 |
| Image from Wikipedia.org |
Thank you everyone for coming out to today's Tea Talk!
We enjoyed two teas this evening: Smoked Sencha Green Tea, and Rosemary Mint Herbal Tea. We also enjoyed a variety of muffins!
Many of us were in awe of the Radio Lab Podcast. We thought that pseudoscience was an intriguing topic, and blurred many of the lines between what we believe to be real, and what science tells us is real.
What is the working definition of the soul? Are there different definitions? We all seemed to have different points of view on how to quantify or define the soul. We referenced Plato, Socrates, and Descartes, and through the course of our discussion never came to a definite consensus of what the soul precisely was. Many of us wondered if it was valid to define the soul at all, and pondered its existence.
What is the validity of the science that is presented to us? Many of us thought that the science presented to us in this Podcast felt silly, or hokey. We wondered about the validity of the science that was being presented to us, but all agreed that it was still interesting grounds for discussion.
How do we know when someone is dead? Are we dead when our bodies stop functioning? Which parts? When the soul leaves us? This was another question we were not able to fully answer in our talk. Most of us were terrified at the though of being declared dead, but to still be able to sense and think about the world around us. This lead to the question: What is it like to be in a coma? To be able to sense but not to react?
Could being in a coma be like dreaming? Do we remember our dreams or forget them? What is the significance of this? We wondered if being in a coma could be akin to dreaming. We referenced stories of people who had experienced comas, and woke up claiming to not remember that time in their lives. Could this be similar to sleeping? If so, what of the dreams that we forget on a regular basis? The ones we remember?
Where is the soul located in the body? Does it have a place or destination? If the soul exists, where is it placed in our bodies? In one place? Spread throughout? We wondered if we could make this distinction with any body parts at all. We referenced new research of finding operating nerves in places other than the brain. Could it be possible that a 'gut feeling' is more than an expression? This also lead to the question: Is the soul part of the body, or separate?
What agency does the soul/ souls have in our lives? If we knew of a definitive existence of the soul, how would we act differently/ stay the same? Many of us agreed that all we could actually do in the event of proof of the soul was to stay the same - after all, what difference would it make to act differently?
We also thought about how the soul operates in our lives. Many writers, poets, and artists discuss the soul in their work, and often claim their work comes from the soul. We thought about the soul having creative agency in our lives.
What happens to the soul when our bodies die? One of the last questions asked in todays' talk. Some of us believed the soul ends where the body does, others believed that there was a soul, but they were not concerned about where it went after their declared death because their experience of it would be over.
Some other references that were made during the talk:
- Hand replacements and depression in transplant patients/ benefits or increased vitality in transplant and/or transfusion patients
- The film Never Let Me Go - Available on Netflix
- Stephen Hawking
- Yale University Lecture Series on Death
- Lucid Dreaming
Thank you again to everyone that attended this weeks talk! We look forward to seeing you again for our next Tea Talk, and for our first formal event, Night at the Museum!
Sincerely,
Christine and Lucy
No comments:
Post a Comment