The Human Soul: An Ancient Idea
I just finished reading a short story with a ghost in it, and after that, another heavy in myth and magic. I also enjoy the articles over at Livescience; it's a paradox, my affinity for and enjoyment of matters that cannot be empirically explained, and those that can. It's my personal characteristic that I enjoy mysteries and puzzles, and seeking logical explanations or evidentiary value of these, if they're there, but I'd also like to think I have the ability to suspend by disbelief and just take all that mystery in "as is, where is" (which I acknowledge leaves me open to making big, mistaken assumptions over many things). I don't think I'm alone in being like this. I read somewhere that Arthur Conan Doyle in his private life spent money and time on seances and other supernatural endeavors, and yet he is also the creator of the world's most famous logical and deductive fictional sleuth, Sherlock Holmes.
Please let me share this Livescience article then, where a very old human idea conflicts with the usual requirement of evidence from science: The Human Soul: An Ancient Idea. An excerpt:
What is it with humans and the idea of a soul? The ancient Greeks, who were around about the same time as the slab was cut, also loved the idea of a soul, and most cultures and religions today buy into it as well. Yet there's no evidence that such a thing really exists. But still, even the most cynical of us is always trying to save our souls, damn other people's souls, and searching for soul mates.
It's hard to say exactly when the idea of a second self came into play. Presumably the recognition of a soul appeared hand-in-hand with human consciousness, and it was probably voiced when we had language to put the idea of a soul into words. That would place the time frame for a soul around 200,000 years ago, when humans experienced a cultural explosion which they expressed in art, clothing, and evidence of religion.
Clearly, at that point and beyond, humans had moved beyond solving how to find enough food, and they were using their excess brain power and leisure time to think of other things.
In that sense, the idea of a soul, or any kind of human spirituality, might simply be the product of too much brain and too much free time.
It might also be an evolutionary strategy that takes us away from the anxieties of self-consciousness. Once fully modern humans knew they could die, it probably made sense to pretend that no one really died but that some part of us lived on into the cosmos.
Given the vagaries of ancient life, it probably also made sense to invent souls that had the power to haunt and cause harm to explain all the bad stuff in life.
In fact, every culture, even today, has some concept that separates the spirit from the body, confirming that like my dreamy friend, humans seem compelled to think of themselves as something more than the sum of our biological parts, even if that belief makes us do foolish earthly things.
Please let me share this Livescience article then, where a very old human idea conflicts with the usual requirement of evidence from science: The Human Soul: An Ancient Idea. An excerpt:
What is it with humans and the idea of a soul? The ancient Greeks, who were around about the same time as the slab was cut, also loved the idea of a soul, and most cultures and religions today buy into it as well. Yet there's no evidence that such a thing really exists. But still, even the most cynical of us is always trying to save our souls, damn other people's souls, and searching for soul mates.
It's hard to say exactly when the idea of a second self came into play. Presumably the recognition of a soul appeared hand-in-hand with human consciousness, and it was probably voiced when we had language to put the idea of a soul into words. That would place the time frame for a soul around 200,000 years ago, when humans experienced a cultural explosion which they expressed in art, clothing, and evidence of religion.
Clearly, at that point and beyond, humans had moved beyond solving how to find enough food, and they were using their excess brain power and leisure time to think of other things.
In that sense, the idea of a soul, or any kind of human spirituality, might simply be the product of too much brain and too much free time.
It might also be an evolutionary strategy that takes us away from the anxieties of self-consciousness. Once fully modern humans knew they could die, it probably made sense to pretend that no one really died but that some part of us lived on into the cosmos.
Given the vagaries of ancient life, it probably also made sense to invent souls that had the power to haunt and cause harm to explain all the bad stuff in life.
In fact, every culture, even today, has some concept that separates the spirit from the body, confirming that like my dreamy friend, humans seem compelled to think of themselves as something more than the sum of our biological parts, even if that belief makes us do foolish earthly things.
posted by pgenrestories at 9:02 AM
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