Volconvo is a debate forum for the discussion of political, religious, and news-based topics.

white rice · Dec 1, 2003, 11:52 pm

What do you think of the soul? Do you believe in it? If yes, is it something God gifted upon you? Or is it something different?

When I was younger, I thought that once I die, I just wake up as another person. I think it's because I didn't grasp the concept of dying, but it could still be possible.

Is the soul spawned from a giant energy factory? Where once it runs its course, it returns to the source?

Or is the soul collective of humanity? Now that there's overpopulation, was there the same amount as when humans originally started?

My current thought on the soul was posted here. http://www.volconvo.com/index.php?act=ST&f...findpost&p=6205

Impenitent · Dec 2, 2003, 10:10 am

the "soul" is necessary for moral crowd control through the church... if you have no soul, you have no fear of hell... the church can't tell you do anything nor make you comply if you don't have a soul...

souls come from the shoe factory

fishamaphone · Dec 2, 2003, 03:14 pm

I have a theory that goes on some reincarnatory beliefs... I think each soul is reborn until it progresses enough to be perfect. I also think that a total of a dozen souls have reached this so far(12 is just a random number). This leads to the population boom of recent times, having a world population that's working on septupling in less than a century. Most peoples' souls, thusly, are on their first run.

That's why everyone's an idiot.

Impenitent · Dec 2, 2003, 03:52 pm

the invention of television, radio and movies and the lack of reading is a good part of why everyone's an idiot... no one thinks and fewer learn how to think... the politics of feeling and the ethics of epicurius help to explain it as well...

fishamaphone · Dec 2, 2003, 11:03 pm

I like my explanation better... it's somehow more humerous than the humdrum "society is self-depreciating" routine...

white rice · Dec 2, 2003, 11:09 pm

<blockquote>Quote:<hr size="1" />Originally Posted by (Impenitent,)
the "soul" is necessary for moral crowd control through the church... if you have no soul, you have no fear of hell... the church can't tell you do anything nor make you comply if you don't have a soul...

souls come from the shoe factory<hr size="1" /></blockquote>

Yes, even You have a soul, I suppose.

I don't think organized religion is a qualifier for having a soul. I'll leave it at that unless I get more thoughts on other people.

Scribbler1 · Dec 27, 2003, 01:20 am

<blockquote>Quote:<hr size="1" />Originally Posted by (white rice,)
What do you think of the soul? Do you believe in it? If yes, is it something God gifted upon you? Or is it something different?

When I was younger, I thought that once I die, I just wake up as another person. I think it's because I didn't grasp the concept of dying, but it could still be possible.<hr size="1" /></blockquote>

My favorite unproveable definition is that the "soul" is a life force which can't be seen, but exists all around us, made up of umpteen trillions of individual units. Just before birth, the baby absorbs the closest "life unit" and carries it until death, when the unit escapes and just floats around until it gets near another creature nearing birth (human or otherwise) and gets sucked in again and powers the organism like a battery until the organism dies, and so on.
And no, I don't think this theory has anything to do with "Star Wars".

Bayou · Dec 30, 2003, 06:27 am

I am a spiritual aetheist, so by the definition of the terms, I beleive in the existence of a soul and a spirit without the presence of God.
The soul is an abstract whole of its expressions of an organisms thoughts and actions.
The spirit is the existence in which the soul is bound by in its expressions.

eburchelli · Jan 6, 2004, 11:00 am

Believing in a soul, makes it easier to contemplate death because it makes us feel that we are somehow immortal and that we never really die. For believers in God, this often means a resurrection at some unspecified time in the future.

Our souls, for lack of a better word, are to each of us, our connection to humanity. It's what makes us human. It is the compilation of everything we possess as humans. Kind of like our DNA, which is unique but specific to our species, even though it transcends homo sapiens and includes the other humanoid sub-groups through evolution.

fedfem · Jan 7, 2004, 03:21 am

I am with impenitent on this one. The 'soul' is a construct of the human mind.

Bayou--a spritual atheist--interesting. I believe in the human spirit but not on the same plane as you describe.

Scribbler, your definition of soul is slightly similar to my definition of the spirit. I sense a connection akin to radio waves rather than particles, though.

I also do not feel it is limited to humans. I do think there is enough proof of an unknown mode of communication to remain open-minded.

I will be pondering for days now.lol

lefty · Jan 7, 2004, 01:24 pm

Is the soul ideally a religious invention? What would be the proof of a soul? It is described as intangable, therefore evidence in the physical plane would be impossible to collect. It sounds like such a simple question, but it goes into some deep belief structures and faiths. I believe that they are a human name for something we cannot fully grasp, such as the concept of God or spiritual belief.Everything needs an identifying tag.

Impenitent · Jan 7, 2004, 02:12 pm

yes, without a soul, what good are promises of heaven or hell?

Bayou · Jan 8, 2004, 12:46 am

<blockquote>Quote:<hr size="1" />Originally Posted by (fedfem)
The 'soul' is a construct of the human mind.<hr size="1" /></blockquote> The human mind itself is a contruct of natural selection and environmental conditioning, we have been given this ability to freely construct any concept we like to define our existence, why gravitate towards a soul and/or spirit?
Even Nihilism is forced to describe reality as a "ghost image" for loss of better words to explain it.
Lefty states that the soul is intangible, I would say that it is not the soul that is intangible(as we would not be able to create the concept if the soul werent tangible) but it is the connection beetween the spirit and the soul that is intangible to discern the 2 apart.
The spirit is the easy one to figure out, it could be considered reality itself(Nihilism) or the wave length/ particle domination of spiritual possesion.
The soul is tricky, it is in its nature abstract and is then logically assumed to be nothing but a cognitive calculation, but how does one continue to deny the scientific evidence of the underlying abstract nature of reality itself?
The only true construct of the human mind to me is God, A being to justify the power structure of organising for the will of religion.
I have nothing against organising and nothing against religion, but the combination of the 2 has manifested the death and destruction that brings us so close to the self elimination of our species.
The salvation of humanity will be the death of god in reality, so god can be reborn in our questions.

Captain Chaos · Mar 21, 2007, 06:34 pm

I believe the soul is that part of the self that is not the body.

I believe it is part of a reality outside of this one. I have some speculation on the manner in which the soul interfaces with the body.

I believe we live lifetimes in order to gain experiences.

The evidence from NDEs is what causes me to believe these things, as well as a few other sources.

jascowhiz0 · Mar 21, 2007, 11:55 pm

Quote:

Quote by: lefty

Is the soul ideally a religious invention? What would be the proof of a soul? It is described as intangable, therefore evidence in the physical plane would be impossible to collect. It sounds like such a simple question, but it goes into some deep belief structures and faiths. I believe that they are a human name for something we cannot fully grasp, such as the concept of God or spiritual belief.Everything needs an identifying tag.

I think it was Socrates who came up with the soul, because he has a proof for the existence of the soul.

It has to do with change. You can only change something to the degree which you posses what your changing the thing too. The body can only do physical things. Thinking isn't a physical thing, I doesn't conform to what Socrates calls real. So a soul is what causes thinking, because it isn't physical. Physical isn't the word I want to use, I can't remember what Socrates called it.

Dec 1, 2003, 11:52 pm	#1 (permalink) (top)
white rice Igneous Magma Posts: 372	What do you think of the soul? Do you believe in it? If yes, is it something God gifted upon you? Or is it something different? When I was younger, I thought that once I die, I just wake up as another person. I think it's because I didn't grasp the concept of dying, but it could still be possible. Is the soul spawned from a giant energy factory? Where once it runs its course, it returns to the source? Or is the soul collective of humanity? Now that there's overpopulation, was there the same amount as when humans originally started? My current thought on the soul was posted here. http://www.volconvo.com/index.php?act=ST&f...findpost&p=6205 Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups

Dec 2, 2003, 10:10 am	#2 (permalink) (top)
Impenitent Hot Lava Posts: 1,859	the "soul" is necessary for moral crowd control through the church... if you have no soul, you have no fear of hell... the church can't tell you do anything nor make you comply if you don't have a soul... souls come from the shoe factory "I really like this jacket, but the sleeves are much too long..." insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results...

Dec 2, 2003, 03:52 pm	#4 (permalink) (top)
Impenitent Hot Lava Posts: 1,859	the invention of television, radio and movies and the lack of reading is a good part of why everyone's an idiot... no one thinks and fewer learn how to think... the politics of feeling and the ethics of epicurius help to explain it as well... "I really like this jacket, but the sleeves are much too long..." insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results...

Dec 2, 2003, 11:09 pm	#6 (permalink) (top)
white rice Igneous Magma Posts: 372	</span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by (Impenitent,) the "soul" is necessary for moral crowd control through the church... if you have no soul, you have no fear of hell... the church can't tell you do anything nor make you comply if you don't have a soul... souls come from the shoe factory<hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'> Yes, even You have a soul, I suppose. I don't think organized religion is a qualifier for having a soul. I'll leave it at that unless I get more thoughts on other people. Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups

Dec 27, 2003, 01:20 am	#7 (permalink) (top)
Scribbler1 Skeptical Patriot Posts: 7,746	</span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by (white rice,) What do you think of the soul? Do you believe in it? If yes, is it something God gifted upon you? Or is it something different? When I was younger, I thought that once I die, I just wake up as another person. I think it's because I didn't grasp the concept of dying, but it could still be possible.<hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'> My favorite unproveable definition is that the "soul" is a life force which can't be seen, but exists all around us, made up of umpteen trillions of individual units. Just before birth, the baby absorbs the closest "life unit" and carries it until death, when the unit escapes and just floats around until it gets near another creature nearing birth (human or otherwise) and gets sucked in again and powers the organism like a battery until the organism dies, and so on. And no, I don't think this theory has anything to do with "Star Wars". Not a day goes by that I don't see something that reinforces my belief that people are idiots.

Dec 2, 2003, 03:14 pm	#3 (permalink) (top)
fishamaphone Molten Ash Posts: 68	I have a theory that goes on some reincarnatory beliefs... I think each soul is reborn until it progresses enough to be perfect. I also think that a total of a dozen souls have reached this so far(12 is just a random number). This leads to the population boom of recent times, having a world population that's working on septupling in less than a century. Most peoples' souls, thusly, are on their first run. That's why everyone's an idiot.

Dec 2, 2003, 11:03 pm	#5 (permalink) (top)
fishamaphone Molten Ash Posts: 68	I like my explanation better... it's somehow more humerous than the humdrum "society is self-depreciating" routine...

Dec 30, 2003, 06:27 am	#8 (permalink) (top)
Bayou Igneous Magma Location: Calgary Alberta Canada Posts: 154	I am a spiritual aetheist, so by the definition of the terms, I beleive in the existence of a soul and a spirit without the presence of God. The soul is an abstract whole of its expressions of an organisms thoughts and actions. The spirit is the existence in which the soul is bound by in its expressions. <span style='font-size:16pt;line-height:100%'><span style='font-family:Impact'><span style='color:green'>Vote NDP "The independence of art for the revolution. "The revolution for the complete liberation of art!"</span></span></span>

Jan 6, 2004, 11:00 am	#9 (permalink) (top)
eburchelli Molten Ash Posts: 106	Believing in a soul, makes it easier to contemplate death because it makes us feel that we are somehow immortal and that we never really die. For believers in God, this often means a resurrection at some unspecified time in the future. Our souls, for lack of a better word, are to each of us, our connection to humanity. It's what makes us human. It is the compilation of everything we possess as humans. Kind of like our DNA, which is unique but specific to our species, even though it transcends homo sapiens and includes the other humanoid sub-groups through evolution.

Jan 7, 2004, 03:21 am	#10 (permalink) (top)
fedfem Igneous Magma Location: Northeastern, USA Posts: 606	I am with impenitent on this one. The 'soul' is a construct of the human mind. Bayou--a spritual atheist--interesting. I believe in the human spirit but not on the same plane as you describe. Scribbler, your definition of soul is slightly similar to my definition of the spirit. I sense a connection akin to radio waves rather than particles, though. I also do not feel it is limited to humans. I do think there is enough proof of an unknown mode of communication to remain open-minded. I will be pondering for days now.lol

Jan 7, 2004, 01:24 pm	#11 (permalink) (top)
lefty Sedimentary Rock Posts: 17	Is the soul ideally a religious invention? What would be the proof of a soul? It is described as intangable, therefore evidence in the physical plane would be impossible to collect. It sounds like such a simple question, but it goes into some deep belief structures and faiths. I believe that they are a human name for something we cannot fully grasp, such as the concept of God or spiritual belief.Everything needs an identifying tag.

Jan 7, 2004, 02:12 pm	#12 (permalink) (top)
Impenitent Hot Lava Posts: 1,859	yes, without a soul, what good are promises of heaven or hell? "I really like this jacket, but the sleeves are much too long..." insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results...

Jan 8, 2004, 12:46 am	#13 (permalink) (top)
Bayou Igneous Magma Location: Calgary Alberta Canada Posts: 154	</span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by (fedfem) The 'soul' is a construct of the human mind.<hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'> The human mind itself is a contruct of natural selection and environmental conditioning, we have been given this ability to freely construct any concept we like to define our existence, why gravitate towards a soul and/or spirit? Even Nihilism is forced to describe reality as a "ghost image" for loss of better words to explain it. Lefty states that the soul is intangible, I would say that it is not the soul that is intangible(as we would not be able to create the concept if the soul werent tangible) but it is the connection beetween the spirit and the soul that is intangible to discern the 2 apart. The spirit is the easy one to figure out, it could be considered reality itself(Nihilism) or the wave length/ particle domination of spiritual possesion. The soul is tricky, it is in its nature abstract and is then logically assumed to be nothing but a cognitive calculation, but how does one continue to deny the scientific evidence of the underlying abstract nature of reality itself? The only true construct of the human mind to me is God, A being to justify the power structure of organising for the will of religion. I have nothing against organising and nothing against religion, but the combination of the 2 has manifested the death and destruction that brings us so close to the self elimination of our species. The salvation of humanity will be the death of god in reality, so god can be reborn in our questions. <span style='font-size:16pt;line-height:100%'><span style='font-family:Impact'><span style='color:green'>Vote NDP "The independence of art for the revolution. "The revolution for the complete liberation of art!"</span></span></span>

Mar 21, 2007, 06:34 pm	#14 (permalink) (top)
Captain Chaos Shifting Paradigms Location: Flowery Branch, GA Posts: 3,102	I believe the soul is that part of the self that is not the body. I believe it is part of a reality outside of this one. I have some speculation on the manner in which the soul interfaces with the body. I believe we live lifetimes in order to gain experiences. The evidence from NDEs is what causes me to believe these things, as well as a few other sources. Do all things with love.