Does anyone on this website think we have souls? Or do you think it is bs made up by the religious fools? I think it's made up by the fools of religion. Like most religious things there is no proof of it to my knowledge.
2
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Nope, I sold my soul to the devil, ha! But no I do not have a soul, and other people say that they may.
BloodMetal
Level 2
Sep 12, 2018
0
I agree on theological grounds, but do believe in a soul that is defined by personality, character, and experience.
AstralSmoke
Level 8
Sep 10, 2018
1
It depends how you define "soul". If, as Skado says, it's "the mental, emotional, intuitive and feeling components of a person", ie the totality of the conscious and subconscious minds, known as the psyche, then yes - I believe that exists. If it's a sort of ghost that continues to exist in some form after a living being dies, then no - I definitely don't believe in that.
Jnei
Level 8
Sep 10, 2018
2
I think that when that question asked, one first needs to define what they mean by a "soul" -- as to something that exists separate and apart from the body I would think that the answer by folks on site, would be a resounding, "no." In the field of philosophy, known as the "mind/body" problem, and something that has been discussed for centuries. (My Dad was a philosophy professor, so it was not that unusual for him to bring up an aspect of the issue at the dinner table for some kind of discussion. --He was an atheist, so didn't give much credence to the idea of there being a "soul" that exeisted, independant of the body.) He was a good man, my Dad -- I miss him.
minniemouse
Level 5
Sep 10, 2018
2
no, I don't believe we have souls in that sense. yes, I believe it was made up, by people who didn't know where "Mind" comes from and couldn't deal with "that dead guy is gone, his self has ceased to exist".
HereticSin
Level 7
Sep 9, 2018
1
I think most people use the term "soul" figuratively, like feeling something "deep in your soul" and other poetic images. I think the word "soul" can often be substituted for the idea of "conscience" and it's often paired with "heart" which we do have a physical heart, but its function is really not the manufacturing and housing of love, as it's commonly and symbolically referenced as in poetic terms.
Julie808
Level 8
Sep 9, 2018
2
I don't think it necessarily was made up by religions. People have this sense of interiority that they feel is continuous, and they hope that it will continue on. I don't believe there is a soul myself, but I understand people who do. It doesn't always have to do with religion.
Tomfoolery33
Level 9
Sep 9, 2018
2
Have to agree 100% with you. I am curious about the 21 grams test I am sure it is some energy release principle not yet discovered.
azzow2
Level 9
Sep 9, 2018
3
JimG:
I think that would have a lot to do with the fact that the source of the 21 gram theory is one doctor who set out to prove the existence of the soul. No one else has replicated the experiment or the results, and the experiment was prejudiced from the beginning. Until the results are confirmed, it's not even worthy of speculation.
Jnei:
Duncan MacDougall's 21 gram "experiment" has been vigorously debunked in numerous ways including more plausible explanations as to why a body might lose a small amount of weight immediately after death (even when the experiment was carried out, other doctors pointed out that bodies sweat immediately after death when the lungs stop working and the blood is no longer cooled as a result, causing a temporary rise in body temperature and loss of fluids), objective criticism of MacDougall's methods, the limitations of the equipment available to him (the study was carried out in 1907) and, as JimG points out, criticism of MacDougall's selective reporting when obtaining his results. It's worth mentioning that even MacDougall admitted his experiment was less than perfect and insisted that it would have to be carried out many more times to give a greater sample size than the six patients he was able to study.
The "Experiment" would probably have been forgotten very rapidly were it not for the craze for all things spiritual and woo-woo at that time, which caused the newspapers to sensationalise it.
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