Q&A: Definition of the Soul
Definition of the Soul
Question
Following up on the question in Chinese that I wrote a few days ago, I’ll try to phrase a question related to it:
A soul is a term for several ideas—personality, vitality, experience, and so on.
Today we know where personality comes from, and how it is built (DNA, education, etc.); we know where vitality comes from (oxygen, broadly speaking); all that remains is to understand what experience itself actually is and where it comes from.
But now, it seems we can already break down the concept of the soul and simply call it consciousness—that is, something that describes experience (and awareness) alone.
I assume quite a few people still think that everything included in that definition is still correct, but I’m sure that you and other educated people don’t think that way, so why do people keep using this word?
I assume there’s a chance you see it in a completely different way, and I’d be glad to know.
By the way, I really appreciate the possibility of asking you questions. It’s not something to be taken for granted that you devote your time to this. Thank you very much 🙏
Answer
The soul is not a definition of any idea or set of ideas. The soul is an additional, non-material component that exists in a human being. The soul has various functions: our entire mental dimension.
We do not know where personality comes from, nor experience, nor where anything mental in us comes from. I have no idea what you are basing that absurd statement on.
Discussion on Answer
The words here don’t come together into anything meaningful. It’s hard for me to discuss it in this way.
Shneur,
The personality you’re defining isn’t called a soul; nobody relates to it that way either. AI also has that kind of personality, and if you go to India for half a year, everyone will say your personality has completely changed.
If anything, the soul is the “personality” that remains of you after you come back from India—the core of the ego, of self-awareness as a specific entity. The mental part that experiences being.
What do you mean, it isn’t a definition? Every word is a definition. I agree that this definition has several functions, and that’s exactly what I meant.
It’s strange to me that you think the understanding that our personality is built from our DNA and our education isn’t correct. What else is left? Calculations that our brain performs? Where does the soul enter the picture if everything is explained materialistically except for experience itself?