and If the 'soul' is essence, does it too exist, or is it an ancient myth that we have become to believe, because various religions have told us it exists.
2007-09-25 03:37:08 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Scientifially, there is no proof of the soul, other than as a function of the brain which is capable of abstract thought and personality development...
So I have to say, with no proof, I dismiss the existence of the soul. Apparently, if it exists, it has no measurable function.
2007-09-25 03:41:21 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
IMHO, No. the soul is just a concept because people do not understand how a organ made up of simple neurons can give the appearance of sentient thought.
Many years ago when the microscope was first invented, when people realised that our bodies were made up of cells, people looked at sperm cells and managed to persuade themselves that there was a vary small man figure in each sperm cell. After all, there had to be, so that the man's characters were taken with each sperm.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homunculus#Homunculus_of_Spermists
Today we understand DNA and genetics and realise that this is just rubbish.
For those who claim a soul does exist, please provide some hard evidence to support your claim.
If the soul is separate, how come death or stimulation of parts of the brain alters your personality? How can drugs that effect the chemicals in the brain alter thoughts and personality? How can electrical stimulation do the same?
2007-09-25 03:53:58 · answer #2 · answered by Simon T 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The "soul" was invented back in the stone age . People saw animals die, the fish die , plants of all kinds died . Nature made all living things to fear death . Without this fear , nothing would make any effort to protect itself - - - life would come to an end .
Ah , but what if there is some tiny invisible part of us that flies off into a wonderful place of everlasting comfort , security , happiness ? Enter - - - - the soul .
The idea was so appealing that it was passed on and on and on .
The soul will be sent to the scrap heap when people accept the fact that all living things come , grow up , reproduce , and die to make room for those who follow .
This is understandable , natural , believable , desireable .
2007-09-25 03:53:10 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
The soul is the chemical and electrical part of our "self" that makes us react to stimuli in the way we do (our ego, or personality).
If we built a very complex computer that was unaware of its origins, but advanced enough to be self-aware. It might well wonder what "it" was.....where its "self-awareness" came from.
We could explain to it that it is simply a function of the electrons shooting from one circuit board to the other. That does not necessarily mean that it would believe it.
But nevertheless it would be true to say that if we could build a complex enough computer that it was self-aware we could claim to have built a "soul". And if we can build it then it is clearly not supernatural ergo the existence of the soul in the traditional sense is a myth.
2007-09-25 04:15:23 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's a religious myth, invented by people who think we should somehow survive the death of our bodies. What is there to survive? We're just a temporary collection of skin and bones, atoms and molecules. When we die, that all dissipates. There's nothing magical hiding inside any of it. If so, why would my atoms and molecules have this magical soul, but not the atoms and molecules of a rock, or a tree?
2007-09-25 03:42:02 · answer #5 · answered by Cap'n Zeemboo 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
It doesn't exist.The closest real referent is the Mind, which is simply the process of the operation of a brain.
A mind is no less physical than the music that comes out of a stereo system. It's entirely linked to the physical substrate, and ends when the substrate ceases to function.
CD
2007-09-25 03:42:46 · answer #6 · answered by Super Atheist 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The soul as a separate thing that lives on after you die does not exist.
2007-09-25 03:40:28 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
That which we refer to as a soul is the product of electro-chemical activities in and the physiological arrangement of the brain.
2007-09-25 03:41:28 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
I call it 'Spirit'.
Read 'The Secret Life of Plants', it's intriguing if nothing else:http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Life-Plants-Peter-Tompkins/dp/0060915870/ref=bxgy_cc_b_text_a/102-2761547-7922537
2007-09-25 04:28:02 · answer #9 · answered by Part Time Cynic 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The first answer is true.
2007-09-25 03:45:25 · answer #10 · answered by Montgomery B 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋