I think that people are attracted to the idea of a soul because they would like to think that there is something unchanging about them. A desire for constancy in an inconstant world.
What I have experienced is wild changes in my own behavior, thoughts, desires, fears, drives, and whatever-might-have-you. Certainly, I am not the same person I was when I was an infant or when I was a child or when I was a young man or - I suppose in a more subtle way - I will be after I finish posting this and get some lunch.
I argue with myself. Blame myself. Bargain with myself. Pump myself up. All as though there are different selves within me at all times. By this I conclude that I don’t really have a self, but more of a collection of personalities, characteristics, and traits that are more or less dominant at any given moment. I am large, I contain (thank you Walt) multitudes.
I am comfortable with my inconstancy and inconsistencies. Generally at peace about having selves rather than a self.
I see no evidence of a soul. And I haven’t the need for one that would drive me to delude myself into thinking I have one nonetheless.
As an atheist, I would love to be proven wrong - that there’s a benevolent all-knowing entity who guarantees eternal life in meadows lush with rivers of milk and honey (throw in the 72 virgins while we’re at it). If there’s any one thing that even remotely has a chance of changing my mind to accept this fantasy, it is the thought of being reunited with my pets when I die.
I wonder if the sex slaves in heaven have souls? Also do they live as virgins until they are of an appropriate age for you? Are they some sort of angel clone? Or clones of humans who have lived before, or are still alive? Or are they bred for that task? Do they just appear when you’re horny? The logistics of god’s brothel is quite funny to think about. I guess they’re some magical hand-wavy entities of some sort. I mean, the same could also be said for god’s park areas. Who does the gardening? Maybe god does all of it. So those 72 virgins are god in a skin suit. Very theological.
I would call myself an agnostic, and I suppose I believe in a soul… In that they are a (potentially inaccurate) way of describing the singularity of oneself.
We contain something which has conscious thoughts, and awareness of “itself” while existing. I suppose that would be a soul, no? We can remember and have individual lives with isolated moments no one else will ever know. Are those memories really only random creases in our brain? Do the feelings and deeper experiences for you wash away as nothing alongside the mechanics of those memories? What makes us… well, us?
I like to think the soul is just that, the part of ourselves that is truly unique, and can only fully be witnessed internally. The part of you that is only ever going to fully exist in the here and now, while still recalling the there and then. That which gives us the full breadth of emotion tied to deeper thought, and hopefully some understanding. That, at least, is a miraculous thing to get to experience… spiritually or not.
The immutability of a soul is a different question, one which we’ll get an answer to after the physical living stops.
Best answer here. Soul is more of a high level concept, I’m not a spiritual person by any means, but say there was a fully conscious AI, I would say there is a difference between that and human consciousness, and that would be what I define as the soul. What is that, is that neurons in the head or is that an amalgamation of our entire being? Idk.
I don’t believe anything happens after death, I think ashes to ashes, but I do think there is a spark, something there that we can’t quite quantify… yet.
Worded even more succinctly than my rambling did! It’s a loaded question, one that has a lot of answers that may all be wrong for what we currently know.
Word games. “God” and “Soul” are so ill-defined you can get literally anyone to agree that those “things” (thinks?) exist. If I define “soul” as “repeating emergent pattern of genetically and environmentally internal state and observable behaviour in a sentient species” I maybe could even get some people in this community to agree that such a concept exists. If I use a more religious definition like “magic non physical entity bestowed by an eternal god” all I would get is a resounding “NOO!”. It is the memetics strength of those concepts by being incredibly flexible and vague that will ensure their ongoing use and existence - and questions like this one.
i don’t believe in god but i think life is infinitely profound; as profound as an idea like the soul. so i guess it depends on your definition of soul and how creative or spiritual you are
I don’t think humans have souls. When we die, we do just that. I don’t think we are so special to have something other species don’t, so if we (humans) have them, then other species also can.
No. I believe soul is a human construct that is meant to be self defense mechanism to feel like we are special instead of bunch of meat with chemicals.
I haven’t see any measurable proof of one, or any experiment proposed that would render the idea of a soul falsifiable or not. Honestly, the current debate in philosophy/neuroscience on the existence (or non-existence) of free-will seems like a more important question, that if answered in the negative would have major implications on even the definition of the word ‘soul’.
Fun question though, I’ve enjoyed reading the diversity of thought on the matter in this thread. :)
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