evolution

[hobosexual]

question 1. ok, well in biology today we were talking about evolution and how we all pretty much evolved from a single creature and it got me to thinking. in some religions you believe that all creatures have some sort of soul right? so if all creatures evolved would that mean that the soul evolves as well?

#2. my teacher also told me that some religions believe that only humans have souls. don't you think that is kinda crap. that means that if like a horse or a dog just died then they just die. they don't go to heaven or hell or anything they are just gone. why do humans deserve to have souls when other creatures do not?

[Individual]

I agree with what you are trying to say.

Yet at the same time, how can we prove that there is such thing as a soul.

How can we be able to know if animals have souls?

Your questions, with technology society has in present day, cannot be answered. As much as you may want to believe in religion, we cannot prove nor disprove these theories. The mind is an extremely complicated thing. I am a firm believer that if your mind has the capacity and urge to believe, then what you believe is possible. While I deny religion, and God itself. Those that do believe have something inside of them that can believe.

So while there is proof for me not to believe in religion, God very well could exist to those that can believe. Maybe not even God's word as in the bible, or even God creating the Universe, but God could be a spirit, something inside of us or part of our mind.

The fact that many believe in a higher being, a notion of higher spirit, leads me to believe that such thing can exist to those that have the capacity to believe in it.

This is no argument for God, for I personally find God completely false. However because I do not believe, does not mean that God is not real for others. This is a very hard thing to prove, yet I find it ironic that so many people have the need and want to believe, that how can it not be true. If you compare all sorts of religions, you will find that most (if not all) have something to do with a spirit, or a sense that is not conceivable or visual to man. Indian cultures, Greek mythology, Christianity, Satanic cults, even some scientists believe in spirits of the mind. So while religions and 'Gods word' present themselves false. The fact that so many humans believe would suggest to me that belief is real.

This is a very controversial topic, and I can understand if you dissagree with what I have said. At times I wonder over it myself. This is just an interpretation on belief that I ponder over.

Suddenly strayed a little further off topic than hoped, but this can be rounded about to evolution of the soul.

Now as for the evolution of life. There are many proofs of evolution, yet also many things that cannot be proved and seem to make evolution a fallacy.

My interpretation of the evolution of the soul as you talk about. Animals may very well have an inner spirit. However the human brain is tremendously more complex than that of animals. There could be a part of our brain that grants us the capabilities of believing that other species may not have. This would lead me to believe that on top of my theory that I have just provided, maybe their is a part in our brain of deception. Maybe this want to believe is clearly that. A want. Nothing to it but a desire, a false interpretation of life itself.

The answers to your questions are nearly impossible, as with the answers of the soul. We cannot prove, let alone disprove, the existance of a soul or inner spirit. All of this could be a function of the brain itself, in which we deceive ourselves into believing.

Science has come a long way, however it will go infinite times further. What if a spirit was that of a wave (as in radio/micro/ultraviolet/etc.) that has no been detected. Or what if the spirit is completely false, and is merely a deception and fallacy of the brain. None of these things can we be positive about in this day and age. Just more things to ponder about.

[hobosexual]

I agree with what you are trying to say.

Yet at the same time, how can we prove that there is such thing as a soul.

How can we be able to know if animals have souls?

Your questions, with technology society has in present day, cannot be answered. As much as you may want to believe in religion, we cannot prove nor disprove these theories. The mind is an extremely complicated thing. I am a firm believer that if your mind has the capacity and urge to believe, then what you believe is possible. While I deny religion, and God itself. Those that do believe have something inside of them that can believe.

thanks for the reply but this really has nothing to do with what i asked. i kno that soul cannot be proved through evidence. thats why i placed this topic in the philosophy section of this forum. personally im not that religious myself but im just curious. my question is assuming that soul does exist, and the #2 one you can answer by knowledge of the bible or whatever other religion you want.

[honest intellectual]

I think it's ridiculous an untenable to say there isn't a soul - but I won't get into that. Also, the soul is non-physical by definition, therefore it can't be an electromagnetic wave.

I think the evolution of the soul does happen, but not hand-in-hand with Darwinian evolution. It's a personal process, things you do can purify and adorn your soul. It can be perfected by sensory and intellectual experiences. Darwinian evolution, on the other hand is a purely physical phenomonon, not metaphysical.

[Individual]

My interpretation of the evolution of the soul as you talk about. Animals may very well have an inner spirit. However the human brain is tremendously more complex than that of animals. There could be a part of our brain that grants us the capabilities of believing that other species may not have. This would lead me to believe that on top of my theory that I have just provided, maybe their is a part in our brain of deception. Maybe this want to believe is clearly that. A want. Nothing to it but a desire, a false interpretation of life itself.

This was my answer. In a way, you could relate most of my post to your question.

I will add on by saying:

It is not whether or not we deserve a soul more than other species of animals. It is plainly whether the soul is merely part of our brain (which could explain if we have a soul and animals do not, for our brains are clearly more complex). There are four options here. Either

Only humans have a soul
Both humans and other species have souls
Some species have souls, so do not
There is not such thing as a soul, our complex brains lead us to deception into believing in a soul.

I am not exactly sure as to what answer you are looking for. This is as best of a point as I can make, for we do not even know if souls are real.

If the soul was a true thing, then it would still be hard to know if animals have souls.

Great question, however in present day. There is no way to answer this.

[Rasta Sapian]

Yes, i know what you are refering to toooooooevoltuion of the soul, I beleive I have a soul which exists apart from my brain and physical body. ie. dualism

And yes, it is evolving, and i also feel that with the help of the soul we as mankind have been evolving toward a certain direction for some time both physical and metaphysical, if anything the soul is speeding up this rate of evoltion.

Aristotle classified animals in a different class then people, explaining that man has the ability to rationalize thoughts, ie. understanding that we are looking at ourselves in the mirror, etc. giving us the idea that only mankind could have a soul!

However, I think that it may be possible for some animals, ie. dogs, cats, horses to be smart animals going beyond that of instinct and trained commands to be an all knowing creature, mans best friend etc. but having a soul? thats a good one! :huh:

peace yall

[SittingBull47]

Interesting. I feel i have a soul and a mind/body, but they are one and not dualistic. This is one of the lessons of Shunryu Suzuki. The mind and body are not 2 or not 1, they are both 2 AND 1. Think of it like the 2 sides of 1 coin.

[revolutionindia]

We all humans have souls.We all are intricately connected like a spider web what happens to one human will affect the other.

From the limited knowledge i have
I can tell you the following

Human beings is the last but one step in evolution
The next step is evolving in to gods.
Where you become one with the god and the universe.

Animals are way below in the chain of evolution they have to go a long way to be born as a humans(rebirth).

The sad part is however much we know about the physical world today what we know about spiritual matters and matters of the soul is even less than what our ancestors knew .This imbalance will prove dear to us in the coming years.

[Pedro Alonso Lopez]

My theory, I am not that spiritual.

If there is some kind of spirit, I believe it is on ewith everything. Everything is spirit, I am not pantheistic
in away, I dont believe in God as a higher spirit but if there is a need to say what God is then I see it as the whole spirit, of everything.

Thus if we are evolving, everything that is, then the spirit would most likely and this is unprovable, evolve with us.

Its just metaphysical pondering there but I felt a need to throw it in.

[che's long lost daughter]

Buddhism teaches about the evolution of the soul

[SittingBull47]

che's long lost daughter,

do you know what i'm talking about then? I learned the dualistic/coin theory in a book by Shunryu Suzuki. It was "Zen mind, Beginner's Mind" and it talks of Zen buddhism.

Very good book, for anybody who is interested in buddhism or just meditation as a relaxing spiritual ritual.

[The Red Factor]

Being religious i believe that all living creatures have a soul but does that mean every ant you kill is the equivalent of killing a human because they are both powered by the same type of life force? Does an evolution of a human soul mean evolving into a greating being? Or the embodiment of a greater one such as an angel. If souls do exist in all life why would a soul be 'wasted' on an insect that lives two weeks or someone who dies extremely young. Does this mean the soul would go into another body thus creating and evolution of the soul?