Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The Soul? Real or Fake

I know that this topic is all based on faith for the most part, but I was reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown earlier (I know, I know Fiction but roll with this) and in the book the one character (Katherine) conducts an experiment that proves that the human body lost some kind of weight right after death.

It got me thinking about this, I never really thought that souls were real, but if science could prove somehow the same thing that the book claimed, I think I could accept the reality of a soul.

What're your thoughts?

*P.S. : Not finished with the book so no spoilers please.

53 comments:

  1. I don't believe in souls or anything like that, but I could also accept if they could prove it!

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  2. That's the same way i go about it.

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  3. It would be great if they actually existed.

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  4. The weight they loose is the pressure of air in their stomach.. Ive read that somewhere..

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  5. The way (in the book at least) the experiment was set up, nothing could escape the containment thing so that's what got me thinking about it.

    But yes i'm sure that's probably the most logical answer.

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  6. if it were to be proven yea i'd be aboard on the whole we have souls but rite now i'm still a skeptic

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  7. Science already has done those experiments. Dr. Duncan MacDougall did them in the early 20th century. He figured that the weight of an average soul is 21 grams. This number is very often quoted in the public sphere and Dan Brown was probably inspired by his experiments. Too bad MacDougall's method of weighing the bodies was pretty imprecise and later experiments done with more accurate technology haven't found any mystical evidence of a "soul".

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  8. I dont believe in a soul, ghosts on the other hand...

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  9. How would you explain a ghost then?

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  10. A soul is an idea. It is the idea of a non-physical manifestation of our consciousness that is not bound by tactile or kinetic means.

    A soul is seen throughout all cultures and religions as this type of manifestation, and is said to detach from the body upon death.

    For this idea to have been generated in even isolated peoples, one would have to be in existential denial that such a thing exists in a reality sense.

    One could even say, that upon death, time becomes mute in your brain, and what seems like an eternity passes in an instant, with all of your brains processing power, providing a virtual and internal manifestation of what the afterlife is like. In our current perspective, this may seem like mere microsecond have passed. But in the catatonic brain of a dying individual, an eternity has passed.

    Just my thoughts.

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  11. Wow, I like that thought Joe

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  12. I should go to the library and take out this book, my library card is getting dusty haha. But I dont beleive in the concept of a soul, I think we're just another species in this world, just flesh skin bones y'know? And then we die and rot in the ground, but hey, that's just me!

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  13. It's pretty good, since it's set in DC I think i've been enjoying it more.

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  14. No one can know for sure what death brings, until death brings it. Anyone who attempts to give a definitive answer about God or the After Life, truly knows nothing.

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  15. Good thoughts, who knows. Fun to ponder about anyway.

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  16. Like the 21-22 grams (of air?) we are suppose to lose at death, I don't know about that but I like to think we have a soul.

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  17. It's a really odd phenomenon...I don't know what to think..

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  18. I'm enjoying this debate, unfortunately no one can know for sure what death brings. I hope there's virgins.

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  19. I think souls are out there, but I'm not entirely sure what I believe they are.

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  20. You would probably enjoy the philosophy of Islam haha.

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  21. i would say its fake. im pretty sure yea

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  22. It's all conjecture, we can't be 100% certain until we are dead.

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  23. Probably real although I don't think it weighs anything so that probably is just some other nonsense.

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  24. The idea that a soul can be weighed amuses me. Seems it is completely spiritual and intangible to humans, if it exists. I personally don't believe in souls, but it would be pretty cool if there were some.

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  25. Ilove Dan Brown. I don't think I've read the lost symbol though.

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  26. It's his newest one with Robert Langdon as the main character.

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  27. im not really sure what i think

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  28. i heard that if you kill a dog it will become lighter because its soul isn't weighing it down anymore

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  29. i think souls only exists on your shoes

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  30. that is definitely and interesting concept

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  31. I believe we have souls. I believe our personalities are our souls. That's who we are as a person. That's our very essence. And souls can be damaged or changed, just like our bodies can be. Someone could go through a life changing event and it changes themselves as a person, and as a soul. I believe that our attitude and personality is our life force. As soon as that dies, you die too. Now as for what happens to the soul after death, I'm not sure about. I don't really believe in an afterlife or greater God out there, but I do believe that we have a soul.

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  32. I love the discussion going on here :)

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  33. 76% done according to my kindle.

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  34. i feel like the soul is just a representative idea of the body's being...its so hard to quantify though..

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  35. Will definitely check it out. I love dan brown

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  36. i like to think people do have a soul!

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  37. The soul doesn't make sense to me, but I guess I could believe if there were proof... Subbed!

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  38. Personally I've come to understand "soul" and "consciousness" as the same thing. When you're born you become conscious in your new body and when you die, you simply leave. It would be a mistake to wait for science to prove the existence of a soul, because the current views on reality don't even allow for the existence of something non-material; Science is materialism.

    On the other hand, I'm not 100% on the existence of the soul either. I only "believe" what I experience personally, and not what I read.

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  39. I don't really believe in a soul in the whole religion sense, but then again I believe in ghosts. So I have no idea lol

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  40. It's interesting to read everyone's opinions. It seems like there are a few different interpretations of what the word "soul" actually means, and different senses and connotations to it. I wonder if it's culture based (obviously religion has an impact).
    It actually got me thinking of my time in latin class, so I did some searching: the latin "Animus" can refer to the "heart", the "soul", the "mind", and "the rational soul in man, intellect, consciousness, will, intention, courage, spirit, sensibility, feeling, passion, pride, vehemence, wrath, etc., the breath, life". So I guess it boils down to what you even mean when one says the word "soul".
    Personally I'm not even sure about it, I feel like it would take a long while to express here my views about it (mostly because I am unsure and it therefore takes me a long time to say what I mean, because what I type turns into some sort of internal dialogue on the subject...which I just realized I'm doing even right now).

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  41. I love the comments on this post :)
    such a great discussion

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  42. I've actually heard this proposition before, that someone somewhere proved scientifically that a body lost weight at the moment of death. Of course, no sources were mentioned and thus the topic was never raised again, and for all I know someone had read this book and passed the premise you described off as fact. I certainly agree with Joe's sentiments; that the concept of the soul is most accessible if viewed as a hypothetical 'otherness' that is useful to human intelligence to counterpart our material existence. I feel the idea of a soul is most useful if viewed as being closely related - if not identical - to the inner workings of a personality... it is a looking inward, a kind of personal interrelation. In this way it is tied up with a human's world-view, imagination, reason, passion, desire, etc. It was interesting to read A's comment regarding the Latin 'Animus', and thought it was also pertinent to mention the Greek word 'Psyche' also referred to an abstract concept similar to that of the soul in contemporary times. Anyways, I've rambled long enough, but interesting topic, thanks for the post!

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  43. I don't think the "soul" exist in any physical sense. I'd call it an idea more than anything.

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  44. The soul is wherever you want it to be, in your ears your heart or your mind, afaik

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