What is a soul?

I am curious what you mean by this statement.

This is what you said: No. We have a very different definition of what learning encompases.Storing it does not. Understanding the concept with the ability to apply it. Having that understanding brings fundamental meanings which people base their lives upon. A persons entire life and motivation will center upon one or a handful of fundamental understandings.
Alzheimers does not neccessarily "clean it out." This again illustrates our difference of definition.
I do not believe there is such a thing. Exactly what difference there is between conscious and unconscious thought is all theory at best so where intent applies, where it begins or ends, is simply not yet clear.

I am suggesting that an idea is a non physical reality as we understand physical "whatever physical is"
We bring it to reality as we understand it. Writing, engineering, music..ect are all examples. They are all nothing till we make them something in the understanding of reality we share. It is obvious to me we function in a reality science does not yet understand, if it can.

I mean that whether or not there is a GOD, the concept of soul does not make sense. It may well be something we believe, but it is something we cannot test, define uniquely, examine or present.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

If my memory serves me right, he was representing the ”liberal’ Christian view in the debate. Based on where he appeared to be coming from, it sounded more like he was suggesting that it was possible to live as a Christian would, but without all the underpinnings of faith, although that might suggest he had a fairly idealised view of how Christians live their lives. I think there are a couple of issues here.I started the thread by asking people what the word ”soul’ meant to them. I have to confess I’ve not seen anything so far that persuades me that there’s much going on in this area outside of consciousness or self-awareness. Mix these two little babies with a smidgeon of faith-based belief, and you have the ”soul’ concept.I really don’t think the soul is anything other than in the eye of the beholder. I also think the modern god idea is a very self-orientated one, in that the god idea people worship today is seen as a much more ”personal/knowable’ entity than would have been the case a few thousand years ago, where the multi-gods tended to represent the forces of nature. In this particular faith-based environment, it’s maybe not surprising that many interpret their consciousness and self-awareness as something more than the sum of the parts.Ironically, taking the modern idea of ”personal’ god to the next stage, I wonder if we might not see a move back to polytheism, with a belief in individual gods for each individual being, or even the idea of individuals as their own gods.

Only among those who confuse the Map with the Territory.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

I’m not sure I can put my hand on my heart and say I’m the same “I” I was 23 years ago. I believe different things, I feel different things and I react to my surroundings in different ways. Sure, I share some of the same memories with that 25 year old, but I’m really not sure what else we have in common.

. which would be a subset of those who believe the territory is real as opposed to illusory. Those of us who don’t belong to either set just wonder how many definitions of nothingness we need.

Is that really the case though? There’s evidence that plants respond differently to different types of music. Is this evidence of their souls, or evidence that physical forms respond in different ways to different waveforms? Is coastal erosion evidence of the land having a soul, or the destructive power of the sea? . or that the understanding science offers is not pleasing to us, so we seek solace elsewhere.Edited by dogrelata, : No reason given.

I vividly remember walking on Oxford St. in London right before Christmas a number of years ago. I looked out at this sea of people and realized that there was not one person that I knew, nor one that knew me. I felt this overwhelming sense of this solitary "I" that transcended everything else and at the same time gave understanding to all that I could see. Also it really hit me that everyone else had their own sense of "I".It is that sense of "I" (for lack of a better term), that we all experience and interpret the world through. As we gain experience our views change but we still are left with, (in my view), an unchanging knowledge of self that uses the physical body and its senses to perceive the world around us.Even though there is zero empirical evidence for this sense of being that is distinct from the physical, I frankly have virtually no doubt that it exists. I realize that you would have the same experiences and have come to an altogether different conclusion. To be honest, I can't understand how you don't come to the same conclusion that I do, but I also realize that you don't understand my conclusion either. It does though point out that all of us are very different. It seems to me that if all that there is to evolution is random chance and natural selection, (and nothing beyond the physical)our views would be much more likely to be congruent. (I don't dispute evolution but I do dispute the idea that there is no intelligence behind it.)Edited by GDR, : No reason given.

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Everybody is entitled to my opinion.

I am not sure how God is a pivitol factor. Since this is Faith/belief how is it that "soul" makes no sense to you?
The entire concept of belief cannot be tested, defined uniquely, examined or presented in the manor you hint at. It is not physical in the sense you grasp for. It's affects on the "phyical" world are.

Correct. It cannot be tested. Nor are there and effects from a soul on the physical world.The concept of a soul does not make sense. Period.If I am wrong, please show how a soul makes sense?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Well this is where belief comes in. How you see things is what will define your reality. If you are to take this point of view you must apply it with continuity. This conversation would be meaningless as you suggest all things are. If that is the case I am wasting my time
attempting to comunicate with a meaningless chemical reaction. If this is not the case you must declare it so. What say you? Or the understanding that science does not offer us an answer.

This depends upon ones understanding. I am a soul. I affect the world. To you perhaps. Is this your belief? I can only tell you it makes perfect sense to me. What will define you? How you define yourself, is what you will be. I have made my choice. What are you?

LOLAnd your evidence that you are a soul is?The problem is demonstrated by this thread. There is not even a definition of a soul that everyone can agree upon.Sorry, soul just makes no sense.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion