Souls?

[Longhorn]

What the fuck is a soul anyway?

And why would I want one?

Or why is there a market for it?

And why can't my dog get one? What's with the dog prejudice, for real

[Aroura]

Haha, I was just talking to my husband last night about this, a bit.

I'm reading Harry Potter book 6 to my kid, and I asked how do I even explain Horcruxes to her when we get there? What is a soul that is being torn?

I guess I'll just explain it's a magical thing.../

[robvalue]

I think it's a metaphor for our personality/essence, which is often mistaken for an actual entity. 

Thinking it is real is another way to avoid considering the finality of death, and to make us feel more special than other animals.

[Longhorn]

Animals get off easy though

The only benefit from having a soul is a slight chance of getting into heaven, and that's only AFTER you're dead and must be pretty boring
and there's a big chance you're going to be tortured for eternity instead

Meanwhile animals don't need to bother about any of this, cos no souls

If I did have a soul, I'd put it on Craigslist right away, fuckin useless crap

[AFTT47]

Why would you say, 'dog prejudice'? Cats have nearly twice the neuron density. Pigs have even more. I am too lazy to look it up but I think elephants are even smarter than pigs. Primates may be smarter than some Republicans.

The concept of souls came about before we understood digital storage of information.

[KUSA]

The idea that a soul exists is restarted to put it mildly. It is nothing more than fantasy. No evidence of one exists.

[Alex K]

The fact that damages to the brain can take all things we value about our life and which make us "us" away from us, or can profoundly change them, including memory, recognition of our loved ones, personality traits, not even speaking of consciousness itself, all that is strong evidence that, if souls exist, they don't do anything useful. Likewise, having an immortal soul would not make us immortal as persons in any important sense.

[Longhorn]

How do you even define a soul? Just what is it?

It's like one of those words you don't know the exact meaning of but keep using it anyway, we can talk about souls all day, but the concept is so vague it's practically meaningless

[Alex K]

How do you even define a soul? Just what is it?

It's like one of those words you don't know the exact meaning of but keep using it anyway, we can talk about souls all day, but the concept is so vague it's practically meaningless

Absolutely. The problem is that most people don't apply strict enough standards to their thinking to notice.

[vorlon13]

All the descendants of Adam acquire their souls upon the first breath. The last gasp of a dying individual is the soul leaving the body.

Souls may be briefly dislodged during sneezing, while your soul is swirling around in the snot spray, your mortal remains are especially vulnerable to predation by satan. That's why we (usually) say "Bless you" immediately following a sneeze as the individual may be in terrible peril until their soul is fully re-inhaled.

Animals, not being sons of Adam cannot and do not have souls. Assuming, or asserting they do is VILE BLASPHEMY; your soul can and will be tormented in Hell as a result of such an awful transgression upon your demise, and the torment will be infinitely painful and of infinite duration.

If you drown, the bubbles seen coming up out of the water are the air in your lungs, and your soul. If you survive, you will need to be immediately re-integrated with your soul.

Also, several people sneezing simultaneously in a confined space are in no danger of soul swapping, they don't work that way. If you want to worry about it, however, it wouldn't hurt.