Do we posess a soul, or is it all chemical?

[Jack_Uzi]

Lets asume there is a soul. The soul obviously somehow has to communicate with our bodies, since our decissions and shit like that are determined by the soul. But why do substances like alcohol have a direct impact in the way that we think? In this case, physically existing things have an effect on the soul. Wouldn't dieing then kill the soul too?

Now if the soul gets destroyed when we die and can get damaged by the physical realm, then how does it differ from chemicals (and electricity or something. I'm not a brain specialist) in our brains?

Good one! Got to grind my gears a bit on this... Though external chemicals like drugs and alcohol alter your chemical balance, some people remain calm while some feel the sudden urge to get violent. Whether or not these are good things, maybe 'slowing' your mind down for a bit, can bring people to the more true and thus pure self. But that's just my speculation on a part of your question.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

Lol define a soul. Then tell me how a non-physical entity can cause anything to a physical one.

Tell me how, when you slam two atoms together, they both disappear. I thought that matter couldn't be destroyed?

No, but it can be converted or transferred into a form we cannot observe any longer.

OT: I still haven't figured this one out yet.

 

[trophykiller]

yes, i believe we have a soul, but our emotions can be affected by chemicals. and to those who don't believe we have a soul, explain this: the human body literally gets lighter upon death(sience has proven this)

 

[Abengoshis]

I believe its only chemical and electrical. No soul or any other magical somethingorother.

Oh and to the guy above me, I just read this: http://www.snopes.com/religion/soulweight.asp

And the guy who said the internet is just an idea, no it's multiple electrical signals going off and on.

Theres bound to be LOADS of bad, misinterpreted, out of date or even made up science from people on this topic, so I think I'll just leave now before it gets too messy.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

A soul is just an idea created by man.

So is the internet. The internet only exists as an idea, but one that we can interact with.

So is God. Just one we cannot by definition interact with.

 

[PissOffRoth]

No, but it can be converted or transferred into a form we cannot observe any longer.

OT: I still haven't figured this one out yet.

So invisible atoms are plausible and a soul isn't? Why not just say that magic is bullshit but witchcraft is definitely a possibility?

 

[Xanadu84]

Why not both? In the same way that a house is both many planks of wood and pounds of concrete AND a Ranch style with 3 bedrooms, the soul can be seen as an emergent property of the chemicals that make up a brains structure.

 

[InsanityBaronOfAtrocity]

It's frightening the amount of people with access to the internet still believe in the existence of an immortal soul.

OT: I only hold things to be true if they are proven to be true. Also, stating something can be true for you and not for other people is completely and utterly nonsensical. Amazing claims require amazing evidence.

yes, i believe we have a soul, but our emotions can be affected by chemicals. and to those who don't believe we have a soul, explain this: the human body literally gets lighter upon death(sience has proven this)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_MacDougall_(doctor)

It's actually not widely accepted by the scientific community as fact. After all only one doctor ever took an interest in it and that was in 1907. His methodology was even considered suspect. So yeah, you're wrong.

 

[Valkyrie101]

It's all chemical, even the personality. Absolutely no evidence of a soul exists.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

We have a soul, but we also have chemicals in our brain. The two kind of co-exist with one another (Think of the Soul as the Super Ego and the Brain Chemicals as the Id), usually keeping a person in balance.

 

[KEM10]

Actually had this discussion at a pub a few days ago. There is scientific "proof" that something like a soul exists. Look up MacDougall and his death research. In short, he placed dieing patients on a cadaver scale and kept them relaxed until they were about to pass, The patients' weights slowly decreased as they were about to die (assumed by perspiration being evaporated) and at the moment of death, they lost roughly 3/4 of an ounce. He ran this study multiple times and it happened again and again.

Now, since all things are made of matter and have weight, that 3/4 of an ounce could be assumed to be your soul.

Extra things to consider, while breathing the scale didn't move that much so it isn't them exhaling at time of death. And the death rattle generally comes later. Also, the voided bowels at time of death (assuming it happened that second) would stay on the scale so would be included in that final weigh in.

 

[Seventh Actuality]

All chemical. The idea that that somehow cheapens anything is something we badly need to get over.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

No, but it can be converted or transferred into a form we cannot observe any longer.

OT: I still haven't figured this one out yet.

So invisible atoms are plausible and a soul isn't? Why not just say that magic is bullshit but witchcraft is definitely a possibility?

How exactly did you get "invisible atoms"? There is quite a bit of energy forms we cannot see to the human eye, only observe it's actions on the physical plane of existence. You can't do that with any of the other three concepts you described. Thank you for the strawmen.

Edit: I should have been more specific the first time. You still can't accurately describe a "soul", let alone seem to agree with people on one firm definition.

 

[Aglynugga]

If you looks at it from the perspective of physics...uh...maybe.
Maybe is the shortest answer. If you want the long answer it's really fucking long.
Ask a bunch of masons or rosacrucians, ask a bunch of christians, ask Stephen Hawkins, all their answers except the last might not be satisfactory. The last one will be "Maybe".

 

[InsanityBaronOfAtrocity]

Believing that you have a soul, regardless of whether or not that sort of thing is true, grants a healthier life style IMO.

So yes, I have a soul.

So, essentially what you've done is openly admitted that you don't care whether there's evidence for it or not you still believe it's existence to be true? Doesn't it worry you that you're happiness is based on a delusion?

All chemical. The idea that that somehow cheapens anything is something we badly need to get over.

I agree. It frustrates me how people insist upon sticking to stone age beliefs when fact is so much more interesting than the easy answers things like the existence of a soul and ,by extension, religion throw out there. I think the intricacy of the human body and mind is far more fascinating and beautiful in it's own way.

 

[Theninja'skatana]

*Edit: My thought on 'having a soul' is this: the 'thing' that motivates your actions and/or thoughts.

Sounds like you mean a human psyche which is possible.
I'm hoping for souls to exist but the realist in me is saying that it doesn't

 

[Subzerowings]

I am not religious, but I do believe in the soul.
And Jack, I haven't seen you in ages! How are you?

I love your new avatar.
Dark Cloud 2/ Dark Chronicle is awesome!

On topic: I don't believe in any God, but it would destroy me to believe that there is no afterlife.
If your soul is the essence of your being that's carried to that afterlife, then yes.
I believe that we have a soul.

 

[Ciran]

Lol define a soul. Then tell me how a non-physical entity can cause anything to a physical one.

That's actually been proven time and time again. Has an idea ever caused you to do anything or cause anything to have been done to you? Ideas have no physical form, yet they have a huge impact on the world around us.

As for the whole definition of a soul, well, I don't think there is a unified theory on that.

 

[Palademon]

The idea that we are who we are based on how we were brought up, our environment, and our genes saying what we're most likely to be interested in is the logical argument. However I would prefer that I wasn't who I am purely based on the actions of other people.