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Just a thought I was looking to discuss and get different opinions on:

Since humans only use 10% of their brains, do you think that the soul can possibly reside in the brain as you live? An interesting movie I've seen built around this idea is Cold Souls, and I recommend all to watch it. The reason I have this thought is that since the dawn of time, spiritual enlightenment has always been a practice of the mind, so is it not possible that such enlightenment is achieved when more than 10% is used? I mean, if God does exist, why is it so farfetched that he would actually give us the power to access our spirit/soul? It's not or wouldn't be an easy task in any way whatsoever, but isn't it possible?

I think the 10% brain usage is no longer current scientific understanding - but that doesn't change the interesting question you pose.

You could have asked where the mind is - and I'd argue that the soul is more remote than the mind. Some may argue they are the same thing - so it may come down to how you define both.

I'm not sure that the mind itself resides in the brain - certainly memories do and certainly one's conciousness is affected by what happens to and in the brain. But does the mind reside there?

I don't have the answer - it will be interesting to hear what others think and perhaps what science has to say on the 'mind'.

As for what the relationship between ourselves, our souls and God is concerned - I can tell you that Islam does teach that we have the ability to access our souls, indeed our actions affect our soul's state of being. And indeed, God does communicate/interact with our souls - the Quran says that when we sleep, our souls are 'taken' by God and return to our bodies when we wake. When we die, the soul has left the body.

Cheers,
Shafique

Of course one's definition of the soul and mind affects the reply, and I believe that the soul is what "activates" the mind, if you will.

I think the 10% brain usage is no longer current scientific understanding

Do you have any articles supporting this? Not that I'm implying that your mistaken, just very interested in reading more about this. Regardless of the percentage, I do believe that there is a large portion of our brain that is untouched, and this can easily be proven through the use of hallucinogens (I'm not encouraging anyhing, just stating) such as LSD, mushroom, and salvia. These hallucinogens do not introduce anything new into the brain, rather they just cause the brain to release chemicals that are already within it, and many believe that with enough training, one can create that same effect without the use of any stimulants. That is what intrigues me so much.

I have had one such experience with Salvia, which is a legal, natural herb that induces hallucinations, and the experience I had was astounding. It is a truly out-of-body experience, and words are difficult to explain it. But I must say that after the effects wore off, and they only last around 5-10 mins max, I felt very different, and that one experience changed many things in me. I'm still the same person I was before, but now I truly am amazed at what the brain is capable of, and therefore have been pondering the subject since.

Once again, I do not encourage the use of hallucinogens. They are not a joke or a "party drug". Many people have had their whole lives turned around because they were not expecting, as one rarely is, the power of their effects. I had read many articles about hallucinogens and how they work before trying one, and thus was prepared for what would come, since I was aware that whatever occurred was just a "vision" created by my brain. Some people feel that their "trip" was a revelation and end up changing the course of their future to pursue something that came to them in the hallucination. That's why I say if you are insistent on trying one to make sure that you are well-prepared for it.

Just addressing the 10% question (I'll reply to the other points later):

Here's what Google threw up - an article from Scientific American... and let me just quote a bit from it:

Though an alluring idea, the "10 percent myth" is so wrong it is almost laughable, says neurologist Barry Gordon at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. Although there's no definitive culprit to pin the blame on for starting this legend, the notion has been linked to the American psychologist and author William James, who argued in The Energies of Men that "We are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources." It's also been associated with to Albert Einstein, who supposedly used it to explain his cosmic towering intellect.

The myth's durability, Gordon says, stems from people's conceptions about their own brains: they see their own shortcomings as evidence of the existence of untapped gray matter. This is a false assumption. What is correct, however, is that at certain moments in anyone's life, such as when we are simply at rest and thinking, we may be using only 10 percent of our brains.

"It turns out though, that we use virtually every part of the brain, and that [most of] the brain is active almost all the time," Gordon adds. "Let's put it this way: the brain represents three percent of the body's weight and uses 20 percent of the body's energy."

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... t-of-brain

Cheers,
Shafique

Thank you very much for that article. It was very interesting indeed, and has given me a different perspective about it's relevant topic

Aww this is cute!

Hahahahaha...In what sense do you mean?

Icenic wrote:Hahahahaha...In what sense do you mean?

The question sounds cute. Reminds me of the days I tried to FORCE the soul to exist and to have a place, but finally it didnt fit anywhere!

Really? Well I'm down that same exact road, and would love to hear some of your thoughts and conclusions on the topic. If you don't feel like writing that much, can you give me some books, articles, or any other reading materials that shed light on this? Thanks in advance!

what happened to me was a looong road, but for start I would recommend you this website which someone from this forum recommended to me: http://www.humanism.org.uk/humanism. Unfortunately he is not around anymore.
Go through Richard Dawkins books as well, although I like his older books more than new ones.

Thanks for the link and tip I will definitely be checking them out, since I've been walking down that road for a couple of years now.

Icenic wrote: The reason I have this thought is that since the dawn of time, spiritual enlightenment has always been a practice of the mind, so is it not possible that such enlightenment is achieved when more than 10% is used? I mean, if God does exist, why is it so farfetched that he would actually give us the power to access our spirit/soul? It's not or wouldn't be an easy task in any way whatsoever, but isn't it possible?

I don't think you can put it down to any kind of ratio? Do you believe that seriously ?
i.e prophet abraham knew that there was a creator just by looking at the sun rising from the east and going down from the west, happening everyday in the same perfect/meticulous fashion.

Would like to read more...
http://www.reasoned.org/artic_2.htm

Well the ratio thing was already covered and disproven (check the article posted by Sahfique), but I still wonder whether it is or is not possible to be in touch with your soul. Read what I said about hallucinogens. Salvia is a plant that was discovered, not engineered, so I wonder, why has God put it here? And I didn't say I want to "access" my soul to prove God's existence, I just want to. I mean honestly, who doesn't? Wouldn't you love to know the world of souls and spirits? Wouldn't we all? There are those who claim to have seen it, and who can say they're wrong? Most of them live with so much inner peace that it's almost hard not to believe them.

but I still wonder whether it is or is not possible to be in touch with your soul?

Do you mean touching physically..Like looking and touching another person standing before you?
No this is not possible since your self conciousness is your very own soul..

Trying to see or be in touch with other souls means looking at creation or the origin of the matter from
another existance that is not revealed to any of us currently until of course we all die and get resurrected in the hereafter...

this veil of physical or material illusion will be removed from our eyes at the next stage when we discover our true form of existence. "thou wast indeed heedless of this, but now We have removed from thee thy (material) veil, and so thy sight is sharp this day" 50:22. Sharp vision implies that one discovers one’s life preserved within it to its minutest detail.

Salvia is a plant that was discovered, not engineered, so I wonder, why has God put it here? And I didn't say I want to "access" my soul to prove God's existence, I just want to.

Noting is created for no reason, however, if God wills, something can be created for no reason tho..Still we are created in a world where everthing is dependant on one another,, at a deeper level of reality all things in the universe are infinitely interconnected..

Salvia other than being an ordinary plant is also designed or created with special features to be a natural narcotic, sedative like opium or marijuana.. in the very old days when people couldn’t be operated on with gases as general anesthetic (advanced science), perhaps with the wisdom of god such plants were made availabe to humanity to be the knowledge to operate on patients without causing the feeling of physical pain while staying unconscious..as well as using them like antidepressant agent to sedate mentally difficult or struggling patients..
God says in the quran that he is the Planner, Designer, Architect, Sustainer & Nourisher of all his creation and has never let humans be unguided or helpless and whomever willed knowledge for whatever good reason s/he was given that knowledge as long as we stayed good and showed effort..

Wouldn't you love to know the world of souls and spirits? Wouldn't we all?

Yes we would, but then again if we could know we would not be in this world striving to develop ourselves to the highest level of spiritual and intellectual enlightment..
what we normally see in our dreams in rem sleep or when you are in sleep induced by salvia will not be different in nature..
Also note that dreams are not always true. There are many kinds of them. Some of them are divine blessings and some are satanic influence. Some others are mere working of mind. We cannot always differentiate between them. That is why if we have a good dream, we thank god and believe that god will bless us if we follow the path of His liking. However, they do not entail any action from our part. What we have to do and believe has been provided us through the quranic law. No more guidance is given by God through dreams. This is because they are not a sure way of communication. God has declared that no religious communication is possible after the Last Prophet of God..

There are those who claim to have seen it, and who can say they're wrong? Most of them live with so much inner peace that it's almost hard not to believe them.

Those, who claim to have seen souls are probably confusing them with jinns..
http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/669/viewall/

however with the will of God, only the last prophet of God was granted to meet the souls of the previous prophets during his lifetime at his night journey called Me'raj - The Night Ascension.

Location of soul ? -

Classical Texts Indication - Between the blood and flesh , Scientific translation - A supposed non existent interstitial space present somewhere in between the muscular and circulatory systems ? Quite a conundrum..

My Interpretation - And every human is composed of cells , the cells are the most fundamental unit of the human construct. Zooming into the cell , they are composed of organelles and the organelles float around in the cytoplasm, But both the cytoplasm and the organelles are composed of molecules , the molecules are made up of atoms, and the atoms made of quarks,

Whats interesting is that in the physical structure of anything , there exists some space between the molecules, (lattice structure of things), in the case of the humans, perhaps the soul could be located in -

In the intermolecular Space - Humans are chemicals and chemicals are either covalent (sharing of electrons) or electrostatic bonds (sharing of charges) , either way there is space for electrons to spin, and space between molecules, It is here where the soul could be located.

However no device can measure this energy (so as to speak) it is empirically impossible to prove its existence. But strangely enough everyone senses it exists (perhaps receptors within the cortex exist that are responsible for imparting this awareness , and they are yet to be discovered ?. maybe

Well Berrin, there is not much I can say to argue with you; you are correct about most, if not all of what you said. By the way, when I said "in touch with the soul" I meant mentally/spiritually. Of course no one can physically touch the soul! And also, when I said that some claim to have seen it, I again to not mean seen it as we see objects, but rather seen it with their "third eye", in a sense.

Honestly, I still enjoy believing that it is possible, regardless of logical terms, because in the world of spirits, there is no logic that we can understand; it is beyond us. I enjoy dreaming that one day I may know what my soul is, but I won't kill myself to find out

Thank you for sharing all your information and thoughts

-- Sun Dec 12, 2010 10:02 pm --

Interesting idea zubber, but personally I don't think that the soul would be in the gaps, rather, more in the vibrations. I think it's more of an energy that is undiscovered yet.

Icenic wrote:Interesting idea zubber, but personally I don't think that the soul would be in the gaps, rather, more in the vibrations. I think it's more of an energy that is undiscovered yet.

The "energy" also needs space, if it has duality of particles ( existing as a wave and particles , such as light for example) it would need space to "vibrate", Any "thing" needs "space" to exist. nothing is solid you know , those keys you are hitting on the keyboard only "appear" to be solid, but they are not.

Yes you are correct my dear friend But I meant the energy causing the vibrations to occur.

Icenic wrote: But I meant the energy causing the vibrations to occur.

The energy and vibrations are the same "thing", "Energy" is not independent and neither is the "vibrations" , Nor does one cause the other, since both of them are essentially the same thing . Vibrations are a classification of types of energy.

Yes but without energy, there would be no vibrations. However, without vibrations, energy can exist. In the case of a loudspeaker (since I'm studying Audio Engineering ) Electromagnetic energy causes the diaphragm to move back and forth.

Icenic wrote:Yes but without energy, there would be no vibrations. However, without vibrations, energy can exist. In the case of a loudspeaker (since I'm studying Audio Engineering ) Electromagnetic energy causes the diaphragm to move back and forth.

Vibration is a type of energy, or a state of energy, taking from your example, Electromagnetic energy or the "sound" is itself an energy that is a vibration, DO you see what I am saying, Energy and vibration are the same thing but in different states that is why it is a classification.

THe electricity (energy which are particles electrons) get converted into Sound - the "vibrations" , which are air molecules vibrating, ( which are again particles), The fundamental unit in both cases are particles, The same thing.

Well I guess you're right, since you can't hear any sound in space...

Icenic wrote:Well I guess you're right, since you can't hear any sound in space...

Bingo

zubber wrote:

Icenic wrote:Well I guess you're right, since you can't hear any sound in space...

Bingo

Was his name-o! Hahaha

The mind is ones consciousness, intelligence etc and that is all definitely linked to the brain. Ones Soul however, I believe is the energy that a person is made up of. Call it your aura, chakra etc it encompasses the entire body and radiates outwards from it.

Everything in the universe is made up of the same energy, it never dies or dissipates but can change from one form to another.

^^ Perhaps you are referring to the bioelectricity which is often termed as "aura's" or "chakras" which have led to whole philosophies on them , the bioelectricity is the weak current in the body due to the electrons in the molecular structure, the brain has a definitely a higher voltage, because neural activity is also electrical in nature.

-- Mon Dec 13, 2010 8:23 am --

Chocoholic wrote:Everything in the universe is made up of the same energy, it never dies or dissipates but can change from one form to another.

Excellent summary of the First Law of thermodynamics

Chocoholic wrote:The mind is ones consciousness, intelligence etc and that is all definitely linked to the brain. Ones Soul however, I believe is the energy that a person is made up of. Call it your aura, chakra etc it encompasses the entire body and radiates outwards from it.

Everything in the universe is made up of the same energy, it never dies or dissipates but can change from one form to another.

I agree with that, but I also believe that the soul has to be linked to the consciousness since the soul is what will be judged and sent to heaven or hell.

^^ Have to agree with you on this , the "soul" could have a memory for example, since according to theology it has to be judged, so most probably it is able to register all the fluctuations in its energy content ( which would be caused by the experiences) , just as a side note , computer memory functions in such a way , in essence all the tiny transistors inside your hard disk, get charged ( off or on , Binary ), to story memory

Indeed. Maybe the soul is the subconscious brought to consciousness?

It seems the "consciousness" is the thinking mind , An illustrative example would be , the person who reads this sentence and who is comprehending it, is the consciousness.

The Sub-conscious would be your body, the person who gets affected by words, where emotions are generated, which is also responsible for taking care of all of your involuntary actions ( such as breathing , the heart rate), Theoretically the subconscious remembers everything, but our conscious mind filters out only the necessary things, otherwise there would be sensory overload. Female subconscious exerts a stronger influence on the female conscious , as opposed to the male subconscious.

The soul would be third entity, The receives all the information from both the "conscious" and "subconscious"