The Foreign
The devolution of the human soul.
What IS a human soul? The abstract notion of some ghost-like entity residing (physically) within our bodies? The collective being of our heart, brain, and emotions? Or the simple, yet infinitely vague, concept of the Mind, of Consciousness?
Native Americans, or Indians as the English colonial settlers called them when they first landed in the Americas, thinking it was the far east, thought the soul was a physical entity within our bodies. They got that idea from seeing steam rise from a man's open wounds in the dead of winter. They thought the soul was escaping the body through the wounds. Of course, that is the same as thinking the soul was escaping your body when you breathe in cold weather. But they were relatively primitive, no one can blame their shamans for that theory. Strike one, the soul is not physical, not material. At least, in my opinion.
The heart pumps blood, throughout your body, many pints over and over in a constant, non-stop cycle. Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to your organs and limbs. Your brain controls your body, in a nonvoluntary way. You dont "tell" your heart to stop, start, slow down, speed up.. Your brain does, without any input from you. Commands to every part of your body, voluntary or not, are transmitted through neurons, similar to a machine's zeros and ones. So in a way, your brain is independent of you. You breathe while asleep, nonvoluntarily. Emotions, not what makes us human. Animals have emotions. Hell, even plants have emotions. Any living being has emotions. Ours are just a bit more complex than, say, a christmas tree's emotions. Emotions are, to an extent, a voluntary and completely controlled set of mental states. Different people have different degrees of control over their emotions. So at the end, is the total amalgamation of your heart, brain, and emotions the definition of a soul? No. Because they're still 66% physical. Material. Visible. And ultimately, not so mysterious.
The Mind. Many people confuse the Mind with the brain. The Mind is not the brain, nor is it IN the brain, or any part OF the brain. The Mind is what makes us human. Animals have brains, act on instinct, learn and develop limited skills. But they do not have a Mind. A Mind suggests innovation, complex thought, complex emotions. Artificial Intelligence can only be so much, because it can never have a mind. Artificial Intelligence will always act and react according to a set of programmed rules and parameters. It can't innovate, it can't have spontaneous emotions. It can never love. (And don't start with any Bicentennial Man bullshit, please!). It will ALWAYS exists according to a predefined collection of code lines. It will never have Consciousness.
So have we come any closer to defining the Soul? Is the Soul akin or related to the Mind and Consciousness? One can debate that, since animals have souls, but no complex Mind.
Is the Soul inside you a part of God? That which gives you Life? As in "God is in all of us" ?
In my opinion, the Soul will stay a vague and mysterious concept. Maybe if Man can one day measure the length, width, and depth of the universe, Man can also at that moment define a single Soul.
Any thoughts?
What IS a human soul? The abstract notion of some ghost-like entity residing (physically) within our bodies? The collective being of our heart, brain, and emotions? Or the simple, yet infinitely vague, concept of the Mind, of Consciousness?
Native Americans, or Indians as the English colonial settlers called them when they first landed in the Americas, thinking it was the far east, thought the soul was a physical entity within our bodies. They got that idea from seeing steam rise from a man's open wounds in the dead of winter. They thought the soul was escaping the body through the wounds. Of course, that is the same as thinking the soul was escaping your body when you breathe in cold weather. But they were relatively primitive, no one can blame their shamans for that theory. Strike one, the soul is not physical, not material. At least, in my opinion.
The heart pumps blood, throughout your body, many pints over and over in a constant, non-stop cycle. Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to your organs and limbs. Your brain controls your body, in a nonvoluntary way. You dont "tell" your heart to stop, start, slow down, speed up.. Your brain does, without any input from you. Commands to every part of your body, voluntary or not, are transmitted through neurons, similar to a machine's zeros and ones. So in a way, your brain is independent of you. You breathe while asleep, nonvoluntarily. Emotions, not what makes us human. Animals have emotions. Hell, even plants have emotions. Any living being has emotions. Ours are just a bit more complex than, say, a christmas tree's emotions. Emotions are, to an extent, a voluntary and completely controlled set of mental states. Different people have different degrees of control over their emotions. So at the end, is the total amalgamation of your heart, brain, and emotions the definition of a soul? No. Because they're still 66% physical. Material. Visible. And ultimately, not so mysterious.
The Mind. Many people confuse the Mind with the brain. The Mind is not the brain, nor is it IN the brain, or any part OF the brain. The Mind is what makes us human. Animals have brains, act on instinct, learn and develop limited skills. But they do not have a Mind. A Mind suggests innovation, complex thought, complex emotions. Artificial Intelligence can only be so much, because it can never have a mind. Artificial Intelligence will always act and react according to a set of programmed rules and parameters. It can't innovate, it can't have spontaneous emotions. It can never love. (And don't start with any Bicentennial Man bullshit, please!). It will ALWAYS exists according to a predefined collection of code lines. It will never have Consciousness.
So have we come any closer to defining the Soul? Is the Soul akin or related to the Mind and Consciousness? One can debate that, since animals have souls, but no complex Mind.
Is the Soul inside you a part of God? That which gives you Life? As in "God is in all of us" ?
In my opinion, the Soul will stay a vague and mysterious concept. Maybe if Man can one day measure the length, width, and depth of the universe, Man can also at that moment define a single Soul.
Any thoughts?