An argument against the spirit

MikeF said:

I think several ape species fall squarely in the awareness of awareness camp, along with dolphins and elephants and others.

Does this expand the list of species that may posses/require a soul, in your estimation?

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Animals have souls. Everything conscious has souls. All souls are not the same.

I like what Jane Goodall says about faith and higher power. I don't think she goes into any detail about it. Only that a higher power exists.

My own view is that all life has a vital component. Of course vitalism isn't going to help anyone's physical health. There's no medical benefit to vitalism.

I don't believe in God, or that humans are somehow more special than other life. The only difference is we can know exactly what we are doing and are far more capable of moral responsibility.

My God is a what, not a who.

osgart said:

Animals have souls. Everything conscious has souls. All souls are not the same.

I like what Jane Goodall says about faith and higher power. I don't think she goes into any detail about it. Only that a higher power exists.

My own view is that all life has a vital component. Of course vitalism isn't going to help anyone's physical health. There's no medical benefit to vitalism.

I don't believe in God, or that humans are somehow more special than other life. The only difference is we can know exactly what we are doing and are far more capable of moral responsibility.

My God is a what, not a who.

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I think that it is great you expand the concept of soul beyond Homo Sapiens. Percentage wise, I think many who hold a concept of soul do not expand it beyond we human beings.

I, as may be obvious, do not ascribe to the concept of a soul. I also take the position that the universe is inanimate and quite indifferent to life. Life on earth, and all its subsequent permutations, is a serendipitous accident.

MikeF said:

I think that it is great you expand the concept of soul beyond Homo Sapiens. Percentage wise, I think many who hold a concept of soul do not expand it beyond we human beings.

I, as may be obvious, do not ascribe to the concept of a soul. I also take the position that the universe is inanimate and quite indifferent to life. Life on earth, and all its subsequent permutations, is a serendipitous accident.

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The inanimate is indifferent to life. That to me says that life is more than what the universe is. .

My spirit realm is not supernatural, nor is it divinely purposed. It's primitive, and savage.

I guess my worst case scenario is that I'm wrong but I'll never know it. Lol.

Unveiled Artist said:

"For as far back as we can trace our existence, humans have been fascinated with death and resurrection. But is resurrection really possible? And what is the actual difference between a living creature and a dead body anyway? Randall Hayes delves into the scientific theories that seek to answer these age-old questions."

Vitalism: The theory that the origin and phenomena of life are dependent on a force or principle distinct from purely chemical or physical forces.

Many cultures define this vital spark in various ways without needing to go into specific religions to compare them. But in general, so far I know people have an idea of this.

The video is giving a more scientific view arguing against having a lifeforce, spark, or existing as part of existence and so forth. Whatever term we use to describe the nature of our existence in relation to our inner and outworld worlds, I also wonder how we would feel if we didn't have any concept of not living "anymore."

Enjoy.

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The bible is "almost" the only reason to believe in God.

The bible says that ESP (Extrasensory Perception) is real. The bible was written using ESP at least a century after the death of all of the apostles (otherwise, they would not know what each apostle witnessed unless they passed that info down by word of mouth). Revelation is about predictions using ESP.

If ESP can predict future events, or view past events, or get information (similar to looking it up on the internet), surely information is somehow stored and organized and somewhere around us where we can access it.

If information can be stored, it might be possible to store a personality (that is, God). That storage facility might be God's brain.

If ESP is real, and psychics say that they sense that God or angels or spirits are real, then we would have to trust that psychics are telling us the truth. Therefore, one way to know, for sure, that God exists, is to listen to a psychic.

That psychic could be tested for accuracy by predicting future events.

So, if you believe in the bible, you must believe in ESP, so you must believe in spirits, so it stands to reason that God could exist, as well (especially if psychics say God exists).

MikeF said:

I think that it is great you expand the concept of soul beyond Homo Sapiens. Percentage wise, I think many who hold a concept of soul do not expand it beyond we human beings.

I, as may be obvious, do not ascribe to the concept of a soul. I also take the position that the universe is inanimate and quite indifferent to life. Life on earth, and all its subsequent permutations, is a serendipitous accident.

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I wonder how many lifeforms ponder why they don't exist? Statistically, there are far more of them.

Clara Tea said:

I wonder how many lifeforms ponder why they don't exist? Statistically, there are far more of them.

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Not sure I understand your question as stated. If a lifeform does not exist, why would it ponder its non-existence? There is nothing there to ponder anything, right?

The first time I saw a dead body - in a hospital, about 40 years ago - I was struck by how palpably inert the corpse was. It didn't just look dead, it looked lifeless, It seemed there was an absence, and not just of biological function