The Search for God Page 3.2.3
In nature, we witness lifeless forms decomposing—dead stars spewing their matter across the cosmos. What about the energy from the stars we don’t see with our eyes?
Occasionally, in hospitals, we have people on life support, their physical body is still functioning, but they are said to be “brain dead.” So we recognize full human identity as not only a physical body but something immaterial we might call a mind. Is the mind physical only?
What does it mean to be human?
Is human just physical?
Since ancient times, people have affirmed that humans have souls. Is this true? How do we know? As you may realize, I like to explore possibilities and keep things at a high level.
So let us assume we are just physical. We have a body and a brain. The brain holds our emotions, our mind, and those intangible concepts of humanity.
In this scenario we see the box below:
Body Alive (heart) | Body Dead (heart) | |
| Brain Alive | Alive by human understanding | Will die less than an hour without intervention |
Brain Dead | Functionally dead, could live years | Dead by human understanding |
This is our understanding. When both brain and heart die or stop, we die. But what if our intangible mind and emotions reside within something intangible like a soul and the brain is some type of connection between the body and soul?
When the brain gets damaged, the soul is not damaged, just the connection between body and soul. Now, whether the brain is the connection or something else, the real question on everyone’s mind is, do humans have an intangible soul? And if so, what is the nature of the soul?
So let’s say humans have a soul. We might draw a grid, like below:
Physically Alive (body/brain) | Physically Dead (body/brain) | |
Mind/Soul Positive | Alive by human understanding | Life after physical death—possible |
No Mind/Soul | Alive by human understanding | Nothing after physical death (atheism) |
What happens when the physical dies?
In this scenario, we retain the same basic categories but gain an interesting possibility. What if you have a mind and soul which is attached to the body, but then the body dies, what happens to the soul? This is the question.
How would we know if we have a soul? Can we make a detector as we do for gamma rays or X-rays? Maybe we can make a soul scan. Sounds kinda cool. A soul scan. Is your soul healthy?
Maybe we can construct a mirror or portrait, like in The Picture of Dorian Gray. In this book, Mr. Gray makes a deal to never age and sells his soul which degrades the picture because of his sensual lifestyle.
Do we have a soul?
Would our soul have health? Do we have a soul? When we ask what is human identity, we can examine our genetics, we can examine our hair color and eye color, but what we really want to know is, will something of us, other than decaying carbon atoms and evaporating water molecules, survive?
How will we know? Where can we get this information? Just as in everything else, we get this information from ourselves, and other humans or we obtain this information from a being who can perceive this intangible soul realm and maybe even the realm of death.
Humans have exhausted their mental resources, and science might hold some hope with the soon-to-be-coming “soul scan,” yours for only four easy payments of $49.95 and if you act today, we will throw in … you get the idea?
We hope; maybe, someday, once we know more. It’s the same song and dance. I love science. Science has improved our world in many ways. While we wait for these next great advances, I will explore whether a higher being, maybe even god has spoken to humankind and answered this question: Does man have a soul?
Human identity is complex, but 100% of living humans have a heart and body. 100% of humans have genes. We think we have a soul, but we don’t know with 100% certainty.
What Next?
- What is the crucial concept?
- Either humans have a soul or we don’t. For now, only a “higher” being can tell us if humans possess a soul
- Why is that significant?
- If humans have a soul, we might live after death. We should determine if a higher being, like god, spoke to humankind.
- If you agree, the next steps.
- If you disagree, please consider reading.
References and Links
- Wikipedia – The Picture of Dorian Gray
- Philosophy Now – Is the Mind Physical?