Soul is blank

  • Thread starter Thread starter STT
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

STT

Guest
I am reading a book right now by António R. Damásio entitled “Descartes’ Error”. The book tells the story of a man Gage who had a brain injury and faced personality change. I have always thought that soul should give us the sense of Iness plus personality. I now realize that only the sense of Iness remains if there is a brain injury and everything else is subject to change, including personality. This means that soul is blank, carries no personality.
 
I suggest studies in Catholic Theology and Philosophy.

That should assist you in understanding the reality of the human person.
 
STT said:
I am reading a book right now by António R. Damásio entitled “Descartes’ Error”. The book tells the story of a man Gage who had a brain injury and faced personality change. I have always thought that soul should give us the sense of Iness plus personality. I now realize that only the sense of Iness remains if there is a brain injury and everything else is subject to change, including personality. This means that soul is blank, carries no personality.
Click to expand...
The last sentence comes right out the blue. Doesn’t follow at all from the post. Even if the soul is blank so what? What do you conclude from this?
 
STT said:
I am reading a book right now by António R. Damásio entitled “Descartes’ Error”. The book tells the story of a man Gage who had a brain injury and faced personality change. I have always thought that soul should give us the sense of Iness plus personality. I now realize that only the sense of Iness remains if there is a brain injury and everything else is subject to change, including personality. This means that soul is blank, carries no personality.
Click to expand...
Actually, it means that the soul’s learned control of its body is no longer the same, so the soul has to re-learn the new organization and interface as if it had a new body. It no longer knows how to move the same memories because the body is not motivated in the way it was before.
The soul has lost nothing, it still knows universals and individuals already known (yet it never contained “memories”, it only knew how to call for the chemical and electric reactions that replayed the images associated with universals and individuals, and now that interface is not the same to call for the memories or bodily movements - BACK TO SCHOOL)
 
ColdComfort said:
The last sentence comes right out the blue. Doesn’t follow at all from the post. Even if the soul is blank so what? What do you conclude from this?
Click to expand...
There are a few things which make you the person you are: sense of Iness, personality, etc. Apparently all of these qualities are created in the brain. For what regards the cited study, it seems that personality is subject of change when specific part of brain is damaged. This means that soul can only grant the sense of Iness which is similar to everybody. Therefore the soul is blank. We are intrinsically similar. The difference is the result of genes and experiences.
 
John_Martin said:
Actually, it means that the soul’s learned control of its body is no longer the same, so the soul has to re-learn the new organization and interface as if it had a new body. It no longer knows how to move the same memories because the body is not motivated in the way it was before.
The soul has lost nothing, it still knows universals and individuals already known (yet it never contained “memories”, it only knew how to call for the chemical and electric reactions that replayed the images associated with universals and individuals, and now that interface is not the same to call for the memories or bodily movements - BACK TO SCHOOL)
Click to expand...
I am sorry but I cannot understand how this is related to topic of this thread. We are arguing that soul owns only the sense of Iness which means that soul is blank. We all have similar souls.
 
STT said:
I am sorry but I cannot understand how this is related to topic of this thread. We are arguing that soul owns only the sense of Iness which means that soul is blank. We all have similar souls.
Click to expand...
That would be fine if “I”-ness were the only thing of the soul.
But it is not.
So the argument fails.

Your post stated that brain damage allowed a person to still say “I” but not know other things.

From that you jumped to a conclusion that the soul forgot everything.
But that is a faulty conclusion since temporal memories are not in the soul. Only knowing “what” is in the soul, and willing is in the soul.
But if the body no longer works like it did, the soul does not know the modified “what” of the body that will now move it to use the memories.
 
STT said:
These are not articles. 😦
Click to expand...
I never said anything about articles…

What I said was:

“I suggest studies in Catholic Theology and Philosophy.”

That one fine University where you may undertake such studies.

The also have online classes now.
 
John_Martin said:
That would be fine if “I”-ness were the only thing of the soul.
But it is not.
So the argument fails.

Your post stated that brain damage allowed a person to still say “I” but not know other things.

From that you jumped to a conclusion that the soul forgot everything.
Click to expand...
Soul doesn’t forget. It cannot just experience what was retrieving with brain.
John_Martin said:
But that is a faulty conclusion since temporal memories are not in the soul. Only knowing “what” is in the soul, and willing is in the soul.
Click to expand...
Soul just understand and decide.
John_Martin said:
But if the body no longer works like it did, the soul does not know the modified “what” of the body that will now move it to use the memories.
Click to expand...
Memory is a faculty of brain.
 
Bookcat said:
I never said anything about articles…

What I said was:

“I suggest studies in Catholic Theology and Philosophy.”

That one fine University where you may undertake such studies.

The also have online classes now.
Click to expand...
I cannot really do that. Thanks.
 
STT said:
There are a few things which make you the person you are: sense of Iness, personality, etc. Apparently all of these qualities are created in the brain. For what regards the cited study, it seems that personality is subject of change when specific part of brain is damaged. This means that soul can only grant the sense of Iness which is similar to everybody. Therefore the soul is blank. We are intrinsically similar. The difference is the result of genes and experiences.
Click to expand...
Hi there STT.

AS a neurology patient can I assure you that “personality change” means like changing one’s jacket or trousers, it doesn’t mean becoming something different in kind.

Genes and experiences do indeed form part of what shapes our many gifts.

A soul is of the same kind between one person and another, it is still your special one.
 
In addition, bear in mind that terminology adopted in a study is a figure of speech and not categorical.
 
STT said:
I am reading a book right now by António R. Damásio entitled “Descartes’ Error”. The book tells the story of a man Gage who had a brain injury and faced personality change. I have always thought that soul should give us the sense of Iness plus personality. I now realize that only the sense of Iness remains if there is a brain injury and everything else is subject to change, including personality. This means that soul is blank, carries no personality.
Click to expand...
I think the soul is very connected to the mind and body and can become damaged with it. A soul is very dependent upon the personality and actions of the individual. That’s why a good person’s soul who does evil will eventually wind up in Hell if the individual does not repent. So in a way the soul is blank, or at least a mirror to the doings of the individual.
 
So if soul doesn’t have a personality, why is it that it is often asserted to a personality even by it’s fate? Because modern psychology has accepted mental disorders so the soul turned into something not personalized and not characterized? How is this even consistent with the human fate if his soul doesn’t represent him as person.
 
ANV said:
So if soul doesn’t have a personality, why is it that it is often asserted to a personality even by it’s fate? Because modern psychology has accepted mental disorders so the soul turned into something not personalized and not characterized? How is this even consistent with the human fate if his soul doesn’t represent him as person.
Click to expand...
👍
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top