An Impossible World: The Nature of the Soul (1)

We live in a singularly fascinating universe. It is infinite, and yet expanding. Tied together with gravity, a force we completely fail to understand the nature and workings of, and pulled apart by "dark energy", which we can't even prove actually exists. There are stars the size of our entire solar system, rays of invisible light that could dissolve our bodies, black holes large and hungry enough to swallow entire galaxies. Meanwhile, we've discovered that all things are made of particles so small they cannot be directly observed, and waves of energy that must be there even though we cannot find them, and other, stranger things that both exist and do not simultaneously.

In such a remarkable and incomprehensible universe, it is little wonder that the most important questions cannot be answered easily. In fact, some say these questions have no answers at all. I contest that opinion. Not being able to find the answer does not mean the answer is not there. We may be hundreds of years away from being able to scientifically prove the existence of the soul, but to say that this means there is no soul is pure folly. Knowledge is not some static, immutable, complete thing. Knowledge is constantly changing, mutating in unpredictable ways, showing us new paths never previously conceived. And someday, be it next week or a thousand years from now, all those paths are going to converge and give the human race a brilliant, searing glimpse of the great goal of knowledge: Truth.

While we, as a species, are far, far away from possessing enough knowledge to see the truth, to say we know nothing is just as foolish as to claim we know everything. We know a little, more than most, but still only a little. My goal is to use this little knowledge that we humans possess as a sort of orienteering guide. A compass, pen, and map of the endless forest of knowledge, if you will. One man can cross the countryside much faster than an entire army, so it would follow logically that one mind searching for the truth can cover more ground more quickly than billions. Large groups of individuals almost always move far slower than a single individual could.

However, before I begin this journey in earnest, there must needs be established some parameters for the search. One must first know what one seeks before one can know if one has found it. When searching for treasure, one follows a map; when searching for love, one follows the heart; when searching for knowledge, one follows a question. I, as it turns out, have several. What is the soul? Why do we dream? How does the mind interact with the body? What does the soul do? Where does it go? I could go on for pages and pages, so many questions, but I think there is more than enough to keep me occupied for a good long while just here.

And so, with my metaphorical pack on my back, let begin the great adventure of my mind. Onwards and inwards, fellow travelers. The questions wait for no one.