Souls

Do you believe that people have souls?
If so, do you also believe that animals have souls? Or even plants?
We are all living beings, so where do you think that it starts and stops?

 

Everything has an inner energy, if you want to call that a soul, you are more than welcome to..... there's nothing that people only have above all else. (the religious definition of "soul") That's bull shit.

 

The fact I must 'believe' it to think it exists answers your question. No, people don't have souls. It's obvious where the idea came from looking back on the history of man, and it's about time that it is abolished once and for all.

 

"WHAT?!"

 

Okay..... Some people don't have souls.....

 

no i don't believe people have souls. i believe people ARE souls, that while their bodies live, have bodies. soul and true self are an identity. a=b and b=a.

 

That doesn't answer the OP's question about animals or plants having "souls"

 

The origins of the soul I would think must start and follow as an extension of a body. But really as some already alluded to it comes down to ur definition of it…
Perhaps in not so distant future u sir could upload ur memories in to a machine of some sort that could cater to all the intricacy of the human mind and have inner existence in itself. Whatever life’s story is transferred could be considered as the soul for ur identity would exist in its own right independent of matter within the period of transition, in essence information is the base of inner or outside reality and energy its form.

 

brothers got soul

 

What do you mean by this? We have the ability to write, don't we?

 

Trained people can write, it's not something we have inherently... it's not even something those with the proper training are able to do correctly. I'm sure you've noticed how badly some people pull it off.

 

It's an ability, and only humans seem to have it. Not just writing but more generally, bringing what other people have discovered in the past into the present - no other species can do that, can they?

 

A lot of animals pass learned behavior on from generation to generation, just not in written form. To the human species that is a relativity new trick we have developed ourselves. This ability to write or pass along information from past to present certainly doesn't explain "soul".

 

I never claimed it did. You seem to be saying we are the same as animals in all (important) respects, despite their inability to record knowledge for future generations, produce food artificially, make tools and machines, and so on.

 

Knowledge is recorded for future generations in the form of instinct and nurture.
Insects are known to farm fungi and harvest the produce of other animals.
Insects are metamorphic and as such are masters at biological engineering.
Human beings are vain.

All of these are perceivable.

 

Animals do make tools

 

No one is saying that humans are superior in any aspect so I can't see where vanity fits into this discussion.

You can't see a difference between genetic mechanisms of development and development brought about through abstract concepts? For one thing the latter is quicker. A new mathematical equation can be recorded, spread around the world and applied by engineers and scientists virtually instantly, while instinct and nurture takes much longer.

 

Do human beings have an enduring presence beyond the grave.
Certainly in the form of reputation.

I think an enduring presence can be cultivated but is not inherent. Just as a consistent presence is difficult to maintain in life, that is, the consistent application of will toward a desired aim.

 

As fact.

Excuse me, human is a very recent development taking massive amounts of time to emerge in present form. Abstract concepts are not quick as it took a while to get there. No abstraction is relevant unless it's criteria emerge in the temporal order. There are experiential conjugations in the life of every animal. Potentiality is the greatest abstraction there is.

 

Humans have souls , animals have souls , I dont think plants do . Some people see the ghost of a person or animal , they never see the ghost of a tree . Unless there just so happy to go streight to tree heaven . desert rat