# The nature of the soul



## takadote26 (Nov 10, 2018)

So in my novella, I have an example of a Soul Room which has many rules:

Rules of soul room


Its connected to a person’s mental wellbeing/life-force

Its disconnected whenever someone dies, but is frozen in time

All of the objects inside are metaphors of a personality trait or desires/fears

Only magic-users can access a soul-room, or dimensional travellers. Sometimes flashes of memories are leaked through, it is forbidden for travellers to alter the memories.

But when I look up the definition of a soul (quoted from Collin's Dictionary website):

Word Frequency     
soul
(soʊl  )
Word forms: plural souls 
1. countable noun
Your soul is the part of you that consists of your mind, character, thoughts, and feelings. Many people believe that your soul continues existing after your body is dead.
She went to pray for the soul of her late husband.
'I will put my heart and soul into the job,' he promises.
2. singular noun [with poss]
The soul of a nation or a political movement is its basic nature and beliefs.
...a struggle for the soul of the Republican Party.
3. countable noun [adjective NOUN]
You can refer to someone as a particular kind of soul when you are describing their character or condition.
He's a jolly soul.
4. singular noun
You use soul in negative statements like not a soul to mean nobody at all.
I've never harmed a soul in my life.
There was not a soul there.

It makes me even more confused... Is there any current scientific research on the soul?


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## epimetheus (Nov 10, 2018)

I think you're better off looking for cultural/religious ideas about souls, then pick the ideas you feel are best suited to you story.


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## Guard Dog (Nov 11, 2018)

takadote26 said:


> Is there any current scientific research on the soul?




To the best of my knowledge, after many years of studying and paying attention to such things, there is no scientific research that proves - or disproves - that there is anything that could be defined as a soul, or that any human or other animal even has one.

If you look around a bit, you can find all sorts of ideas and theories, ranging from the human brain is just a super-computer, and that everything we are is contained there, to the usual stuff you'll find with most religions, to the idea that we aren't really even here, and that our brain is just a sort of transceiver, that acts as a kind of VR link, with us, whatever we are, actually being somewhere else.

But no way, no how, no where, have I ever run across anything that would be even remotely considered tangible, verifiable proof for or against a "soul", human or otherwise.

So you can basically make up whatever you want, and use that in your story, 'cause nobody can say with any certainty that you're wrong, no matter what you come up with.



G.D.


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## Tatami_Matt (Nov 12, 2018)

I'm with Guard Dog on this one.

Souls are more like an abstract concept than a well-defined and documented object: their function and ability varies across media, and even in the various religious practices that acknowledge them. In Catholicism, the soul is that part of you that is God--the life he breathed into humans. In Harry Potter, it's your emotions and personality--if a Dementor sucks it out of you, all that's left is a zombified husk. In Undertale, it's 'the very culmination of your being'--your body can die and be reborn, and as long as your soul is put into it, it's still "you". In Warcraft lore, souls are energy, and can be used to power spells.

I'd say that it's widely accepted that when the term 'soul' is used in a creative setting, it's usually meant to refer to "the true you". Personally, I like to think of them as a USB drive, and your body is the computer. All the data of who "you" are is saved on your soul, sometimes traversing lifetimes. 

However, _you _can make Souls whatever you want. Nobody is going to get on your case, as long as you're consistent. Do whatever works best for your story!


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