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October 2009 
What's Up With Souls, Anyway??
Posted on Feb 24th, 2008
by 
a.k.a. Biff Cummings
a.k.a. Biff Cummings
Something which has been bobbing up and down in my awareness, like a cork on my psychic fishing line, is this fascinating question; what could be the simplest explanation for the existence of a soul? Is there something fundamentally wrong with being Borg? Since I now believe that individual souls do exist before, after and beyond one's physical body, and that re-incarnation is likely, what reasons would make sense to explain the existence of souls?
My hypothesis for the moment will be that a reasonable answer to this question might be offered, without trying to rely on years of interest in consciousness and religion. I'm fond of Occam's Razor in thinking about this, because answering how many angels can dance on the head of a pin is something I'd prefer to avoid.
Maybe you wouldn't mind that a few simple physical theories from quantum mechanics could be used in this sandbox? Common ideas like polarity, centripetal force, mass attraction (gravity), entropy and reactions between complementary particles like electrons, neutrons and protons. Most people buy those, including me.
One can make an excellent case that we tend be composed of energy tied to matter and empty space. I trust that energy, matter and empty space will behave the way most physicists suggest. And many experienced, conscientious spiritual thinkers seem to think that physics and religion are often coming to each other's assistance in explaining sub-atomic phenomena.
So, we're energy, matter and space bundled into cohesion.
Let me start with me and my soul. Do I believe it's possible that I chose my parents before my birth? Do I believe that complementary energies tend to attract each other like a magnet? Sure. Can energy coalesce via forces analogous to gravity, and become matter. Sure. Many scientists favor a "Big Bang" theory. So, why not a similar kind of phenomenon for souls or their use of physical bodies?
I miss my parents dearly, even though they're both dead. I miss them in a deeply physical and emotional manner. I wish they were still alive. I remember the look in my father's face when I finally realized, as a young boy, that I would eventually die. He was so tender I was surprised, and replied, "You don't have to worry about that; that's a long time away." His love didn't stop the impact the thought of death had on me, but if softened the blow because he could then make many things better for me simply by caring.
If I'm silent, I can still imagine my parent's voices, and feel their touch and scent. Could those longings be enough energy to draw me across the universe if I could see them again? Fuckin' eh! You bet'cha! There are lots of extraordinary things I'd try if seeing them again could be possible.
I had the same sort of conversation about death with my son. And, if I could have chosen anything in the world I could have given him in that moment, it most likely would have been everlasting life. Will my son miss me the same way after I pass, like I now miss my parents? Probably. He's at least as sensitive a child as I was, and sensitive children beget sensitive adults.
The way I now figure this soul idea works is this -- in my "solid" energy phases like I'm now in, with a body, I want to be here to experience what I am. I like it. I like the humor, I like the drama, I like the phases of feelings I go through. I love feeling alive. When I don't have a body I can't really understand what it's like to feel love or loss. And those two emotions are experiences which can't occur without each other.
Of course, I'd much rather have love than loss. So I do everything in my power, and some not, to preserve the love I'd like to see in me and others.
My hypothesis for the moment will be that a reasonable answer to this question might be offered, without trying to rely on years of interest in consciousness and religion. I'm fond of Occam's Razor in thinking about this, because answering how many angels can dance on the head of a pin is something I'd prefer to avoid.
Maybe you wouldn't mind that a few simple physical theories from quantum mechanics could be used in this sandbox? Common ideas like polarity, centripetal force, mass attraction (gravity), entropy and reactions between complementary particles like electrons, neutrons and protons. Most people buy those, including me.
One can make an excellent case that we tend be composed of energy tied to matter and empty space. I trust that energy, matter and empty space will behave the way most physicists suggest. And many experienced, conscientious spiritual thinkers seem to think that physics and religion are often coming to each other's assistance in explaining sub-atomic phenomena.
So, we're energy, matter and space bundled into cohesion.
Let me start with me and my soul. Do I believe it's possible that I chose my parents before my birth? Do I believe that complementary energies tend to attract each other like a magnet? Sure. Can energy coalesce via forces analogous to gravity, and become matter. Sure. Many scientists favor a "Big Bang" theory. So, why not a similar kind of phenomenon for souls or their use of physical bodies?
I miss my parents dearly, even though they're both dead. I miss them in a deeply physical and emotional manner. I wish they were still alive. I remember the look in my father's face when I finally realized, as a young boy, that I would eventually die. He was so tender I was surprised, and replied, "You don't have to worry about that; that's a long time away." His love didn't stop the impact the thought of death had on me, but if softened the blow because he could then make many things better for me simply by caring.
If I'm silent, I can still imagine my parent's voices, and feel their touch and scent. Could those longings be enough energy to draw me across the universe if I could see them again? Fuckin' eh! You bet'cha! There are lots of extraordinary things I'd try if seeing them again could be possible.
I had the same sort of conversation about death with my son. And, if I could have chosen anything in the world I could have given him in that moment, it most likely would have been everlasting life. Will my son miss me the same way after I pass, like I now miss my parents? Probably. He's at least as sensitive a child as I was, and sensitive children beget sensitive adults.
The way I now figure this soul idea works is this -- in my "solid" energy phases like I'm now in, with a body, I want to be here to experience what I am. I like it. I like the humor, I like the drama, I like the phases of feelings I go through. I love feeling alive. When I don't have a body I can't really understand what it's like to feel love or loss. And those two emotions are experiences which can't occur without each other.
Of course, I'd much rather have love than loss. So I do everything in my power, and some not, to preserve the love I'd like to see in me and others.
Access: Public
“What could be the simplest explanation for the existence of a soul?”
“To Blathe…”
~Princess Bride
I Love your combination of science and sacred.