A few months ago, I was in the shower, cleansing myself and thinking about human nature. My mind somehow got onto the subject of human consciouness. That is when I suddenly realized that I might not be, and probably wasn’t, the same person as yesterday. As I came to this realization, I realized that by the same logic, I wasn’t the same person that I was a few seconds ago when I first thought of this. This led to the realization that the notion of a soul and essence is entirely an artifact of our brains, and doesn’t actually exist.
The above paragraph might make it sound as if I had finally gone loony. I assure you, this is not the case. Before I start the article proper, let me clarify on some of the terminology I will use. I am tempted to use the word “soul” to describe the inner spark that we think drives us all, but that has too many religious connotations. Therfore, I will use the term “essence”, as that seems to describe what I’m talking about perfectly well. Ok, here we go.
—
It is quite natural to believe in the existence of “essence” within all of us. Indeed, it seems rather irrefutable. What else would define our persona, and what else would drive us at the innermost level? After all, we are sentient, intelligent, seemingly unpredictable (this is key), and unique beyond anything else we have yet to encounter.
We also percieve that we are aware of ourselves, in other words, sentient. The very fact that we can ponder the fact that we are sentient seems to prove our sentience. We like to think that we are the only sentient beings on the planet, and that we are special.
Animal Proof
However, dophins and chimps, are also sentient. They are highly intelligent, and it is said that the average chimp has the intellect of a child. Chimps have been shown to be able to learn sign language. If we question the sentience of these intelligent animals, we also question the sentience (and very humanity) of children and adults with lower intellect. Is anyone willing to do that? (I am! Just kidding!) These intelligent animals display so many similarities to us, that we cannot question their sentience without bringing our own into doubt. Therefore, we must say that most intelligent animals are sentient.
A big part of our notion of essence is sentience, and if these higher animals fill this requisite, it is reasonable to say that they have essences, or “souls”. In fact, many people think that animals do have essences. Ever hear of “doggy heaven”?
If dolphins, chimps, and cats have souls, do dogs, pigs, and horses have souls? How about a parrot, rat, spider, ant, or microbe? Where do we draw the line? The fact is that we cannot put such a line down, and if we accept that animals have essences, then all living things have essences. At the same level, can you say that a bacterium has a soul? How about an even simpler organism? Would that disprove the primitive notion of an essence entirely? If animals have no essences, then the only way humans can have essences is if we are some way entirely different from animals. All evidence to the contrary.
An Aside on Predictability
Also, we like to think of animals as different from us, because they are predictable, and we are not. We are not unpredictable. We act in entirely predictable ways that are governed by our brain, hormones, etc. We cannot use this to separate us from animals. I couldn’t think of anywhere else to put this aside.
The Question of Humanity
Imagine that it was possible that your memories could be transfered to a computer. This computer could imitate your brain perfectly, and posess all your memories. After the transfer is complete, you wake up, and there is also a computer version of you. It would remember lying down on an operating table, and then suddenly posessing the body and sensors of a computer when it woke up. Would you not pity it? It is exactly as you are, only having the misfortune of being a computer. That brain go insane would probably destroy itself. After all, would you not go insane if you laid down on a bed, and woke up trapped inside a computer body? Imagine if you were the computer. What would you do? I personally would resign myself and request that I was shut down and have the program erased.
Wouldn’t that computer-brain also have an essence, though? It would exhibit the exact same behavior as you. Can we really deny that computer-brain of human rights?
Or worse, what if your entire body could be duplicated right down to the last quark? There would be an exact copy of you, with your exact same thought processes and memories. You would have equal claim to humanity and essence. Yet if you can simply copy the body and person forever, there could be no intangible essence. An essence, by definition, can not be copied, since it’s a metaphysical notion. For if it was copied, it would be a physical thing, and not metaphysical. Yet at the same time, can you bring yourself to say that the copy would not live and think the same way as yourself? Scientifically speaking, that copy would live and think the same as yourself.
Even worse, what if every particle in your body was split into two identical particles? Into which body would you go into? In which chamber would you wake up? Can you give a definite answer to that?
Once we take away the idea that each human being is physically and metaphysically unique, we take away a large part of our supposed “humanity” and destroy the notion of “essence”.
The Illusion of Consiousness
For me, this was the “final nail in the coffin” that destroyed my logical belief in essences and souls.
Let me ask you this: What makes you believe that you are the same person that went to bed last night? You can’t say you’ve been continually conscious of existing, but can only rely on your memory. The same applies for a few seconds ago. What makes you believe you actually started reading this article? Memory.
Our memory defines a large part of who we are, and indeed, keeps alive our notion of “essence”. The fact is, we cannot be sure of actually living in any point in time, other than the one we are (in/passing over) right now. I reason I say “(in/passing over)” is because: As I publically proved (rather artfully) in Physics class, there is no such thing as instantaneous time, because an instant in time is exactly 0 [units], and never actually happens. How sad: we live for zero [units].
Practically, it means that we never really “live” or have “essences” in the classic definition at all, but rather constantly react to our immediate surroundings based on calculations being done within our brain based on our instincts, memories, and other things . This behavior strongly resembles that of a - computer. We are nothing more than elaborate computers in bodies. There is no such thing as an “essence” or “soul” or whatever.
I don’t know why we believe in the notions of souls and essences. I speculate that the very notion of “essences” and “souls” were engrained into our lower brains as a “crutch” to let our primitive 3D brains make sense of notion of time. Or, it was to prevent us from realizing this truth and becoming sad, and perhaps killing ourselves. Scientifically, it might just be the very sad consequence of only being able to interact with 3 dimensions, yet constantly hurtling through all four dimensions. I suppose memory is designed to compensate for that … disability.
—
Regarding the 3-dimensions/4-dimensions “disability”: It’s funny how my philisophical meditations can be connected with my scientific worldview. I’ll have to look into that.
Maybe there is a fatal error in my logic. Please point this out to me so I can rectify that and once again have faith in the comfortable notions of essences, and believe in the meaning of life.
This just might be the result of beginning to go crazy from constantly thinking about 4-dimensions with my limited 3-dimensional brain. I am torn on this bit. Hopefully, I am going crazy, and life really isn’t meaningless. Yet at the same time, I hope I’m not going crazy, because that would be bad.
If I were a pothead, I could blame these thoughts on the pot. Or… I wouldn’t be taken seriously, as people would think I’m just stoned. Am I taken seriously now?
Also, if there was an exact clone of me, I’d try and kill him. I’m thinking of him possibly trying to kill me, and I’ll kill him “just-in-case”. He’d think exactly the same way, and would kill me “just-in-case”. Of course, the only reason why he’s killing me is becaue he thinks I’m going to kill him. So if he thinks that previous thought too, then perhaps we can get along. But then again, I’d kill him just-in-case, so he’d also try and kill me just-in-case. Infinite logic loop here with no resolution, but what are you going to do? Better kill him just in case.
Hmm, that last paragraph exposed a really interesting phenomenon of infinite one-upsmanship. Very interesting indeed. I wonder what would happen if there was a duplicate of myself.
And by the way, the title was somewhat of a ploy to gain the attention of your religious people. Hmm, perhaps religion is a comfort to hide this truth.
—
To possbily, remotely, worried friends: Don’t worry, I won’t kill myself over this. There are still far too many more pleasures in this lifetime (including speculating about the next one!), and whatever is after death will be eventually revealed to me. In fact, I somewhat look foreward to death. Death is the next great adventure and unknown.
>> Tommy's Writings >> Philosophical Musings >> The Nonexistence of Souls and Essences