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The Case for the soul.

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  • The Case for the soul.

    Enjoy.

    -The universe begins to look more like a great thought than a great machine.
    Sir James Jeans

    -This most beautiful system (The Universe) could only proceed from the dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.All variety of created objects which represent order and Life in the Universe could happen only by the willful reasoning of its original Creator, whom I call the Lord God.
    Sir Isaac Newton

  • #2
    Very interesting, in spite of the unusually loud overly dramatic music in the background and the occasional appearance of naked pixies in the video.
    The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

    Comment


    • #3
      I consider it interesting, but there is a certain amount of conjecture and justification based on the lack of evidence therefore . . .
      Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
      Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
      But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

      go with the flow the river knows . . .

      Frank

      I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

      Comment


      • #4
        A single celled organism can learn and make choices. There are a lot of individual cells in the human body. What part of self awareness and decision making involves the overall body?
        Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Quantum Weirdness View Post
          Enjoy.

          ‘Idealism’ which is what this video is arguing, states that the material universe arises from consciousness rather than the other way around – the latter being the view of most cognitive scientists.

          Where do the other self-conscious creatures fit into this scenario, e.g. the other primates, dolphins or elephants etc? Do they have minds too that are able to: “change the chemical make-up of the brain” as this video proposes the human animal can do - or is this ability restricted to the human animal? And how is the 'mind' affecting the material body not ‘dualism’?
          “He felt that his whole life was a kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it.” - Douglas Adams.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Tassman View Post
            ‘Idealism’ which is what this video is arguing, states that the material universe arises from consciousness rather than the other way around – the latter being the view of most cognitive scientists.

            Where do the other self-conscious creatures fit into this scenario, e.g. the other primates, dolphins or elephants etc? Do they have minds too that are able to: “change the chemical make-up of the brain” as this video proposes the human animal can do - or is this ability restricted to the human animal? And how is the 'mind' affecting the material body not ‘dualism’?
            Good questions!!
            Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
            Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
            But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

            go with the flow the river knows . . .

            Frank

            I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

            Comment


            • #7
              Idealism is strange, though it seems to make some sense.
              Atheism is the cult of death, the death of hope. The universe is doomed, you are doomed, the only thing that remains is to await your execution...

              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbnueb2OI4o&t=3s

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by seer View Post
                Idealism is strange, though it seems to make some sense.
                If this is a subject that interests you I would like to recommend Brain Science Podcast.
                http://brainsciencepodcast.com/
                “I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.” ― Oscar Wilde
                “And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence” ― Bertrand Russell
                “not all there” - you know who you are

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Tassman View Post
                  Where do the other self-conscious creatures fit into this scenario, e.g. the other primates, dolphins or elephants etc?
                  And what do you see when you look in a mirror?
                  “I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.” ― Oscar Wilde
                  “And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence” ― Bertrand Russell
                  “not all there” - you know who you are

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by firstfloor View Post
                    And what do you see when you look in a mirror?
                    Same as you, namely a self-aware placental mammal of the order 'Primates'.
                    “He felt that his whole life was a kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it.” - Douglas Adams.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Tassman View Post
                      Same as you, namely a self-aware placental mammal of the order 'Primates'.
                      Indeed. I am currently working my way through Matt McCormick’s (Department of Philosophy, California State University) online course on the Philosophy of Religion. He talks about the soul here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WFN...yyXuHTfi1SS_6y

                      Main courses page here:
                      https://sites.google.com/site/mccormickphilosophy/
                      “I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.” ― Oscar Wilde
                      “And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence” ― Bertrand Russell
                      “not all there” - you know who you are

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by firstfloor View Post
                        Indeed. I am currently working my way through Matt McCormick’s (Department of Philosophy, California State University) online course on the Philosophy of Religion. He talks about the soul here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WFN...yyXuHTfi1SS_6y

                        Main courses page here:
                        https://sites.google.com/site/mccormickphilosophy/
                        Very interesting course!! He appears to take a strict material Philosophical Naturalist view in the first two videos I listened to. The strong skeptical view toward religion is useful to me, because it is the starting point for my personal philosophy. Even though I believe in God, and the soul, I am not deluded by the claims of scientific evidence or other anecdotal and dubious claims from various religious perspectives. I want to spend more time to go over the materials on the Youtube videos and comment more.
                        Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
                        Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
                        But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

                        go with the flow the river knows . . .

                        Frank

                        I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I agree shuny. The editing is a bit annoying in places; he cuts mid sentence but you are not actually missing anything.
                          “I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.” ― Oscar Wilde
                          “And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence” ― Bertrand Russell
                          “not all there” - you know who you are

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            I didn't watch the video, so pardon me if anything I say is dealt with within the video, but I find the existence of a soul to be vestigial, at best, and empirically unverified.

                            As our understanding of the brain grows, we become more and more aware of its functions; it controls our every movement; our every thought; our every action; our every decision. If you destroy the brain, as opposed to any other part of the body, you are killed. Why is this? Well, the short answer would seem to be that you are your brain. The idea of a soul, as far as I know, is that it is your immaterial consciousness, bound to your physical body. But, what evidence is there that this soul exists? I'm sure the video touches on the subject, so I won't go on a tangent, but it seems to me that, without empirical evidence of the existence of a soul, the brain is more than ample to explain who we are.

                            But, if you don't think that empirical evidence is the end-all, be-all (aside from logical impossibility), how would those of you here who believe that you have a soul explain it to me? What is a soul? How do you know that you have one? How do you distinguish between a soulless individual, and one with a soul? Can you lose your soul and remain living?
                            “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” - Richard Dawkins

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by ChaosRain View Post
                              I didn't watch the video, so pardon me if anything I say is dealt with within the video,...
                              You are hereby pardoned.
                              The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                              Comment

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