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Member Run Boards >> Spirituality >> Can you be taught to have soul through books? http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1301061898 Message started by Amadd on Mar 26th, 2011 at 12:04am |
Title: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by Amadd on Mar 26th, 2011 at 12:04am
What is the meaning of soul?
Does it mean something innate, or can it be learned through books? Does anybody desire it, or put a meaning to it? In terms of many a black person, you can see it and admire it through their expression. A prerequisite ingredient seems to be the pain of the past. Do some people in fact invite pain or dangerous situations in order to aquire soul? I think they do. There is really very little empathy to be aquired though the safety of immersing one's mind into a book, where in reality nothing will happen. There may be a sense of understanding if one is naturally empathetic enough, but in reality there is no risk at all. i |
Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by Belgarion on Mar 26th, 2011 at 12:34am
Way too deep for ths time of night my friend!
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Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by Amadd on Mar 26th, 2011 at 12:41am Quote:
Nah, it's for fun with those who gain spirituality from sitting on their fat pompous asses, doing sweet FA and preaching to others. They are a pathetic do nothing, no good, pathetic joke. ..they possess no soul, no empathy..no knowing of anything, 'cause they risk sweet FA and expect to be paid for it. |
Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by muso on Mar 26th, 2011 at 7:38am
Isn't that a kind of fish? Lemon soul.
Julius Caesar from Act 1 Scene 1: Quote:
Shakespeare loved to cut down tall poppies. |
Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by mantra on Mar 26th, 2011 at 7:56am Quote:
I've always thought a soul was someone's emotional spirit - no matter how bad or good and obviously it's more visible in some people than others. I doubt a book could help give you a soul. Sometimes an animal has arrived on my doorstep and something about it's personality would remind me of someone who had passed on. I believe that if we don't develop a decent soul in this life, we come back again and again until we get it right - even if it is in animal form. Perhaps having a soul is the ability to recognise another's pain or state of mind and feel either empathy or disgust, but someone without a developed soul - you could assume appears to feel nothing except their own suffering. Maybe it is the pain of the past - who knows, but two siblings can have identical experiences - yet one appears to have an empathetic soul and the other doesn't. |
Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by Equitist on Mar 26th, 2011 at 8:08am Just as the potential limits of the components of an individual's IQ are essentially fixed by their genetic makeup, there are inherent limitations to an individual's capacity to develop their EQ... There is stark evidence of this in the case of individuals afflicted by Autistic Spectrum Disorders, whereby those in the realms of a diagnosis of Aspergers have the best chance of developing their EQ - but even then this is often limited to acting out a large number of social rules that have been drilled into them (and typically results in uncomfortable social interactions from the perspective of those they encounter)... There is mounting evidence that those who have conservative political leanings have a statistically-significant lower EQ than their left-leaning counterparts - and it stands to reason that a lower capacity for empathy is a pre-requisite for supporting socio-economic inequity through the obsessive acquisition of obscene amounts of material wealth through the systematic exploitation of (dehumanised) human units of production and other resources... Ironically, there is also a correlation between having a 'soul-challenged' low EQ and believing in the eternal utopic Xtian after-life of one's soul... I expect that the above comments will ruffle a few feathers and many reptilian scales - but so be it... |
Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by muso on Mar 26th, 2011 at 10:33am
Soul is a religious term. The Brain obviously exists and the physiological basis for individual characteristics such as emotional stability, intelligence etc can be assigned to degree of reticular development in the brain.
I can accept the concept of mind, being a property of the brain, but other than as a literary device, I have issues with the literal religious interpretation of soul, such as those Hollywood depictions of ghostly figures leaving the body at the moment of death. I note that most souls are usually impeccably dressed in such depictions. Well those with a brain mind and soul in their cranial cavity might find it a little crowded in there. Personally, I'm happy with just a brain. Now certain people will take me to task here, so you're not alone in your controversy, but in my experience EQ tests can give some very spurious results, much like other psychometric testing. Both are incredibly easy to fake. It's what I'd define as a branch of Psychology known as Applied Onanology. |
Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by Equitist on Mar 26th, 2011 at 10:51am Of course they're flawed, as all subjective tests are - that does not mean that they don't provide a broadly-valid picture of an individual's strengths and weaknesses and overall capacity for adaptation to their broader psycho-social, educational and economic context... A child who has poor verbal comprehension and reasoning skills (even in the absence of organic hearing difficulties) is unlikely to become a high academic achiever later in life - even if they have average visual processing skills - because they are interacting with the world and developing all of their skills from a deficient processing and reasoning base... Just as people who struggle with basic maths concepts in childhood rarely become good mathematicians in adulthood: people who struggle (albeit probably unwittingly) to feel any empathy for their pets, peers or siblings in childhood are unlikely to have the capacity to develop functional and lasting close relationships throughout the remainder of their lifespan... |
Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by Superman1 on Mar 27th, 2011 at 12:15am
To the Original Poster.
To me the the meaning of soul is innate, as the True Nature. Opposite to thinking, and even emotion. But BEING itself. It can be learned through books, more directly and simply than any other thing, If you are receptive to it. Not an understandng or empathy, but awakening. But of course that means revealing what is already there. THAT is the true definition of SOUL. I, like all, desire that more than gold. Yeh you seem to have a point there that blacks have the whitest whites. Seems those rumours may be true this Earth is made to make us that stuff. Whites an' all! It really pisses me off basic knowledge is not taught in schools. |
Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by mantra on Mar 28th, 2011 at 7:20am Quote:
Why does IQ have to be associated with empathy? You see empathy in children born with Down Syndrome or other brain disabilities. Empathy can be very well developed in those who have serious mental afflictions. The brain can compensate for those underdeveloped areas in many other ways - and often it's compassion and insight into the emotions of others. Even animals have a soul - not to the same degree as us, but they intuitively know when a human is upset, stressed, happy, sad, in pain etc. The word soul might be a religious term - but then so many words in our language are. We don't immediately think of a person with "soul" as being religious, but as spiritual. |
Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by Sprintcyclist on Mar 28th, 2011 at 8:01am I see "soul" as being quite different to "Spiritual", though not mutually exclusive. Billy Holiday was one of the more soulful singers imho. Soul does seem to be linked to personal hardship |
Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by muso on Mar 28th, 2011 at 8:05am mantra wrote on Mar 28th, 2011 at 7:20am:
Some good points. The brain is very plastic, but I stand by my opinion that any human attribute is developed via reticular development in the brain, and that is dynamic - in other words, the brain capacity both emotionally and intelligence wise can grow by means of reticular development. This process takes place from birth, but it can go on throughout life, and obviously this happens to varying extent between individuals depending on how hard they are encouraged to work (environmental factors) and genetic factors. I liken it to working out at the gym and development of various muscle groups. The more we apply our brains, the more developed they become. Reticular development is the equivalent of this, and as you say, people with injuries from car accidents and those born with brain deficiencies can learn to compensate. I understand the term "spirituality" to be a brain function. EQ is the one that's associated with empathy, but both EQ and IQ have been criticized as being measures of conformity with the norm. |
Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by Foolosophy on Mar 28th, 2011 at 9:52am
...The term EQ and its uses has also been hijacked by the corporate system as a means of morally insulating the decisions CEOs make.
In other words a high EQ is possessed by CEO's who can remove the sence of guilt associated with their cruel decision making and corporate policy and workplace structures. They can also earn thousands of times more than their lowest company employee and still feel worthy of this status - AND more! And remember, if you do enough IQ tests I am sure you will get the result you want |
Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by Yadda on Mar 30th, 2011 at 3:11pm Can you be taught to have soul through books? If any person wants a 'short course' on God [to understand his nature], i would suggest, to an open minded person; Read the book of Psalms. OR, ...don't. God certainly has the ability to reveal himself to us [usually in dreams and/or night visions]. If you show some interest in him, in seeking him, ...maybe he will reveal himself to you. |
Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by Amadd on Mar 31st, 2011 at 7:05am Quote:
You hit the nail on the head for me there Muso. "God" is also a religious term (although I think that it stems from the Pagans), but does that mean that there is no understanding or acceptence of the meaning of the word "God" outside of reading the like-minded opinions of others through religious writings? I like the interpretations that I have read of what the word "soul" means to other people. To choose the best interpretation would be sorta like culling the field of daisies because I prefer daffodils. That's what I think most religions attempt to do. IMO, it's a furphie that the world's knowledge can be gained through reading alone. There needs to be experience to reflect upon, otherwise there is nothing other than blind faith to rely upon and the words of a book will be about as useful as tits on a bull. In the absence of religion, there will probably not be peace as John Lennon would have liked; but there may be politics, and there might be those underlying spriritual beliefs which are as individual as a fingerprint. They should stay there IMO. Spiritual beliefs lose all of their power in the mainstream.i |
Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by muso on Mar 31st, 2011 at 8:30am Foolosophy wrote on Mar 28th, 2011 at 9:52am:
You must have had a very bad experience with the corporate world. I've had some bad experiences, but I'm currently with a very good corporation. I may be biased being in the management team, I guess, but we generally do the right thing. We operate ethically. The worst experiences I've had were during takeovers. There is so much waste that goes on leading up to, and as a result of takeovers. |
Title: Re: Can you be taught to have soul through books? Post by Foolosophy on Mar 31st, 2011 at 9:35am muso wrote on Mar 31st, 2011 at 8:30am:
On the contrary - I have made and are making my living from this very criminal corporate monster |
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