The Theory of Nothing

Do we have souls?

Do we have souls?

This is another question that has been debated for eons. Actually, this issue can be approached from three angles, namely souls, spirits and ghosts. These terms describe similar concepts but there are differences. This subject is relevant to many genres of science fiction and the paranormal.

Spirits are supernatural entities that can be associated with humans, animals and even inanimate objects. Since spirits are not natural things, they exist in a world known as the astral plane. This is an ancient idea, a product of the occult and other gnostic sects. For the sake of argument, we’ll stick with the idea that spirits exist in another plane of existence from ours called the astral plane. Our plane of existence is called the natural plane.

A spirit is not composed of atoms like we are. Spirits are composed of non-quantifiable stuff and they can be part of a corporeal body and grow with it. Some American Indian tribes believe that spirits are in most things, a form of animism. They even believe in a Great Spirit, which is similar to our idea of God.

A soul, on the other hand is a spirit that can exist outside a body and is eternal. Christians believe that our immortal souls always existed and when our bodies unfetter them after death they will become the receptacles of our eventual destiny, either in heaven or hell.

The problem is that no one has been able to determine if there is an entity that we call a soul. Someone actually tried to prove the soul’s existence by weighing a body before and after death. He claimed success but the fact is that a body loses weight upon death due to natural processes of decay.

Ghosts, on the other hand, are supposedly souls or spirits that haunt places where they died. There are people who still function as ghost busters or ghost hunters. The ghostly activity they pursue would imply that spirits in the astral plane could interact or affect things in the natural plane. This could only occur if the two planes are somehow connected. The only way I could see this happening is if there is a quantum effect that ties the two planes together. Unfortunately, there’s no proof for this. There could be another explanation.

Now I’m going to go out on limb and define two ideas that could indicate how souls and bodies interact. First is the concept of brain. A brain is a biological organ that is the seat of our thinking processes. It’s where our memories are stored and how we reason. The brain is anchored in the natural plane. A mind, on the other hand, is a metaphysical entity where we have spiritual thoughts and imagine things that don’t exist. It’s where our personality lies. The mind is the seat of our creativity and it’s rooted in the spiritual world. This is how our soul and our body are connected. The mind and the brain are inexorably intertwined and it’s the reason that the soul leaves the body at death. This suggests that the soul is actually a mind unfettered to a body.

Most cultures believe in the soul because it’s the only way that we could achieve eternal life after death. Otherwise, death would be permanent. I vote for a soul.

Thanks for reading.