anon text;

[carabina]

A question, tower residents.

If a person does not have a soul, would you still consider them a person? Are they different from people who do have souls? What makes them different from others?

( ooc: Mami will reply as anon, of course. )

Comments

[carabina]

That's true.
I guess what I mean by soul is...
It's hard to explain. I guess the spiritual part of a human being, as well as their emotional and moral nature?

[littlelifeforms]

I see.

Going by your definition, I would say that yes, they are different from people who have a soul. However, they still are persons and should be seen as such. The lack of a soul may not hinder their intelligence, their ability to learn and understand, to evolve in function of the situations.

Furthermore, they may be self-conscious, aware of their existence and action. In my world, these are criteria that define sentience. And with sentience comes the right to be considered a "person".

[carabina]

[ That... Actually makes her feel somewhat betterm knowing that she's still something more than a shell. Sadly, becoming a witch is something she doesn't want to accept. ]

Thank you for the answer.
I guess it was a pretty obvious one, though.

Do you think people can still be saved if they lose themselves? If they turn into monsters?

[littlelifeforms]

You are welcome.

I believe people can still be saved if they lose themselves, yes. In fact, I believe I have seen such a thing happening once, to my commanding officer.

Captain Picard had lost his sense of individuality, his freedom, his rights. You could liken it to the loss of a soul. It was even worse than that, as he was no longer an independent being and even his intelligence and awareness had been suppressed in favor of a collective entity. For all intent and purpose, he had lost himself. I would not say he had become a monster, but he certainly was no longer human.

But we saved him and with our help he returned to his previous state. We had been told he was lost, but we took the risk to help not only because he was our commanding officer, but because we saw him as a friend. If anything, he grew stronger from the experience.

[carabina]

That story was touching.
I'm glad you were able to save him. I think saving people is important. That's what heroes do after all.
And that's what comrades do too.

This gives me a lot of hope.

[littlelifeforms]

I think it is important too.

May I ask, are you or one of your friend lacking such a soul?

[carabina]

I am. So are a few of my friends.

[littlelifeforms]

I see.

Then, I would not worry too much. Your ability to post on the network proves you are most definitely not a monster.

Furthermore, judging by your answers and concerns, you appeared to be me as clearly "human" and "sentient", I would say you are more of a person than I am.