Quote:
Originally posted by Yorick:
Man, if you don't think you have soul or have a soul, fine, just don't try and tell everyone else they don't have one. There is the possibility that some humans have souls and others don't you know.
No world religion seems to entertain that fact and everyone one seems convinced of absolutes that cover everyone, but what if that were a possibility? What if Dramnek does not have a soul and Cloudy does. Who is Dramnek to say she doesn't?
I think it more likely that we all do, but that some aren't aware of that fact. There are precedents. Some people cannot smell milk slightly gone off that to others is revolting and untouchable. Other people feel hot or cold more acutely than others. I hear sounds I never used to hear before being a musician. I became more attuned to sound, just as a winemaker becomes more attuned to smell, and someone with religious faith becomes more attuned to both God, spirituality and their soul.
Remember that the only thing one can ever proove is that they exist as an awareness. No-one can prove that even the earth exists because it could be a mental construct. You could be the only person alive in this total fabrication.
I doubt that however. If anything I am the only person alive  
Anyway, self awareness is an interesting thing. Is self awareness/abstract thought/artistic creation things that are of the soul, or totally resultant from the physical brain? Other animals have arguably greater mental faculties than humans - the Dolphin for example. The Dolphin, using sonar can identify a hidden object on colour alone, using sonar sending and reception. Almost telepathic. Are dolphins self aware? Do they create art? Do they hypothesise alternate scenarios?
Elephants memories are legendary. Pigs know on the morning of their slaughter that they will die and scream. Dogs hear sounds that we will never hear, and possess a much greater sense of smell. Sound and smell are both interpreted in the brain.
I have seen "art" a Gorilla drew on a show that attempted to humanise Gorillas. The "art" was inferior to that of a very small childs.
What makes us different from the animal kingdom if we do not have a soul? Why is a cat born with instict and a human not? Why do we love and hate if not of the soul? Love/hate. Some try and limit it to chemical reaction, but that explains the infutuative part, not the all encompassing love that lasts years. Hate surpasses fear and survival defences and even logic 
And what of the thirst for knowledge? Cats are curious. Many animals are curious. But how many animals climb the highest mountain in the world just "because it's there"?
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Very interesting arguments, Yorick.
I don't think I 'have a soul', I think I probably AM a soul - an indissoluable body/mind/life creature. But I don't KNOW. I have had experiences that seem to indicate the presence of 'a soul' as separate from 'the flesh', but also I am aware of the power of hormones in the brain that can cause one to see and feel and hear what is not actually happening... I understand that illegal drugs can do the same thing in the early stages of addiction.
There is no proof for 'soul' and no proof against 'soul'. I'd kinda like to believe it... It opens up interesting prospects... but... You know me, Yorick!