crose (02/09/83)
I was wondering ( isn't that how it all starts?), what if man doesn't have a soul. What if when he dies, that's it, no reincarnation. Then that also brings up the question, if man does have an eternal soul, then why try so hard to prove he does?
iy47ab (02/10/83)
And what if he does die, and that's it?
That doesn't bother me. I am curious why the idea bothers people in
the first place. I tend to say; yes, I have a 'soul', but not an
eternal one. When I die, it dies; that's it, kaput. It seems to
me that it is a kind of insecurity, a kind of troubled-by-endingsness
that causes everyone to try to prove that there is an eternal soul.
After all, it shouldn't matter, right? We'll all find out in time.
But if you are insecure; if being mortal is frightening to you; then
I think you would be seriously concerned.
Please don't flame at me, I'm often wrong!
Not afraid to admit flaming letters scare me more than eternal silence,
Lady Arwen of U.C.S.D.randals (02/10/83)
From tekmdp!tektronix!ucbcad!ucbvax:decvax!harpo!eagle!mhuxt!crose Tue Feb 8 16:30:52 1983
Subject: The Soul of the Matter
Newsgroups: net.philosophy
I was wondering ( isn't that how it all starts?), what
if man doesn't have a soul. What if when he dies, that's
it, no reincarnation. Then that also brings up the
question, if man does have an eternal soul, then why
try so hard to prove he does?
My question to you is, what is your real question? Let's go both ways...
A) assume man does not have a soul:
Each day that you live is simply a day that you live. You go
through life, having experiences of one flavor or another, and
then you die. That simple. So, what's the opportunity?
You can either: 1) live life as a jerk, messing up everyone
else's opportunities, or 2) live life as if life mattered, and
assist *everyone* at whatever you choose, or 3) a little of both
as you see fit. Remember, assuming that you are without a soul
also puts everyone else in the same boat; that is, they can
do (1), (2), or (3) above.
B) assume man *does* have a soul:
Now what? If you follow a religious model, you are told that
when you do "the right thing", you get to go to "heaven", or
something like that. What are those "right things" usually
like? Love your neighbor, live in peace, be one with the
nature of reality, etc. etc. So you get guidelines about
how to live, and you do them (or don't do them) because
of how you want to spend eternity. So what? Doesn't
eternity start *right now*? What forces us to think that
the rewards for behaviour patterns don't happen until
death, or the next round-about (reincarnation stuff), or
the final judgement day?
The real point is, does it matter whether you are going to live
for 20 or 200,000 more years? All you have is *right now*! There's no
other moment of time that you can directly experience!
This is it. You've lived your whole life to get to this point.
Now, just be here. Ask yourself... "how good am I willing to have it
be RIGHT NOW?", and "What's my opportunity, RIGHT NOW?"
And notice what your answer is, and more importantly, "who" is talking
when you give the answers? You, or your past?
Food for thought, in a finally appropriate newsgroup...
Randal L. Schwartz
(former) Tektronix Microcomputer Development Products
(now) Tektronix Engineering Computing Systems (the UNIX people)
Wilsonville, Oregon, USA
UUCP: ...!{ucbvax or decvax}!tektronix!tekecs!randals (ignore return address)
CSNET: tekecs!randals @ tektronix
ARPA: tekecs!randals.tektronix @ rand-relayfranka (02/11/83)
#R:mhuxt:-111600:tekcad:23000001:000:213 tekcad!franka Feb 11 09:07:00 1983 OK, randals, I will answer your question. There is no soul. After you kick off... nothing. That's it. Too bad. The Amazing Frank (knows all, sees all) P.S. Also available for parties and Bar Mitzvahs.
z (02/13/83)
There are other alternatives besides those mentioned so far. For example, the Buddhists don't believe in any kind of a soul whatsoever, yet they are firm believers in reincarnation. An early test of a Buddhist monk's grasp of Buddhist philosophy is to properly explain this apparent contradiction.
mjb (02/13/83)
Life is a rogue game, where you are the @.