What is a Soul? (aka, the Secular Theory of Soul)

the Secular Theory of Soul

Sense of Self

There is a hole that
is shaped like me and I am
that which fills that hole.

When I act it is
According to my nature
to act is to learn.

Okay... I'm trying to stuff an idea into a couple haikus. Not sure I've got the hang of being concise enough to use haiku for everything. : )

I've been thinking a bit, lately, on what a "soul" is, and if they exist, and all that. And if they do, what is their nature?

When people speak of a soul, they are generally referring to something that is immortal and indestructible, and also which is defining of their inherent self or nature or existence as who or what they are.

Now... often, people _think_ of a soul as this funny thing, shaped like you, possibly made out of some kind of invisible energy. They think of a soul as a thing.

I think of a soul as more like a "form" or a possibility. Maybe those are bad words. I'm fumbling at which terms to use. I'll try analogy:

Okay... two plus two equals four, right?

Well... "two" is something that "exists", even if there's nothing to count two of. Two has an inherent identity all its own. Two might be expressed as "these letters that mean two when speaking of there being two of something."

It might be expressed as a symbol. But the symbol represents two, when we speak of it - the symbol itself isn't "two."

There can be two of something. Two objects, two ideas, two people. And two manifests in that way.

You can't destroy two. There will always be a "two." Even if there never were people to think of it or count it, or talk about it, there would always be a possible thing that has the nature, when added to itself, of being another thing we call "four."

Two has definite, predictable qualities that make it what it is, and there are predictable results of working with it. Whenever two plus two manifests, the answer will always be something that manifests as "four."

There's a "place" in the universe, shaped like "two." And there are all sorts of different things that fill that space.

In similar sense, I think that a "soul," is that set of possibilities in the universe that add up to the thing shaped like us. It's sort of like the "room" that exists for something like ourselves to exist. That "space" would exist even if we never walked the earth in an us-shaped body.

But when we do live and exist in the world, we are a manifestation of our "soul." We are the thing that is in that space shaped like us. We are the "proof" of our existence in a sense, if you wish to think of it that way (implying that there's other ways to think of it.)

I also think that it is possible for that same soul that is us to manifest more than once. Or something so similar that it is still at least partly defined by our soul. Past lives. Soul-brothers. Avatars. Whatever.

Now... can souls "learn?"

In a way. A soul isn't exactly a number, like "two." to use another math analogy (these are analogies, by the way - I'm not claiming that souls are math. Math is math, souls are souls), a soul (in this model) is more like algebra - an algorithm or equation. It's what we would be, if manifested in a particular way.

When a soul manifests in a particular way (makes choices, has things happen to it) then the manifestation of that soul takes on the qualities that emerge under those circumstances. Now, the "shape" of our soul probably determines how we are likely to respond, or what will likely be our thoughts or choices based on different experiences. How our soul has manifested thus far may also influence the choices of a particular manifestation.

And then, our soul sort of becomes "what our soul would be had it manifested in this way." Viewed through time, and through its manifestations, a soul may "learn" or seem to change, from our perspective.

How we manifest, looking from the perspective of the physical plane, determines where our soul manages to "go" in the material plane. Each time it manifests, it is _possible_ that it sort of "carries" with it the qualities it has taken on from previous manifestations, partly through the actions and their effects, and the information left behind in the world when the last manifestation died or went away.

How our soul manifests or appears is affected by things like time, contact with other souls, memory, consequences, etc.

But the soul itself is what it always was, and what it always could have been.

Our choices determine to a great degree how we manifest ourselves in the world. They can lead to how others manifest self. They can influence how we will manifest in the future. I'm not espousing fatalism here, I assure you. : )

It could be said that our soul more fully manifests (in this model) when we choose that which is more inherently "us" than that which is sort of a "smoosh" of everyone. And if we make choices that completely deviate (somehow) from the normal path of our soul, then we won't _resemble_ that previous manifestation of self. Obviously, if we make such a choice, it exists as a possibility within our soul as "something which can manifest as one thing, and then seem to become another."

People tend to think of the soul as something "supernatural." I.e., something outside of the normal laws or rules of things. Something "above nature." or "more than nature," or even "outside of nature."

If by "nature" you merely mean the physical world, then yeah, I guess.

But if by "nature" you mean "everything." Then... of course not. If the soul exists, then it exists.

It's just that, if there's a such thing as a soul... what comes to mind is that bit from "Princess Bride."

Sicilian: InconTHIEVable!!!
Inigo: You keep eh-sayin eh that word. I do na theen it means what you theen it means.

I don't think a soul is necessarily a blob of energy. I think it's something that is a potential that can be made manifest.

Now... perhaps there's a such thing as a "spirit." The thing that "breathes life." into something. Not just the living energy of a body, but perhaps the energy (or even matter), which allows information to pass through time and distance, but also might be part of how a soul manifests _in a particular way_.

Am I being too metaphysical for people here?

We don't really know what (or if) a soul is. I'm not sure we've all got the same definition.

But if you define a soul as above, I think it's possible to make a good case for its existence (though I might have my predictions about its behavior wrong or incomplete.)