?

[Govinda]

I'm listening to Tracy Chapman's 'All That You Have Is Your Soul', and it's got me thinking.

Do we have souls? Or is our apparent sentience nothing more than instincts gone haywire?

I can't decide what I think. It creates a horrible feeling, to think that all you are, the sum of your thoughts, is just electrical signals whizzing about in a sphere of grey matter. I always feel that we must possess something more somehow, of maybe that's just me hoping, and trying to forget that i'm nothing but a bald monkey.

Yet, in saying that, the another side of the argument comes to life. I'm typing by candlelight on a laptop. A monkey, bald or not, could not do that. So did our sentience evolve? Or have we always had something more, something inexplicable; do we have souls?

Opinions? Is anyone on here some kind of omniscient God who has the answer, haha?

[Yuki-onna]

I like to philosophize on this topic. Though I can never decide on an answer.

We could be just an extremely complex body of chemicals that work in really ****ing brilliant ways, and when we die, we die. Or we're the exact same thing but when we die, something remains.

Am I a puppeteer or is my personality and feelings and individual thoughts a trick of nature? God, if I knew...all I can say is I'll find out when I die.
Somehow I take comfort in thinking I'm part immortal, that I will always be around. But perhaps that's just instinct.

And maybe after this life there is nothing, I wouldn't be aware of that anyway.

Ah the mind. So fickle. So fascinating.

[$Nanaki$]

Well it's the age-old question isn't it?

where exactly do we get our sentience from? Do we consider having a souls, when we become aware of ourselves and are able to conprehend who we are?

It's a very very tough thing , I have to agree, but i do believe that humans as a whole do have some kind of "soul", or a defining conciousness, that makes us who we are and can perhaps survive after the body has expired.

The brain is the most complext and mysterious organs in the human body, and we still dont know a lot about what most of it does.

I do remember reading somewhere, I can't recall where, that are bodies are "containers for souls", that our essence is what really matters and the body is only a shelll.
Were this to be really true, it would be wonderful to imagine, but we really don;t know, and that is the greatest mystery of all.

[Nekoness]

My answer is yes. We do have a soul. Soul is our feelings, moods, fears and loves, our views and ideas about the world and more.

Soul is what makes us different from the animals. Animals act by instincts. We act by rules of the society we live in, our needs, likes and dislikes. We fear things animals wouldn't. For example animal's fears based on his will to survive, our fears based on what others will think of us and how we should act in a random situation to look cool.

I believe we are more complicated then mass of flesh, blood and bones. Our sensitivity and personality is unique and can't be compared to animals. We can think and develop beyond our needs. Will you ever find a dog thinking of creating a big amount of food for other dogs? I doubt. But there are many humans who think and do good things for other humans, even if they are strangers.

In conclusion, we are very complicated and sensitive creatures who can develop and has the power to create or to destroy. I don't think we can be explained so easily as ” all you are, the sum of your thoughts, is just electrical signals whizzing about in a sphere of gray matter". Also not everything can be/should be explained by science.

Our soul is immortal and that what makes us so special.

[Angantyr]

I like to believe we do but how can we know till we reach the other side? I have always imagined that we have come from a past life and which each life we have become wiser. But then again why don't we remember such things? And even if we think we do what if it is only our imagination.

Originally Posted by Serra

Soul is what makes us different from the animals. Animals act by instincts. We act by rules of the society we live in, our needs, likes and dislikes. We fear things animals wouldn't. For example animal's fears based on his will to survive, our fears based on what others will think of us and how we should act in a random situation to look cool.

I have to disagree, I think humans are just really elitist animals, our very instincts got us this far, we just learnt how to control them. Fear of others is an animal instinct; if a animal wants to mate they try and impress the other in hopes of doing so.

I still like to think we have a Soul, but what if when we die it is the complete end, and there is pure nothingness? I am sure some of us feel sick just hearing about it, but what if? I do not fear the dark, I fear what may happen.

[Malevolence]

We have a personality. That's my idea. Whether that goes anywhere when we die, or if we just kind of drift off into oblivion (or obliviousness, who knows), is a mystery.

Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if death was just the end, that was it, and your personality, consciousness, and self goes absolutely nowhere. It would be fittingly equal and cynical of the Universe to work like that, but to be honest, it's not a far-off possibility.

How depressing. We go nowhere. *Sigh* Such is the nature of the Universe, in all its grand uncertainty...

[Killer Cloud255]

well i don't believe that we have a soul, there is no evidence to suggest that we do and people may say "but theres no evidence that it dosen't exist", yes but theres no evidence to prove the non-existence of santa clause or the toothfairy or the easter bunny. I think that when we die or body ceases to work and without a body our mind dies. Humans have evolved, we are better than animals because of this evolution, we can overcome or instincts because of this evolution. The mind is in the brain and the brain is supported with the body, body dies, mind dies, we are in a coffin for the rest of internity.

[Govinda]

Originally Posted by Killer Cloud255

well i don't believe that we have a soul, there is no evidence to suggest that we do and people may say "but theres no evidence that it dosen't exist", yes but theres no evidence to prove the non-existence of santa clause or the toothfairy or the easter bunny. I think that when we die or body ceases to work and without a body our mind dies. Humans have evolved, we are better than animals because of this evolution, we can overcome or instincts because of this evolution. The mind is in the brain and the brain is supported with the body, body dies, mind dies, we are in a coffin for the rest of internity.

Has a fat man ever come down your chimney on Christmas? I read somewhere that Santa and his reindeer would have to move so quickly to cover every child's home that they'd melt from friction with the air. There's your proof

Anyways, I think i'm going to have to accept that we'll never know, eh? Though, like Malevolence, i'm leaning towards the cynical side fo things. The Universe is just like that, isn't it, just like the immortal Mr. Douglas Adams showed us all. But yet, some part of me won't let myself believe that we're just arrogant and elitist monkeys....

[Quintessence]

I believe we have a soul. It's beyond what we can comprehend... and you can just feel there's something more than flesh and bones.
I may sound naive, but it's the soul that makes each of us alive.

[Dead Angel]

I always had several views on our souls, including that our heart and soul were one and the same. I now think that they are separate, but i certainly believe that we all have an inner being, as i call it. It is as though our bodies, merely acting as shells, contain two beings, one is our main personality, our normal self. The other is like a completely different person, usually almost like a fantasy creature, possibly with a lot of power. This other being could be counted as our soul, though not everyone is aware of this being, or believes it exists. Others, like me, learn to connect with them so much that we are able to live as both ourselves and this powerful being, making us better.

[cetra_aeris]

I myself believe that we have a soul. It is an existance in us that we will never fully understand but it is still there. I truely think that our souls will go somewhere, but it may not be where or what we expect. And about the human mind, I find that the fact that we only use less than 15% of our entire brain very funny. Though there have been those select few who are able to use more and have some sort of psychic ability or such, most of us are left in the dark. Sadly those who can use more of their brain have either suffered severe head trauma or a very large amount of emotional trauma. Though I envy them, I do not wish to hit my head or go insane... Wait...I thought I already was.. Ooppssie! Teehee!^_^