Are spirits stupid?

[_antishock8]

No, but there are some very stupid brains.

[_Tarski]

"Are Spirits Stupid?" I've met a few. As well as mean, sweet, noble, and intelligent. The only way they are identified is through the behaviors, actions, reactions of the bodies wherein they reside.

Some times you can, as suggested, get an idea about them by the clothes their body wears , I.e. "leather" etc... :-) Roger

I have only met people that are stupid, mean, sweet, noble, and/or intelligent. I don't think I am going out on a limb to suggest that in each case it was due to the structure of thier brains including subtle aspects due to the experiences that impinged upon that brain. Of course, perhaps its best to include the whole body in the picture becuase of hormones and the feedback between the brain and the rest of the body but I can' see any evidence that all of this is due to something that looks like a body but is usually invisible to us and that science has never found.
The the word "spirit" also has a sort origin in primitive thinking about how the breath (spiritus) seems to be what leaves the body when on dies.

[_Tarski]

"Are Spirits Stupid?" I've met a few. As well as mean, sweet, noble, and intelligent. The only way they are identified is through the behaviors, actions, reactions of the bodies wherein they reside.

Some times you can, as suggested, get an idea about them by the clothes their body wears , I.e. "leather" etc... :-) Roger

I have only met people that are stupid, mean, sweet, noble, and/or intelligent. I don't think I am going out on a limb to suggest that in each case it was due to the structure of thier brains including subtle aspects due to the experiences that impinged upon that brain. Of course, perhaps its best to include the whole body in the picture becuase of hormones and the feedback between the brain and the rest of the body but I can' see any evidence that all of this is due to something that looks like a body but is usually invisible to us and that science has never found.
The the word "spirit" also has a sort origin in primitive thinking about how the breath (spiritus) seems to be what leaves the body when one dies.

[_Moniker]

I'm often confused by some of the terms that are used on the boards. I never considered a "spirit" as something necessarily supernatural and rarely used that word to refer to a supernatural invisible entity . I knew others viewed spirits in this way - just not the way I use the term except when talking about other's religious notions. I think spirit can mean an emotional state, as well. In high spirits, for instance. I suppose when I used the term, whenever, I was referring to someone's way of viewing life?

Oh, so I just looked at the definition:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spirit

I suppose I haven't been using it incorrectly. The notion that spirits dwell in people makes me uncomfortable, and I don't quite understand where these spirits come from (for those that believe this) or what their purpose is. I don't really understand the thought behind the supernatural spirit that LDS seem to ascribe to.

[_Mercury]

The notion of a ghost is bankrupt for numerous reasons.

Ghosts don't exist? Oh really? Then explain Ghostbusters you nimwit.

Shouldn't you be busy submitting to false authority figures?

Shoo! Git!

[_Tarski]

I'm often confused by some of the terms that are used on the boards. I never considered a "spirit" as something necessarily supernatural and rarely used that word to refer to a supernatural invisible entity . I knew others viewed spirits in this way - just not the way I use the term except when talking about other's religious notions. I think spirit can mean an emotional state, as well. In high spirits, for instance. I suppose when I used the term, whenever, I was referring to someone's way of viewing life?

Oh, so I just looked at the definition:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spirit

I suppose I haven't been using it incorrectly. The notion that spirits dwell in people makes me uncomfortable, and I don't quite understand where these spirits come from (for those that believe this) or what their purpose is. I don't really understand the thought behind the supernatural spirit that LDS seem to ascribe to.

Ya most many people and most theologians mean something far less cartoonical than the Mormon version. For Mormons, the spirit has a spirit body that is the same primate shape as a modern human's body. It was literally born from a similarly anthropomorphic Mother and Father God.
Perhaps you have been confused about my parodies and observations because it is this hyper-literal idea of a spirit that I am usually questioning.

I might even sometimes speak poetically of my own spirit, but by that word, I only mean the deeper aspects of my personality, the unique memories, patterns and tendencies that dance in my brain that make me what I am.

[_Moniker]

Ya most many people and most theologians mean something far less cartoonical than the Mormon version. For Mormons, the spirit has a spirit body that is the same primate shape as a modern human's body. It was literally born from a similarly anthropomorphic Mother and Father God.
Perhaps you have been confused about my parodies and observations because it is this hyper-literal idea of a spirit that I am usually questioning.

I might even sometimes speak poetically of my own spirit, but by that word, I only mean the deeper aspects of my personality, the unique memories, patterns and tendencies that dance in my brain that make me what I am.

Well, I understood the joking about of it... then it just occurred to me, as I was reading the thread, that perhaps my use of the term really was referring to something supernatural! Yet, it wasn't. :)

I wonder how the spirit enters human bodies? I know it's from pre-existence (whatever that is?) and that spirits are created, yet how do they enter a person? In the womb? I just really don't understand the idea behind it, quite frankly. The spirit is a spirit baby at first and grows larger as the human body ages? Then after death the spirit goes to one of the Kingdoms?

Do the spirits shape the human or vice versa? Are the spirits genderless before entering the fetus in the womb (I'm assuming this is when it enters??)? Or is the spirit the essential component of what makes the human that it inhabits what it is? I don't know if that makes any sense.

Sorry. Too many questions for a silly thread.

:)

[_The Nehor]

So what did your spirit know and do before you ever received a body?

I don't think your idea jives very well with the main LDS feelings on the matter of spirits and bodies. LDS teach that you are here on Earth to subject your body to your spirit, and master it. This is very different than your conjecture.

Anyhow, your conjecture is nothing more than an ad hoc hypothesis meant to try to avoid the problem of the LDS teaching about a spirit appearing not to make a whole lot of sense in light of what we know of our physical brains. You do this a lot, and with any conceivable topic about the LDS church. Perhaps you should just accept that it isn't really true and stop making excuses for it, and trying to imagine clever little hypotheses that you think get your doctrine out of trouble.

I don't particularly care if my idea 'jives' with the general LDS feeling on the subject. I don't test my hypotheses against it either. I prefer to use things like Scripture to test them by. I find it's more effective. Of course I come up with ad hoc hypotheses about my faith. That's how you begin to figure things out. Throw out guesses and try to figure out what sticks and then test it if possible. If not, consult with God. I'm not making excuses for it. If God needed someone to come forth and justify his gospel for him, I don't think he'd pick me.

I notice that critics of the Church routinely take the data about the Church and try to disprove it. Perhaps you should just accept that it's true and stop trying to connect dots to concoct clever little hypotheses that justify your leaving.

[_Scottie]

Ok, lets add another wrench into the mix.

In LDS theology, we had a pre-existence where we were spirits. As spirits, we learned and grew in knowledge. Then we came to Earth and had a veil placed over our minds.

Now, when we die, does our Earthly knowledge meld with our pre-existence knowledge? Is the veil lifted so that we can now remember the whole of our existence?

Also, I have heard that if you die with an addiction (say an alcoholic, for example), you still retain the addiction in the spirit world. If you see a drunk, you may inhabit his body for the buzz. However, this quite likely is an urban myth in the church with no doctrinal backing.

[_The Nehor]

Ok, lets add another wrench into the mix.

In LDS theology, we had a pre-existence where we were spirits. As spirits, we learned and grew in knowledge. Then we came to Earth and had a veil placed over our minds.

Now, when we die, does our Earthly knowledge meld with our pre-existence knowledge? Is the veil lifted so that we can now remember the whole of our existence?

Also, I have heard that if you die with an addiction (say an alcoholic, for example), you still retain the addiction in the spirit world. If you see a drunk, you may inhabit his body for the buzz. However, this quite likely is an urban myth in the church with no doctrinal backing.

I believe it's just a myth. LDS have no idea when, if ever, the veil is lifted. Obviously if one ascends to omniscience they will know but other then that, but it's possible that for some such a melding process would do more harm then good. Trying to reconcile two moral codes that you hold dear might lead to some form of madness. Then again, mental illness might not be a problem there either.