Is there a soul?

Define religion in this sense.

 

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So just say no to all forms of belief?

 

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Your spiel would hold if you could specifically indicate the bio-electrical stimuli - then the analogy of the computer would hold. Since there is no evidence for these claims its obvious you are only talking about your ideas of consciousness.

The clear fact is that consciousness cannot be indicated separately from life nor can it be re-invested into something that has died or reconstructed from lifeless matter. Rather life is seen to only come from life which makes it distinct from being analogous to a computer program.

 

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Yes, there is a soul, but i prefer to call it ''spirit.'' But it may turn out, keeping all possibilities open, that spirit may just be a metaphor for ''self''.

For what it is made of, there may be relations to it having an energy. Dr Wolf believes it exists beyond matter and energy, but i disagree.

 

Prince,

I don't understand the question. There is only physical. There is no alternative.

 

LG,

Are you denying the existence of neural networks?

Right, consciousness is the result of active neural networks.

Exactly like the computer having been turned off. Unfortunately with a person if the neural networks have decayed then we have no way to repair that damage. And since they are the basis of consciousness then there is currently no possibility of recovery.

Implying it can never be done? You cannot claim that, apart from indicate that we don’t know how to do that yet. It is simply an engineering problem.

You’ve mixed the analogies. Consciousness is analogous to the program; life is analogous to the computer in an on state. Consciousness is dependent on a living biological entity, a program is dependent on a powered on computer.

The analogy remains valid.

Life isn’t analogous to consciousness.

 

I think there is. I feel it is more of a life energy though. It is your essence, but if it does linger after the body has died then I think it can be reinvested into something else or someone else. This would make that person or thing you, but you would not or should not at least have any of the experiences or memories of the life you had lived earlier. I've been trying to disprove this theory to myself, but I keep hitting walls. I guess its all comes down to faith.

 

lol, the essence of "You" is all the experiences and memories you had lived, else it would be Tabula rasa, not you at all.

No, I guess it comes down to trying harder, or thinking clearer.

 

there are also ideas about the physical too ... at the very least there is no physical evidence for them

 

Agreed.

And other than that, No, there is not a soul.

 

Cris

no
I am denying that consciousness can be reduced to bio-electrical causes

so activate them in a dead person then you can talk business

yes it certainly is unfortunate ... obviously all you have is an analogy and not evidence

assuming your thesis that everything is physical holds

the only problem is that you cannot separately indicate consciousness like you can a computer program

given that there isn't a shred of evidence to suggest otherwise, its not clear how that is the case

 

lg,

Ideas are dependent on a physical existence. Ideas cannot exist outside a physical medium, i.e. they have a physical cause.

 

Lg

Oh Ok that’s just you talking about your ideas of consciousness.

The structure of a dead person is different to that of a live person. You seem to keep forgetting this vital observation. Consciousness requires active neural networks; a dead person does not have them. The structures are not available in a dead person so there is nothing that can be activated.

And you have neither evidence or an analogy.

We have no reason yet to conclude anything other than physical is possible.

Sure we can. By surgically probing and isolating brain cells and groups of brain cells it is clinically possible to alter/destroy identity, ability to think, to remember, to emote, etc. IOW everything that causes consciousness, the brain, can be modified, just like a computer program. Now in the case of consciousness we do not know enough yet to alter it in much of a positive manner but we can certainly mess with it enough to know it is caused by the brain. Much like a running program is only possible inside an active computer.

A leaf is part of life, so is an acorn, and a carrot, and bacteria. Are you going to conclude that the carrot you just ate had consciousness making it capable of reasoned thought?

Life exists separate to consciousness, and consciousness is only possible in complex lifeforms that have appropriate levels of neural networks. I.e. consciousness is caused.

 

and the physical cause of an idea is what exactly?
(no ideas please)

 

lg,

Neural networks.

 

Of course the soul exist, else we won't be able to experience anything

But there is only one soul, one consciousness. what you believe you are (your self) are only a bundle of perception.

A software is only meaningful because of consciousness
Without consciousness there is no software, only electrical pathway in a computer.

Cris, remember the hard problem, you did not solve it yet.
how can an unconscious matter giver rise to consciousness ?
It magically arise from a complex organziation, that is what you believe?

 

yes there is a soul
it is the construction of the human mind that separates us from the animals
the triangular shape is older than euclidean geometry
and is often used as a "program"
i like to define the soul as the link between the separate parts of my consciousness
Mind Body Spirit
These three parts of my "self" are combined to make my soul
The soul is the source of "my" time
That said
I feel that my soul is dead and death is the future for me that dwells within my soul.

 

Mr. Champagne:

Cheer up, emo kid!

 

Cris:

How does syntax produce semantics?

 

Prince,

How would a collection of metal pieces enable a person to travel at 65mph on a Freeway.

Complexity always arises from simplicity.

If the syntax is wrong though the meaning does not occur.