that's true, dave. i pose the question (and a lot of others) *as* a way of research, a food-for-thought type of exploration.
watcher, i'm not a spiritual person at all, really. i'm as likely to equate 'soul' and 'personality' and leave it at that. being agnostic, i'm not going to aver a soul does or doesn't exist, though some people's theories seem to be ridiculous to me based on research, the type of people who believes in their version, and last but not least the argument's pros and cons. i'm more than willing to listen to someone's anecdotal 'evidence,' but at the same time still have to put it into perspective.
a lot of people will swear animals won't go to heaven because they have no soul. 'they're not self-aware,' is one big argument, i think. how self-aware are *we* really, though? 'animals merely react based on their environment, needs, and genetic disposition, therefore they don't have a *true* personality.' oh, like humans are sooo much different in this respect, eh? lol. at the same time, i can't find much of a con to 'their' argument the further down the foodchain i go. at some point i have to wonder if a worm has a soul, and if i go that far, why not plants? why not atoms? why not abstracts like the wind and sea and gravity?
so, when it comes to what constitutes a soul, i'm conflicted. that's why i explore it in some of the things i write about. 'soul' appears to have everything to do with having faith. add to that the fear of death, of there being no life after the ones we piss away on earth. and being at the top of the food chain and supposedly intelligent, there's possibily an egotistical side to being a human that we use to further elevate us to the ultimate creatures. i mean, God created us in 'our' image (not specifically His as it's often quoted as saying), but i have to wonder if the writer/s of that made Him in *our* image. from a 'pagan' standpoint, that's certainly unusual to have god be like us. indeed, to have the main god be male wasn't the basis of a lot if not most of early paganism (based on my research, at least ~ yours might contradict that).
so, if someone wants to worship treebark, good for them. personally, i think it's ridiculous, but so are a lot of things the majority of the world takes for fact. i'm more than willing to, at the very least, be educated.
i'll offer a definition of what a 'soul' is based on the story's implications, but i'll typically stop before it gets to be a dialogue defining what it is and its finer points. in the situations is where i'll do the exploring, though often i find the character reacting to the philosophies of his 'religion' based on research than coming out with explicit arguments for or against. i've had characters have religious epiphanies which lead to their 'self-discovery.' how it happens and how it affects them depends on the needs of the story. this is where my question in the political thread about how writers might instill their own afflictions, i mean, affiliations in their writing has a cross-over -- do writers often put their religious beliefs in a story? if so, by the process of writing, how do direct conflicts with their personal belief get resolved?
to me it seems a given that if you have your robot develop a true soul that that necessarily implies there's a religion behind it. how, i wonder, would a robot in a muslim household consider his soul as opposed to one in a christian household? and is it possible for an atheist robot to have a soul? (in as far as it has to do with traditional, i.e. mass-market appeal, ways of thinking as opposed to being a part of a cosmic life force belief.)