i already believe that everyone has a soul, but this is for the unbelievers.... my philosophy when you feel emotion you feel emotion let me explain if you were sad, you would cry (more specifically, your body would cry) your crying is just your body's reaction to yourself being sad. your body doesn't get sad.. or angry/happy your body doesn't have emotion, it simply reacts/shows your emotions and ima take some words from Creflo dollar right now.... "your body is a physical projection of your spiritual self."
Emotion is a chemical state of the brain. It can be controlled through altering the chemicals. With the right drugs you can be made to feel rather intense emotions, or supress them. If there was a soul involved in that it would not be possible to alter your soul simply by altering the chemical state of your brain.
I don't think drugs alter your soul in any way, but they do affect the physical organ called your brain, and I think that your spirit, soul, and body are a lot more interconnected than most people realize.
From an "unbeliever" How is this proof of the existance of a soul? Heres an interesting article on crying and tears http://www.boston.com/globe/search/stories/health/health_sense/102196.htm http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/08/27/1061663846142.html?oneclick=true This is just one of your examples. But what we feel when we experience emotion are just chemical changes occuring in our bodies caused my some synapse or another firing a message that was sent because we had a reaction to some kind of stimulai.... Emotion is just a word. A word for a feeling. That feeling is caused by changes that can be explained by science. There are of course extremes. Like people will say that the emotion of love can not be explained by science, but then many different avenues we can take when discussion human emotion. Especially extreme ones. I think the belief in spiritual things is beautiful, I wish I had it... but I dont think proof is a good word to use. EDIT : apparently im very slow
Andrew I could said there are chemical in your brain altering your mood therefore you have a soul...the point is you could use this argument either way.
There really can't be proof for such things, but IMO there is a soul, if for no other reason than because people want things, even if they don't need them, do things even if they don't have to, and well, we have a moral right and wrong, even if we aren't religious and haven't been taught these things extensively. PL
I guess I'm surprised, Tika, that a poet would doubt spiritual things. Looking on from the outside, I would say that you have a soul....the soul of a poet. You see beauty where others don't. Faced with the same 'external stimuli' as others, you think, question, ponder, reason, and hope. I know nothing at all about you, except what I've read in some of your posts, yet I believe that your eyes can see purpose and meaning where others' don't. It bothers you when you DON'T see the hidden purpose or meaning, but that just shows that you bother to look for it. (and I'm just guessing here, but maybe you look for purpose and meaning because, deep down inside, you KNOW that it's there) Anyway, just my 2 cents. You have a soul that enjoys the beauty and passion all around you. You have a spirit that longs to communicate with the one Spirit (Almighty God) Who created it. And yes, you have a body that houses both spirit and soul--with lots and lots of neurons firing and chemicals mixing--the part of you that types out posts on MAP, and the only part that the rest of us can see. The real treasure is what's inside...the part kept under 'lock and key'. Sometimes it's hard to sort 'em all out, but they ALL (together) make up who you are.
My own take's pretty simple. I think the brain acts as an intermediary between the spirit and the tangible world, no less than the eyes and ears and such act as intermediaries between the brain and it's surroundings. If folks want to believe they're just overly complex organic machinery, hey, fine with me. You're just de-valuing yourselves.
With the discussion of souls, often comes the concept of the afterlife. I don't mean to hijack the thread, but it is a related topic. Do believe in an afterlife? (this ones for everybody)
No you couldn't. That's flawed reasoning. Chemicals that affect our emotions are no proof of the existence of a soul. I don't think anyone on this thread has yet proved the existence of a soul in a satisfactory way. I would say Tika has the mind of a poet. All of the attributes you have described Capt Ann can be attributed to the mind as well. Now, this isn't to say I'm against spirituality. I think it's important for us to connect with ourselves in a way that only spiritual practice can achieve, but I realize that this type of experience is really only a way for us to connect to many of our subconscious desires and feelings.
I'm not saying that there is a soul. I'm saying that the argument could go either way. Chemicals in your brain doesn't prove or disprove you have a soul.
a good part of my arguement, were the you and yours stated in bold, but i guess it just kinda flew over peoples heads i came up with this i guess after after thinking about just the way people talk ex. "i'm sad" "i'm excited to see you" you don't say "my body is happy to see you" lol which brings me to something else (just came up with it after typing that sentence) you have a body i don't know exactly how to word this question, but i'll go for it anyway... what are you? what is you anybody see where i'm trying to go with this?
But the title of this thread is "Proof of the existence of the Soul ", so you pro-soul people have the burden of proof on your shoulders. You don't say "my soul is happy to see you" either. It all boils down to what individual people think the word "I" means. Personally I think I'm a bunch of nerve impulses and chemical reactions inside my head.
Dissassociation is a psychological disorder in which you mentally detach yourself from your body, viewing it as little more than a mechanism for carrying you around. It can lead to all sorts of fun consequences, and often leads to belief in the soul. After all, if 'I' am not this body walking around, then where is 'me'? However, personally I don't believe in the soul, despite suffering from dissassociation. I have yet to see any real evidence that my actions, thoughts, or anything else are anything mroe than the construct of a chemical maelstrom inside my head. No one has presented any actual evidence that the soul exists that doesn't go both ways, so until someone does so, there's little point in sitting there and saying 'yes it does', 'oh no it doesn't', and waiting to catch each other out. Still at least its made up for not seeing a pantomime over Christmas.
