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@3RU7AL
I think the difference between humans and other animals is PROBABLY that humans have the capacity to contemplate whether or not we have free will. I doubt a lizard or even a dog can or will do that.
You've convinced me a non-physical-soul "exists".Now what? How does this information help me decide which ancient rule-book I should model my life around?
An atheist once told me he thought that when he dies he will evolve into a higher life form. Does such a notion qualify as a magical realm?
Do you think it's inevitable then since I think for the most part that's what we're trying to do? At least I'm not aware of any restraints on human similarity.
. The questions you're posing sound right out of a Bible skeptics book. It's almost as if you're equating it'sinterpretationwithBible refutation arguments. I don't think Mary Shelly had the Bible skepticmind framethat I'm aware of.
Jesus figured out what we were looking for, then decided to make foxes look like dogs, meaning that our efforts to do all that genetic engineering weren't ACTUALLY working, they just looked like they were working, but were actually responding to divine intervention. Feasible?Not particularly. No.Why not?Maybe you could clarify a bit more?Your statement looks something along the lines of God fooling us into theorizing Darwinian evolution.
I think the difference between humans and other animals is PROBABLY that humans have the capacity to contemplate whether or not we have free will. I doubt a lizard or even a dog can or will do that.
Not necessarily IMO.A very untypical atheist I would say!
That seems to be where most people tend to go with this sort of argument.For instance, do you think this realizing a non-physical-soul exists necessitates following one of the ancient rule-books?
Whatever Frankenstein's intent was in creating the monster, what rights did he have over it once it was created?
A soul obviously means there is more to it than just our physical bodies. It changes everything.
This particular atheist is the type who adapts to Hollywood's version of atheism (He's a Trekkie). Many of our sci-fi themed media outlets contribute a lot to the thoughts and philosophies of many of it's viewers. The idea of evolving into a higher life form is seen as a non-religious alternative to non-existence. And at the same time doesn't seem to violate any laws of naturalistic evolution.
Please explain.Humans are currently unable to build a termite.We don't know exactly how it knows how to build a nest. We don't know where its instincts reside.Do you think it would be fair to conclude that, simply because we don't know these things, that it-must-be because they possess a hidden variable termite soul?
And if we are convinced that termites have souls, does this mean we should stop trying to understand them?
And if we are convinced that termites have souls, does this mean we should stop trying to kill them?
You say "it changes everything" but I'm just not seeing it. What do you think it changes?
Do you think it would be fair to conclude that, simply because we don't know these things, that it-must-be because they possess a hidden variable termite soul?No, but if I have a soul, then i have to assume a termite has a soul as well.
And if we are convinced that termites have souls, does this mean we should stop trying to kill them?I don't know. It was arranged, and I don't know why, that life feeds on life .
We are naturally territorial, as is every other animal,and probably plants as well. I don't have to like it,but i have to participate because nature or God had deemed it so, if I want to survive, and I do. So I have to kill animals and plants for food,and protect myself and my territory form other living creatures. I have thought about this a lot. I don't know why life has to feed on life, or if there is another way to live. Plants,and a few animals can survive on photosynthesis. Maybe it COULD be arranged in another way. I don't know.
I suppose as humans we could at least figure out how to create the least destruction of other living beings, like the jains, just eating fallen fruit and trying not to move around too much in hopes of not squishing bugs. We could stop bathing and washing our hands and using sanitizers to clean our homes in order to not kill and bugs or bacteria. But for me personally, I must not be very spiritually advanced, as I want to take a shower, and I like meat and will not give it up any time soon. I have tried a few times to at least be a vegetarian, but it never lasts long. And plants, do they feel pain, are they conscious being too? They could be. What is left to eat ? Gotta eat something.
You say "it changes everything" but I'm just not seeing it. What do you think it changes?It means that if there is a soul, then there is the spirit world we need to learn about,and understand.
What about a rock a river or a robot? Do they have souls too?
Good idea, maybe we should eat termites.
I understand that feeling some level of empathy for all living things is a symptom of a nascent super-ego and I also understand "you gotta do what you gotta do". I'm just not sure what any of this has to do with a non-physical soul (hidden variable).
I thought the whole point of "the non-physical soul" (hidden variable) was that we can't observe it scientifically.How do you propose we learn about and understand it?
How do you propose we learn about and understand it?We could start with energy. I know that there are energies involved, and we may at some time in the future be able to detect them. I have felt and seen it, so I know it exists. We may also come to an understanding of morphic fields, which I also believe exist. I believe they are somehow linked to souls.
ll of that is interesting, but it doesn't seem to have any tangible effect on "you gotta do what you gotta do".People with low empathy will continue to act as they act.People with high empathy will continue to act as they act.Whether or not they have souls seems, well, immaterial?
I don't know about that. Spiritual growth is involved. And that has to do intimately with the soul.
(IFF) "high empathy" = "spiritual growth" (THEN) science can solve this. [LINK]
Self-improvement isn't science. It's consciensious hard work.
doesn't seem to violate any laws of naturalistic evolution.
Maybe the chakra system is the framework, I don't know.
Idk, vagueness on my part maybe.You know I'm a free will skeptic right.You seemed like you might be "on the fence" a bit.
I'm amazing, so you make a strong argument. I'll have to think about this. (What do you mean "maybe" Lenny Kravitz.)Well, I think if you can sing a song by an African American pop star (with the exception of maybe Lenny Kravitz), you must have a soul.It might depend on how well you did though.
A practical way of thinking about it. But it pushes the term toward being merely synonymous with "autonomy" or something.I think the term 'free will' refers to something that isn't actually 'free' or 'will'.Free will is what a leaf blowing in the wind doesn't have that I, walking into that wind to get to the shops, do have.
*runs away crying*I have no idea why some other atheists enjoy pointing out we're soulless machines so much. "Ha ha! You got no free will, sucka! Your brain is just a machine, God boy! We're all powerless fatherless accidents in a meaningless universe and we're all gonna die and that's it, lights out! Ha ha... ha... heh... eh... oh. Wait."In my experience, atheists seem quite shy about talking about how gods and souls are purely imaginary, kinda like when you overhear a kid talking excitedly about Santa Claus, you generally keep your mouth shut because you don't really want them to burst into tears right in front of you.
If asked "How do you know __________?" I'm always going to point out that I don't "know" with certainty. I'm only human. I don't know we have no soul, or that free will does not exist -- but I think there are good reasons to doubt it. Or rather, I think there are better reasons to doubt it than to believe it.
There are a few things you can be absolutely 100% confident about.