Paranormal/Souls
Hello
I have been a Deist for about 2 and a half years now, but i find myself wrestling with another belief i have. This belief is that humans have a certain energy or soul, and that paranormal activity exists. For me paranormal activity is just energy left behind by a person. Does anyone else ponder this or wonder how this all fits into deist beliefs.
Thank you so much.
Robert
<< This belief is that humans have a certain energy or soul, and that paranormal activity exists.>>
I can only speak for myself, but in my vanilla version of Deism there is no place for paranormal, or supernatural, or occult phenomena, beyond the scope of mundane scientific investigation. Everything in this world is natural and normal. Only G*D is super-natural.
I also believe that humans have energy and a soul. But both are perfectly normal, and disappear when the body dies. The energy works like electricity in a computer. When the current is flowing the body is living. After death, the body still contains plenty of non-flowing "potential" energy, which is why we eat dead animals.
Reports of paranormal energy, such as auras and chakras, are obviously talking about metaphorical energy instead of mechanical energy. Metaphorical energy exists only in the mind of the observer, not in the physical world. People see what they believe.
What used to be called the Soul, back in the days when Epilepsy was known as demon possession, is simply what we now think of as the Self. The Self/Soul is not some foreign entity that takes possession of your body. Instead it is your self-image of your whole being. It is a mental construct that identifies your body relative to everything else.
For example, in an avatar game, your player is a pattern of dots on a screen that represents you in a virtual environment. Similarly, your "Self" is the mental pattern that stands for You in a mental environment. When energy stops flowing through your brain though, the idea of your Self also vanishes---just like your avatar when you push the off button.
This pragmatic approach to reality may not appeal to some, who prefer a more romantic and mysterious scenario for their bland lives. But it explains all of our experiences without so many X factors. And I find the scientific worldview to be intellectually exciting, even though it may lack some emotional appeal.
However, if it's any consolation, an omnipotent Deity could easily reincarnate your fragmented Self-pattern after death---assuming it was stored on a cosmic hard drive---if S/he wanted to. Obviously, most humans would like that, but so far I have no reliable revelation to indicate that S/he has any intention of resurrecting anybody. So I'm not counting on it.
I would consider myself "curious but skeptical" when it comes to stories of the paranormal. There's a lot we don't understand about the universe and the mystery of consciousness has always stymied me. I remember trying to wrap my brain around it even when I was a kid, before I knew words like "sentience".
That said, I think that everything that is a mystery will be one day understood. If there is such a thing as "souls" that explain our consciousness, they will be one day studied so that we may understand their nature, properties and limitations.
At heart, I'm what would be called a "dualist", one who believes that there is some unexplained x-factor that interacts with the brain to produce a state of consiousness. However, memory is stored in the brain and accessed through it and is demonstrably lost from injury or illness. Consequently, I don't see much rational hope for some elysium-type place where we spend eternity with our loved ones when we die. Reincarnation may be a possibility though it has its problems as well. It may also be that God offers us one shot at the brass ring and then it's fade-to-black and the credits roll. I wonder if I'll hear Williams or Elfman...
<< At heart, I'm what would be called a "dualist", one who believes that
there is some unexplained x-factor that interacts with the brain to
produce a state of consiousness.>>
Aha! That particular X-factor may be the one I am working on in my theory of Enformationism. Information boils down to an immaterial pattern of mental relationships. And, according to the theory, those metaphysical relationships add-up to the physical realationships we experience with our senses.
So, if you zoom-out in your imagination, the duality of this world resolves into the ultimate singularity of G*D---Spinoza's single substance : Spirit or Mind, from which all entities are ""in-formed".
Wikipedia :<< Spinoza viewed God and Nature as two names for the same reality, namely the single substance (meaning "that which stands beneath" rather than "matter") that is the
basis of the universe and of which all lesser "entities" are actually
modes or modifications, . . . >>
I think you might be a theist and not a deist:
de?ism? ?[dee-iz-uhm] Show IPA
–noun
1. belief in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, WITH THE REJECTION OF SUPERNATURAL REVELATION ( distinguished from theism ).
(http://dictionary.reference.com/dic?q=deism&search=search.....emphasis are mine)
the?ism? ?[thee-iz-uhm] Show IPA
–noun
1. the belief in one God as the creator and ruler of the universe, WITHOUT REJECTION OF REVELATION ( distinguished from deism )
(http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=theism&db=luna....emphasis are mine).