have you got a soul?

[mrdevious]

I find it somewhat odd that so many people think that if consciousness is an entirely physical process, made of neurons and chemicals and the such, that somehow demystifies it and limits it's potential. If all matter is a compressed form of forces from energy and gravitation, should a physical entity not be capable of anything that an energetic entity can do, so long as it becomes sufficiently advanced in its complexity? Neurochemical stimulation by means of hallucinogens and entheogens in general have lead to some of the most profound perceptions, thoughts, and changes in our view on reality. What I'm getting at is that forces of energy, or whatever other non-matter substance you like to think of, are only relevant as to how they affect the material world. Chemical reactions and physical processes can affect the physical world in the same way that people percieve mystical non-descript substances such as a "soul".

Perhapse it is a fear of knowledge that convinces us that a physical entity must have such extreme limitations. A fear that if a process is fully explainable and actually works within the confines of logic, it will somehow loses the potential to carry us beyond our every day perceptions and overal portential. I don't believe this however, I think there's no such thing as real processes that work outside of logic, or mystical entities that work through "magic" and overall unexplainable concepts. I think it's more realistic to believe that everything, even if it were god, a soul, Gandalf's magic, or jedi using the force; all of this would work through logically defined means that have yet to be understood by the human mind. Which is why I also believe that furthering the limitations and understandings of humanity, understanding how to manipulate this universe to our ultimate benefit, will only be hindered by abdicating power and responsibility to unseen higher powers. I don't mean to suggest that we should declare everything unseen as imaginary, quite the contrary, I think we need to consider and explore every avenue of thought. But giving up and explaining things with mysical terms like "soul" and "god" and refusing to define their borders and how they would, will ultimately hinder the progress of human consciousness considerably.

[delusionsofNORMALity]

no that whore gave it to some one else without my permission

mary is not a whore, only people are whores (all of us).

you undoubtedly came home a bit stoned, saw it sitting there bright and pretty, picked it up and set it somewhere you thought it wouldn't get lost. as is usually the case, those are the places you can never seem to find when you aren't high. you might be looking at it right now and not even realize it. mary likes to clean up a soul before returning it, so it might appear a bit less worn than the last time you used it. go ahead and look around, i'm sure you'll find it before the next time you need it.

[Samwhore]

mary is not a whore, only people are whores (all of us).

you undoubtedly came home a bit stoned, saw it sitting there bright and pretty, picked it up and set it somewhere you thought it wouldn't get lost. as is usually the case, those are the places you can never seem to find when you aren't high. you might be looking at it right now and not even realize it. mary likes to clean up a soul before returning it, so it might appear a bit less worn than the last time you used it. go ahead and look around, i'm sure you'll find it before the next time you need it.

that happened a long time ago, I found a bud in my backpack. I found mary's friends a while ago, bics and visine

[the yeag]

i traded mine in a long time ago...i think it was for a bag of weed and some dorittos.

[Demeter]

Back when people didn't understand what causes consciousness, they called the source of consciousness the "soul" and proposed that it lives forever. We have since discovered the soul. It is a very real physical object, but its existence is temporary. We call it the nervous system.

Your personality, your memories, your emotions and your knowledge is nothing but a collection of trillions of neurons firing around in your brain. We know this for a fact. When somebody experiences brain damage, their personalities, memories, emotions and knowledge are also damaged. When somebody ingests mind-altering chemicals, their personalities, memories, emotions and knowledge are altered. This would not happen if the source of personality, memory, emotion and knowledge was in some non-physical entity of some sort. The soul is the brain and nothing more; the brain is temporary, and that means your time to experience anything is also limited. When you die, that's it. Your brain stops functioning and decomposes, ending all subjective experience you have and erasing your personality, memories, emotions and knowledge from the universe. You only have one chance at seeing the universe, and that's it, so make it count.

Just because you are a materialist, doesn't mean you have the final answer on the soul. It is one of a few viable theories, but it is hubris to claim to have the final answer to something like that. We must always remember that as soon as we say we Know something, we are closed to learning more.
There are things science has yet to explain, and there are many different views of soul. Yours is that our personalities would be intact. But soul does not necessarily retain "personality" - with the death of the body it could reconnect (as energy) with the Oversoul. It could also reincarnate as energy from the Oversoul.
Who knows? Neither one of us

[geonagual]

I DONT KNOW. Nobody does really except for those that have died.

[Polymirize]

DO YOU HAVE A SOUL!? no collective in this only you. can you comprehend not having a soul and being empty of any higher level and just consist of pure matter, by soul i mean a mind that is more than just chemiclmush and neurons but a higher level which includes drives, thoughts, desires and spirituality.

I think this is a very badly phrased question. Because first, yes, I can comprehend not having a soul and being empty of higher levels (?). I actually think what you're describing is a sort of base state within our society these days.
I'll agree with some of what oneironaut says in regards to the role of the neuron networks of the brain with regard to drives, thoughts and memories.

Drum is very unclear about what he means by higher level. You say it includes drives? I would consider drives to be very basic myself. Animals have drives. Drives are the primary level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which suits my purposes of this discussion just fine.

Nonetheless, humans seem to have this curious ability to choose, to reject their own biological determinings, whether they're genetic or neurological, in order to do things completely unpredicatably.
I have thoughts and feelings that are in no way tied to my biological existence, and its these that lead me to speculate about the possibilities of something more beyond the known.

But I wouldn't want to call it a soul, you know... how trite.

[drum]

ye poorly phrased, unfortunately tryin to describe what i mean by a higher level would be very difficult for me. in relation to drives, i think aspirations may be a better word. why animals are exempt from havin a sul...fuck that, just cos my dog cant speak dusnt mean she doesnt communicate with me (hgher level). if you can comprehend being pure matter you answered the question, im sorry i was stoned man, thas how it goes. hey freespeach means being able to shout "theatre" in a crowded fire.i dont know what a base state is, surley its a head state.hehe

[Pass That Shit]

Your soul is your life. Your spirit drives your body. First you think it, then you do it. Your mind tells your body what to do.

From a scientific point of view, how does a thought enter the brain? The thought travels from your soul to your brain. Our words are electricity. If you hear bad news, the words enter your ears, travel through your body and break your heart.
If you have a heart, you have a soul, cause you're alive.

[krazy chino]

probably God created sum people wit no souls just to use them to test us people wit souls probably sum people wit no soul just walk around wit human instincts those soulless people just die and nothin happens but us wit souls we keep livin but as our souls iternally in sum other dimension like heaven is a dimension we don't understand and sum don't belive it cuz we haven't been threre yet uhm damn i'm fuckin blowwwwn