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 Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 2:23 pm
This got brought up in one of the other threads so now I'm asking, officially.
To make some points:
Many people believe that there is more to being human than biology, and we can see this in dead skin and drops of blood as when someone sheds or bleeds there isn't a funeral or a sence of loss like when someone flatlines never to come back.
But what is it that makes us human? Or rather what is this soul, spirit, is there more than one and how do we quantify it? Are we are morals and beliefs, and if so then what happens when those change?
The ancient Eygptians believed in the ka & the ba, a sort of soul and spirit, once which sprouted from the viscera after death and was weighed in the afterlife.
TCM has an understanding that each of the Zang-fu organs holds a part of a person's soul. For instance the lungs are thought to house the corporeal soul or the instinct while the liver is said to house the ethereal soul, etc.
Des Carte said "I think therefore I am" and stroke patients with brain damage to manifest personality changes. Yet epileptics with half their brains removed b/c of ceizures are the same pre and post op just less the ceizures.
Some people report having their tastes change after organ transplants. Some people don't.
Studies have shown the DNA carries memory. Candace Perth evidenced in her research that the immune system effects a person's outlook.
When someone acts immorally we tend to view their actions as sub-human.
Plants demonstrate consciousness growing towards light, the unfertilized egg chooses the sperm which will fertilize it, yet vegetarianism if often looked at as kind and menstration is not mourned like death.
So what is it that defines us, substance or non substance that gives us rights inalienable, or rather what are we more than our parts or are we just such?
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Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 2:31 pm
Sorry if I seem mean about this, but could you atleast add a little more or alter this a bit so it doesn't seem like a repeat thread.
Mostly so it won't be confusing for the other members.
Sorry once again hun. I also don't want to seem mean by deleting a thread.
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Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 6:21 pm
Your inner being that untouchable feeling deep inside teeming with life that keeps you going.. or something like that... sweatdrop
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Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 9:18 pm
You know, I don't think I really believe in a soul. Not only am I an atheist but I am also (to coin a word if it hasn't been coined already) an aspiritualist. I have never believed in spirits, or the interconnectivity of all life, a principle often brought up in the Unitarian Universalist congregation I sometimes go to with my mom.
But part of my problem with "soul" is just the word itself. It has rather unpleasant connotations for me.
So instead, I would like to say that while I do not believe in "soul," I do believe in "consciousness." That is, for some reason or another, certain forms of life (maybe not just humans, maybe some other animals as well) have the ability to be self-aware. And perhaps this self-awareness, this consciousness, has over time come to be called the "soul."
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Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 9:36 pm
In my opinion, a soul is a form of intelligent energy which is spiritually idealized to be at the center of the body.
The body acts as an organic shell and powerhouse while the soul is control. It's your personality, feelings, and inner judgment; also known as your "inner child." Your ambition and general outlook on life depends on the soul. Scientifically, the brain gives off chemical reactions, stores information, and gives commands which explain it. What if the brain was the soul's control center? Imagine it as an infinite database that collects information and regulates it. The soul needs no rationality since it's free energy; the brain introduces needed limitations on the soul so that the body isn't damaged by it's escapades. (Like sudden flight off a skyscraper. Example: dreams of flight.)
That is what a soul is for me and how it's related to the human body.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:32 pm
You know what's interesting about this? My friend and I actually got into a debate, made similar to this only by the mention of a soul and your identity as a person.
She argued that (in such a mythical way) some people are not being born with souls. She fixed me with this look and asked, "but does it really matter? People are people, right?" Erm, in any case...You're asking what makes a person a person? I could go on about it for hours because there are so many ways to define a person. By the fact that we like certain things, we think, we dream, we have emotions, and even if you took away some of those things there are so many ways to define a person as a person. I don't even know where to start.
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 9:28 am
Iractis You know what's interesting about this? My friend and I actually got into a debate, made similar to this only by the mention of a soul and your identity as a person.
She argued that (in such a mythical way) some people are not being born with souls. She fixed me with this look and asked, "but does it really matter? People are people, right?" Erm, in any case...You're asking what makes a person a person? I could go on about it for hours because there are so many ways to define a person. By the fact that we like certain things, we think, we dream, we have emotions, and even if you took away some of those things there are so many ways to define a person as a person. I don't even know where to start. My dog thinks, dreams and has emotions...
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 10:00 am
I don't understand why we constantly feel this need to differentiate ourselves from the rest of nature. What makes us human? Well, we're in the primate family and we've been sub-classified as humans. That's it, end of story. What makes us human is a particular genetic range - in the same way that a cat is different from a fish.
I do believe in souls. But rather, I believe in a single soul and we are all part of its physical body. No one sane would argue that each individual cell in our body has a separate soul - with the same logic, I wouldn't argue that each separate individual or species has a separate soul. We are all part of one. We just think we're special (both as a species and as individuals) because we have our heads up our arses.
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:23 pm
Kukushka I don't understand why we constantly feel this need to differentiate ourselves from the rest of nature. What makes us human? Well, we're in the primate family and we've been sub-classified as humans. That's it, end of story. What makes us human is a particular genetic range - in the same way that a cat is different from a fish. I do believe in souls. But rather, I believe in a single soul and we are all part of its physical body. No one sane would argue that each individual cell in our body has a separate soul - with the same logic, I wouldn't argue that each separate individual or species has a separate soul. We are all part of one. We just think we're special (both as a species and as individuals) because we have our heads up our arses. In the matter of ethics it is important to define things. In the matter of society it is important to define ethics to make laws to govern behavior. The ideas of murder being illegal, rape being wrong and equality are all a matter of ethics. That being said, you completely misread what I wrote, go back and read it again, because no where did I ask what we are genetically nor did I make an argument for each cell having a soul. My question was why we feel there is something beyond our DNA and how do we define it, or is this feeling we have of being more than our parts simply a nature/nuture thing. I said we don't mourn a death everytime we bleed eventhough our DNA carries supposedly all the information that makes us, because we have a sence as a person that our "whole" is more than that.
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:53 pm
Genetics defines what we our, but it is our minds that make us who we are.
Every person is different because every mind is different. Even twins, who have identical or nearly identical DNA are different people.
We do not mourn loss of blood or skin cells because those parts have no mind.
"Lesser" animals whose brains are sufficiently developed to have thought and not just differentiate between light/dark, run/fight, etc., can be people in my opinion. I have met many animals I would rather spend time with than some humans.
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:05 pm
Fear and Desire. These are the two most basic feelings, or instincts that a human can have, and could even be considered primal. Without one of those two, a person (or creature) would die. One of the main differences is the way that we humans can combine these two things. Love is perhaps the most complex and strong combination of these, and it can be the greatest thing to happen to someone, and the loss of it has led people to insanity, death, and some things that I would consider worse. We, as humans, are not creatures. We are made in the image of God (interpret this by your own religion if you feel more comfortable doing so). In my own line of thinking, there are even simple little parallels between humans and my own personal God, around whom the Bible centers itself. For instance, the trinity. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Each person can refer to themselves as three: Me, myself, and I. We are able to ponder, comtemplate, and be artistic. There are so many things that show that we as humans are so very far from being "creatures."
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