What is Soul? - ZEFRANK.COM

craig johnston · 06-02-2007, 01:47 PM

A soul is somethin' deep inside

But a soul is a somethin' that you can't hide

What is soul?

Discuss......

brightpearl · 06-02-2007, 02:45 PM

I was just pondering that this morning, and this is what came to me:

What is the difference, where is the boundary between the voice and the song?

zenbabe · 06-02-2007, 05:11 PM

I heard it weighs about a pound.

Jack Flanders · 06-03-2007, 01:21 AM

A soul is what passes from your loved one, family or friend and who then lives in you.

You don't hide it - you live it, and love it and pass it on to your loved ones, family or friends and hopefully
, they continue to pass the soul.

craig johnston · 06-03-2007, 08:54 AM

why do we have to hide it then?

Veruki · 06-03-2007, 10:42 AM

we hide it because it's our safe spot for those extra secret things.

craig johnston · 06-03-2007, 11:49 AM

so it's a bit like the bottom of the sock drawer then?

brightpearl · 06-03-2007, 12:31 PM

We think we need to hide it because we imagine ours is different from everyone else's.

AllegroNg · 06-03-2007, 01:44 PM

Souls

It's our center. It's what makes us who we are.

It might weigh around 21 grams.

It's either given to us by some almighty being.

Or.. the soul is just hormones and influence.

Avalon · 06-03-2007, 01:47 PM

I don't think everyone hides their soul; I know several people who are beautiful souls..they shine from the inside out. I know a few kids who are 'old souls'; it is evident the second you meet them. Most people seem unaware of theirs...then, there are those few people we all seem to have run across somewhere along the line, who have no soul to hide.

eta..
were we supposed to discuss soul music or the human soul? Can you have one without the other?
hmmmmm

craig johnston · 06-03-2007, 02:07 PM

soul music and human soul inextricably intertwined, i
think we can agree.

but do you really believe there are people with no soul?
and how can it weigh anything?
could you expand on the hormones and influence idea
allegro?

Tunesmith · 06-03-2007, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenbabe

I heard it weighs about a pound.

Here you go, zenbabe.

Tunesmith · 06-03-2007, 06:21 PM

Assuming there is a soul and disregarding what happens to the soul after death, when is the precise moment that the soul leaves the body? Is it at the brink of death, when the eyes close and the body begins to shut down? For a couple of moments after death, your cells still function. They can't communicate with each other, due to the lack of a functioning nervous system, but they're still alive, which is why post-mortem organ transplants are possible.

I think most belief systems agree on the fact that the soul doesn't remain with the body after death. But what about people in vegetative states? Are their souls comatose?

Is it possible that the soul is just the explanation for the self-awareness of the mind? There are physical locations in the brain that are designed for self-monitering and behavioral homeostasis, but the mind is such an intangible thing that maybe we need a spiritual representation for it.

Just some thoughts. I need to meditate on this.

Stephi_B · 06-04-2007, 06:42 AM

OK, that might sound a bit unromantic

, but I figure the soul as sum of all electromagnetic waves produced & (partially) emitted, it's unique for each individual, every living being - whether human, animal or plant - has one (of course an ant has then a more tiny, less structured soul than an human).

If that's so we really can't hide it. We leave parts of it wherever we are, whatever we touch. When people are close their souls overlap and give new patterns. When they like each other their souls are in resonance, if they dislike each other in dissonance. Kinda like in the figure of speech 'to be (not) on the same wavelength'.

Those we feel 'soulless' might possess a very dissonant field all on their own already, those with beautiful souls have a very harmonic one. How 'old souls' (and there are such indeed!) fit into that, dunno...

When a living being dies he/she/it stops emitting EM waves, but lives on in a way as he/she/it has contributed a lifelong to that big pool of waves, which is called world soul.

Eyes are often seen as window to the soul. That might be so, because they are close to the brain where radiation is intense.

brightpearl · 06-04-2007, 09:15 AM

^^I kinda like that.

The best metaphorical explanation I ever read, if I understand the definition of "soul" that we're kicking around here, is that our souls, our selves, whatever, are like jets in a fountain. They flow continually, and while they might appear separate, if you think about it you see that they all come from and return to the same pool of water. Nothing is created or lost in that sense. If you think of the soul as a kind of energy, that's nicely compatible with the laws of conservation of matter and energy. Being a heathen, but not wanting to cast my son into a pit of despair at the tender age of 3, this is how I explained things when he first asked if I would die someday, like the cat. Though it may appear painfully so, nothing is ever separated from you; nothing is lost.

Roger Penrose, whom you may have heard of in connection with Stephen Hawking, has been doing quite a bit of thinking about this. I'm really intrigued by his quantum/microtubule idea of consciousness, which may give some credence to the idea that consciousness can be stored somewhere other than the brain. He's got a couple of books on the subject, and there's an article about it here. I suppose, as Stephi B said, that some might not consider it very romantic, but I have a huge crush on Roger Penrose's quantum microtubules.

06-02-2007, 01:47 PM	#1
craig johnston dalai clique Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: tea leaf towers - home of fine musical entertainment Posts: 5,609	What is Soul? A soul is somethin' deep inside But a soul is a somethin' that you can't hide What is soul? Discuss...... __________________ the tea leaf family

06-02-2007, 05:11 PM	#3
zenbabe Lollypop! Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: we are all made of stars Posts: 11,690	I heard it weighs about a pound. __________________ Be yourself, because the people that mind don't matter, and the people that matter don't mind. -Dr. Seuss

06-03-2007, 01:21 AM	#4
Jack Flanders landscaping is fun Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: up river and down river Posts: 4,815	A soul is what passes from your loved one, family or friend and who then lives in you. You don't hide it - you live it, and love it and pass it on to your loved ones, family or friends and hopefully , they continue to pass the soul. Last edited by Jack Flanders : 06-05-2007 at 12:53 AM.

06-03-2007, 08:54 AM	#5
craig johnston dalai clique Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: tea leaf towers - home of fine musical entertainment Posts: 5,609	why do we have to hide it then? __________________ the tea leaf family

06-03-2007, 10:42 AM	#6
Veruki hint of olive Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 833	we hide it because it's our safe spot for those extra secret things. __________________ Mein Führer! I can walk! -Dr. Strangelove

06-02-2007, 02:45 PM	#2
brightpearl Rhinoceros fan Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 8,749	I was just pondering that this morning, and this is what came to me: What is the difference, where is the boundary between the voice and the song?

06-03-2007, 11:49 AM	#7
craig johnston dalai clique Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: tea leaf towers - home of fine musical entertainment Posts: 5,609	so it's a bit like the bottom of the sock drawer then? __________________ the tea leaf family

06-03-2007, 12:31 PM	#8
brightpearl Rhinoceros fan Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 8,749	We think we need to hide it because we imagine ours is different from everyone else's.

06-03-2007, 01:44 PM	#9
AllegroNg What I Am Wearing. Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Near DC Posts: 2,573	Souls It's our center. It's what makes us who we are. It might weigh around 21 grams. It's either given to us by some almighty being. Or.. the soul is just hormones and influence.

06-03-2007, 01:47 PM	#10
Avalon Moderator Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: A much better place Posts: 5,931	I don't think everyone hides their soul; I know several people who are beautiful souls..they shine from the inside out. I know a few kids who are 'old souls'; it is evident the second you meet them. Most people seem unaware of theirs...then, there are those few people we all seem to have run across somewhere along the line, who have no soul to hide. eta.. were we supposed to discuss soul music or the human soul? Can you have one without the other? hmmmmm __________________ I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it. Groucho Marx Last edited by Avalon : 06-03-2007 at 01:59 PM.

06-03-2007, 02:07 PM	#11
craig johnston dalai clique Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: tea leaf towers - home of fine musical entertainment Posts: 5,609	soul music and human soul inextricably intertwined, i think we can agree. but do you really believe there are people with no soul? and how can it weigh anything? could you expand on the hormones and influence idea allegro? __________________ the tea leaf family

06-03-2007, 06:21 PM	#13
Tunesmith click click click Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: snap the fingers Posts: 2,229	Assuming there is a soul and disregarding what happens to the soul after death, when is the precise moment that the soul leaves the body? Is it at the brink of death, when the eyes close and the body begins to shut down? For a couple of moments after death, your cells still function. They can't communicate with each other, due to the lack of a functioning nervous system, but they're still alive, which is why post-mortem organ transplants are possible. I think most belief systems agree on the fact that the soul doesn't remain with the body after death. But what about people in vegetative states? Are their souls comatose? Is it possible that the soul is just the explanation for the self-awareness of the mind? There are physical locations in the brain that are designed for self-monitering and behavioral homeostasis, but the mind is such an intangible thing that maybe we need a spiritual representation for it. Just some thoughts. I need to meditate on this. __________________ of the deadly ginger snaps

06-04-2007, 06:42 AM	#14
Stephi_B waaaaaaa :) Join Date: May 2007 Location: Berlin Posts: 3,875	OK, that might sound a bit unromantic , but I figure the soul as sum of all electromagnetic waves produced & (partially) emitted, it's unique for each individual, every living being - whether human, animal or plant - has one (of course an ant has then a more tiny, less structured soul than an human). If that's so we really can't hide it. We leave parts of it wherever we are, whatever we touch. When people are close their souls overlap and give new patterns. When they like each other their souls are in resonance, if they dislike each other in dissonance. Kinda like in the figure of speech 'to be (not) on the same wavelength'. Those we feel 'soulless' might possess a very dissonant field all on their own already, those with beautiful souls have a very harmonic one. How 'old souls' (and there are such indeed!) fit into that, dunno... When a living being dies he/she/it stops emitting EM waves, but lives on in a way as he/she/it has contributed a lifelong to that big pool of waves, which is called world soul. Eyes are often seen as window to the soul. That might be so, because they are close to the brain where radiation is intense.

06-04-2007, 09:15 AM	#15
brightpearl Rhinoceros fan Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 8,749	^^I kinda like that. The best metaphorical explanation I ever read, if I understand the definition of "soul" that we're kicking around here, is that our souls, our selves, whatever, are like jets in a fountain. They flow continually, and while they might appear separate, if you think about it you see that they all come from and return to the same pool of water. Nothing is created or lost in that sense. If you think of the soul as a kind of energy, that's nicely compatible with the laws of conservation of matter and energy. Being a heathen, but not wanting to cast my son into a pit of despair at the tender age of 3, this is how I explained things when he first asked if I would die someday, like the cat. Though it may appear painfully so, nothing is ever separated from you; nothing is lost. Roger Penrose, whom you may have heard of in connection with Stephen Hawking, has been doing quite a bit of thinking about this. I'm really intrigued by his quantum/microtubule idea of consciousness, which may give some credence to the idea that consciousness can be stored somewhere other than the brain. He's got a couple of books on the subject, and there's an article about it here. I suppose, as Stephi B said, that some might not consider it very romantic, but I have a huge crush on Roger Penrose's quantum microtubules.

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