Clocks always been curious about other peoples concepts of the term soul and what it means to them.
so Clocks question is pretty simple, what does the term soul mean to you?
do you believe you have a soul? that every person has a soul?
and if not, why don't you believe in souls? or that not everyone has a soul?

\o Hi Clock!

I believe that everyone has their one true soul, their birth soul I guess, but also that we have multiple older souls and that throughout the course of our lives, additional souls come and go as you grow and change (unless you somehow don't... XD). There's no set limit to how many you have at once or how many you'll have in your lifetime. o wo

In my book I equate having a soul with the ability to self-reflect.
On an average to bad day I tend to think that some people have no soul because I think that they are incapable of self-reflection and they just let their ego run things. It's easy for me to think that all other people have no soul when I only encounter them briefly (like assholes who make a right turn in front of me when it's my right of way to cross the street) but I suppose that they are not assholes 100% of the time, and I'd like to think that they can reflect on themselves every once in a while, like when something bad happens to them.

Hi Iku<33
Clocks never considered the idea of having multiple souls over a period of ones life. it makes a lot of sense, birth soul is also an interesting concept, so would that soul be theirs alone? uninfluenced? would that soul always be the one to stay? or is Clock thinking along the wrong path on that.

Risque; so to have a soul one must be able to self-reflect? do you believe that because it is said that when on can self-reflect they are able to become closer to their 'true' self? do you believe that ones true self is their soul?

Originally Posted by ClockReject

Risque; so to have a soul one must be able to self-reflect? do you believe that because it is said that when on can self-reflect they are able to become closer to their 'true' self? do you believe that ones true self is their soul?

When you put it that way.. yes. That is pretty accurate to the vague idea of a soul that I have in my mind.
I think that a soul is like, something that you have to realize.

Risque; Clock enjoys your concept of a soul.
kind of reminds Clock of Maslows Hierarchy of Needs.

Interesting. I haven't given that much thought to my definition of a soul before I found this topic.. but with your help Clock I think I am a little bit closer to finding just the right words to describe it.
My concept of a soul is kinda.. exclusive though, if only because only the most awesome of people have a soul.

honestly, that's partially why Clock started this thread,
Clock doesn't know if she believe in souls or not,
so Clock doesn't really have any concept of them.
but hearing and learning about souls from other people,
gives Clock a lot to think about, it's nice to have these kind of conversations again.

Do you think you have a soul? Maybe it helps to start from there and then work your way up... it would kinda suck if you came up with the perfect definition of a soul only to find that you don't necessarily fit the requirements of having a soul.
Ya don't have to use my definition either.

that's the thing though, Clock really doesn't know if she has a soul or not. Clock struggles with things like that, kind of like the concept of God. Clock was Agnostic for a really long time, and really Clock is on the fence about souls too. Clock heard somewhere once that a study was done on souls, that there was a weight shift after a person died, and that somehow connected to the soul. But that's not really enough to make Clock believe in having a soul. Clock has weird views on religion, and those weird views could easily be applied to a certain point with a soul. So maybe in sense, Clock has the concept that religion and having a soul can be connected. Well more spirituality and a soul, rather than religion, Clock should say.

and now Clock is just rambling.

I don't really know if I believe in souls or not. But I guess to me, it's basically like, what makes you feel human. I have what I call, my "day without a soul" To me, I use it to refer to how, on those given days, I just feel lost.. like, I don't feel anything, I'm just numb and I don't know what's real and what's just in my head ya know? My views are rather weird on things perhaps. That probably has nothing to do with having a soul or not, it's just a mental disorder, haha, but who knows? Maybe it really is? Maybe the idea of having multiple souls over your lifetime is accurate? Perhaps those days I feel like that, I'm getting a new soul? lol, I have no idea.

Subjects like these are so complicated. But I love so much to see other peoples views and opinions on them! I wish I could think up questions like this to start a thread about!! *high fives Clock* Good job! Very interesting indeed...

However, I have shared what my sleepy little brain will allow for now, so to avoid rambling...

CrossPrime<33
ah, that could really be a possible concept, it was thought a long time ago that a soul did represent the emotional state of a person. and was considered responsible for critical thinking, because it held the virtues of a person.

@Clock: Yus, your birth soul is the true uninfluenced part of you~ That one does stay with you; so you'll always have at least one.

Iku; can a person lose that soul? or no matter it will always stay?

You only truly lose it when you die. That's not to say that it can't and doesn't leave at times though. So, for me, it's possible and understandable to feel kind of disconnected with yourself or the world in that sense. But it's still connected to you, when it's gone, just faintly so depending on how far and how long it's been gone.

i believe that everyone has a soul, clockie, sweetie.
i'm Catholic and so my religious upbringing
*and her cousin the priest*
have taught me that.
this is what i think of my soul.
it was created with my body by God.
it is immortal and is the essence of my spirit,
which, when i die will return to my Father in heaven.
i hope!
but, seriously, i have never questioned it or thought my sould did not exsist.
i like to think of the 'simpson' episode when bart gives his soul away.
i would not be a whole person and would struggle with life.
but that is just my opinion and feelings on the subject.
i personally thing clockie has a wonderful soul.
t

I definitely believe that I have a soul and every living person or once living person has or had a soul. We are energy and we leave an imprint through deeds and memories; however, the word soul can have some religious implications of course since we have no definite proof whether or not there is an afterlife (which I personally do believe in).

I definitely don't believe that this is it and when we die we are just dead and that's it. I more or less believe that there is definitely a place where good people go and bad people end up. I also believe that some people may be given a second chance and come back. That's if you believe in past lives and all of that jazz.

I'm sure there are folks out there who have had paranormal experiences seeing or feeling the presence of a ghost (soul). I find all of that kind of material extremely fascinating as haunted places have been around for centuries and still exist. Haunted houses are definitely places which ghost hunters are constantly going to stake out and find these paranormal happenings, but I digress.

Souls are out there and we all have them I believe and hopefully as my belief is correct that we will all be reunited in a paradise free from all of the afflictions that we deal with on an every day basis living.

I don't have a very clear view of souls I would like to think that I do have a soul which will be me after death but I see everything with logic so I constantly question what I believe and don't believe, this sometimes gets annoying because I mess with my own head. So yeah, I would like to believe that everyone has a soul which becomes them after death my logical mindset doesn't allow me to believe in something I can't see/touch/smell/hear.

I like to consider myself a believer in God [with that, a believer in souls] but I end up questioning and re-questioning myself. I can defend my personal opinion on a bunch of other topics but when it comes to the philosophical I feel way more unsure in my belief simply because the evidence isn't of the same caliber.

With other parts of my life the evidence is sorted and tangible but with the soul or the belief in God my natural lack of confidence and my overwhelming self-doubt leaves my questioning and re-questing.

I think the soul is what makes us all individuals. It's deeper than just the chemical reactions of the body. It's who we are. It's the reason we're not all the same, and why we do some things that seem completely and utterly irrational. It's our personalities, I think. I think that every living being has a soul. I know that I have one, but I can't exactly pin-point what it is. I've never really understood the concept, but I always believed in it regardless.

I certainly don't think that this is it. I think that this body is just a shell. It's our interface between our souls and this world. Eventually the shell will die, but I think that the soul is immortal.

With reference to the study on souls where the body became lighter - that's been debunked. It was a terribly done study where factors that needed to be considered, weren't. It is defiantly an interesting idea for a study. I've understood souls to be immaterial though, so from that perspective it seems odd.

I've heard definitions from what makes us able to be self-aware or what gives us life to our personality or humanity. Defining it as your personality - yeah, I totally believe every sentient living being has one of those, but I define that as being a result of the brain - it's electrical and chemical reactions. It's complicated and beautiful. If you want want to call the brain a soul, I'd think that's silly, but wouldn't care too much. For all definitions of a soul that I accept, I switch the word "soul" with "brain." I see what make us, us, as a result of our brain. Our brain changes with chemical manipulation and environmental change.

At base level, I'm an atheist. So deities, and for me personally, the supernatural in general, don't factor into my views. I wasn't really raised in a religion and was encouraged to explore, so I don't have what I was raised to believe religious-wise to launch myself from. But I'm not just an atheist, though it's my base and usually my day-to-day view, I'm also a theist from time to time. It's not often, sure, but there are plenty of times I'm in connection with deities and supernatural entities, I believe in some supernatural stuff, and am very spiritual (though I can be very spiritual as an atheist too). Even during these times I don't believe in a soul that isn't our brain. It's not a part of my religious or theistic beliefs. To me, we are simply physical.

I have a pretty strange set of beliefs about souls - all based on circumstantial evidence, mind you, I readily admit that, and if I'm proven wrong someday then so be it, but for now this is my best guess:

First, let's examine the difference between a living body and a dead body. The largest difference is electrical energy which drives a whole host of biological functions. It is, therefore, my belief that a soul is an energy signature of some sort. It does not need a body to exist, but having one is pretty nice because it lets you experience things you can't really without one. Any body with a brain advanced enough to experience emotion can "host" a soul...and most likely some without that capability can as well.

A soul is easy to create but near impossible to destroy. Any person's thought - a character, an imaginary friend, whatever - may become its own being given enough time and dedication.

I believe in reincarnation for two reasons. One is that I've seen (and experienced, but that's another story for another day) pretty extremely convincing stories of people's past life memories matching up to their surviving family's records, and the other is that I just think it's a better thing to believe in "just in case" than any other spiritual belief because even if it won't save your soul, it'll make you try to do whatever is objectively right to think that the total stranger walking along across the street may once have been your best friend, or that your enemy of today may have been your grandma elsewhere. Just kinda makes you think about things like that.

You may or may not always be born as a human. You might sometimes be an animal. You also might not always be born on Earth. You might be born somewhere halfway across the universe (well, not really halfway across the universe since energy and thus energy signatures from here can't reach that far thanks to the speed limit of c and the expanding universe, but you get the idea) as something you'd never imagine could exist. The possibilities are pretty much endless.

I consider myself spiritualist-agnostic - basically, I don't like to assume the "supernatural" explanation unless I see something that can count pretty well as evidence toward it, but at the same time I don't like to completely write it off until it's actually disproven.