Do you believe you have a soul?

KeithAFC

tommy2bad wrote: »

Well yes, every living thing is a soul. Stop with the Plato.

What is a soul? Surely every living animal on this planet has this soul then? All the millions upon millions of insects all have souls?

tommy2bad

You are a soul, its a way of describing a life in relation to a creator.
If you don't believe in a God then 'soul' is an empty term, a bit like lifeforce or energy or whatever hand wavie new age term you feel gives you comfort faced with the cold indifferent universe you inhabit.

Johnny Foreigner

Red haired people have no soul.

Maximus Alexander

tommy2bad wrote: »

You are a soul, its a way of describing a life in relation to a creator.
If you don't believe in a God then 'soul' is an empty term, a bit like lifeforce or energy or whatever hand wavie new age term you feel gives you comfort faced with the cold indifferent universe you inhabit.

This is what I don't understand, do people who believe they have a soul knowingly decide to do so because it gives them comfort? Or is there something to suggest that such a thing actually exists?

Personally I'm fine with just being a whole load of fleshy cables. I'm delighted that I got the opportunity. The only shame is that it has to end some day, but who knows, maybe technology can change that.

Biggins

No.
When I'm dead, thats it. I'm gone.
None of this soul crap. It par with this invisible man stuff always watching over us again!
Hocus-pocus, mumbo-jumbo.

KeithAFC

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

This is what I don't understand, do people who believe they have a soul knowingly decide to do so because it gives them comfort? Or is there something to suggest that such a thing actually exists?

Personally I'm fine with just being a whole load of fleshy cables. I'm delighted that I got the opportunity. The only shame is that it has to end some day, but who knows, maybe technology can change that.

Christ no!. Life saving technology would destroy this planet.

gbee

My belief: Everything is energy, everything is cyclical.

Universes come and go, people come and go.

I do believe that some can be possessed with what I can only call a spirit or soul. This extra bit is the 'whatever' that seemingly separates us from most animals and I believe that this bit leaves at death and goes on to possess another newborn.

Seachmall

bnt wrote: »

You seem to be hung up on this question of definitions, but that's just a distraction. You don't have to define something exactly before you can say "I don't believe that"; belief is not a default position, to be taken unless there's a reason to disbelieve.

Doc's reference to definitions was in response to my comments about how the "soul" would have to be redefined as a physical thing (as oppose to metaphysical) before it could be considered rational to believe in.

He wasn't making the point about "definitions" himself, just thought I'd mention that.

MyKeyG

If I have a spirit presence inside me that can survive without the body then why do I have a body? Why do I eat, sleep and shít?

Maximus Alexander

KeithAFC wrote: »

Christ no!. Life saving technology would destroy this planet.

Yeah that's what they said about the loom.

Doc Ruby

tommy2bad wrote: »

If you don't believe in a God then 'soul' is an empty term, a bit like lifeforce or energy or whatever hand wavie new age term you feel gives you comfort faced with the cold indifferent universe you inhabit.

This is interesting, why would you think that?

I consider an existence after death to be a possibility, but I don't believe that there's one overall god. That seems to say "christianity's way or the highway".

gbee

MyKeyG wrote: »

If I have a spirit presence inside me as a life force then what are all my organs for?

This planet's lifeforms are pretty primitive as of yet.

KeithAFC

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Yeah that's what they said about the loom.

So more people are born and yet no one dies? How would we sustain all these people? Would never work.

gbee

KeithAFC wrote: »

So more people are born and yet no one dies? How would we sustain all these people? Would never work.

I see it as a 300 year life cycle, [potential] rather than everlasting life.

Maximus Alexander

KeithAFC wrote: »

So more people are born and yet no one dies? How would we sustain all these people? Would never work.

If you could live for a thousand years you probably wouldn't have kids in your twenties. You might have them when you're 600 instead. Society adapts, technology changes.

If you could extend lives to that scale it would bring about radical social change. You can't just plug infinite or vastly expanded lifespans into the present day world and say "we'd be fúcked".

KeithAFC

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

If you could live for a thousand years you probably wouldn't have kids in your twenties. You might have them when you're 600 instead. Society adapts, technology changes.

If you could extend lives to that scale it would bring about radical social change. You can't just plug infinite or vastly expanded lifespans into the present day world and say "we'd be fúcked".

Ah ok. Liverpool might just win the league then. Might.

twistedsoul

Interesting to see that most people believe they don`t have souls

old hippy

twistedsoul wrote: »

Interesting to see that most people believe they don`t have souls

A sign of maturity, which is refreshing

tommy2bad

Doc Ruby wrote: »

This is interesting, why would you think that?

I consider an existence after death to be a possibility, but I don't believe that there's one overall god. That seems to say "christianity's way or the highway".

No, I was saying that the term 'soul' has a specific meaning in Christian terms.
Would that be this highway?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_5kv8QeBBc

I don't know if life or existence can continue after death.
If our soul is the personality part, the information and feelings that we carry as living bodies, ware can it go? How can that info be transferred to something else?
I'm not ruling it out, I'm well aware of the fact that information can cross through chaos and come out intact, look up Soliton waves, so I suppose if our soul is the bit that survives it may well prove to be some kind of eletrical phenomenon akin to a soliton.

MyKeyG

twistedsoul wrote: »

Interesting to see that most people believe they don`t have souls

Not in the spiritual sense at least. To me your soul is defined by character, your integrity, dignity etc or lack thereof.