The difficulty in defining the soul as a distinct, non-physical entity that is the seat of identity and consciousness, and then explaining how this immaterial "thing" interacts with the material brain. How does an ethereal soul without mass or energy cause neurons to fire (the mind-body problem on steroids)? If it doesn't interact, it's irrelevant. If it does, it should be detectable. The soul often ends up defined only by what it is not—not physical, not mortal—leaving its positive qualities mysterious.
Example: "The neurosurgeon said personality changes with brain injury. The priest said the soul is immutable. The hard problem of the soul: if 'I' am my soul, why does a clot in my frontal lobe turn 'me' from a saint into a jerk? Either the soul is mysteriously tied to meat, or 'I' am just the meat. Both answers are unsettling."
by AbzuInExile January 31, 2026
Get the Hard Problem of the Soul mug.The proposition that each living being, or perhaps each human, is animated or constituted by a unique, immaterial essence—the soul—which is the seat of identity, consciousness, and moral character, and which may survive the death of the physical body. It's a hypothesis about the nature of the self: Are you your brain, or are you a soul using a brain? This idea tackles the mind-body problem by positing a second, non-physical substance as the true "you."
Example: "When my dog died, the vet said, 'He's gone.' My child asked, 'Where did he go?' That question is the Soul Hypothesis in its purest form. The body was there, but the 'he-ness'—the personality, the love, the mischievous spark—had vanished. The hypothesis suggests that 'he' was a soul, a pattern of being temporarily housed in a furry body, and that pattern might persist elsewhere. It's not a fact; it's a comforting, profound guess about what we really are."
by Abzunammu February 2, 2026
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