闲人

Anthropomorphization is a technique commonly used in storytelling to give human qualities to non-human things, such as animals, robots, toys, cars, feelings etc. What few people realize is that the depiction of the human soul in fiction is, in fact, anthropomorphization.

We often take for granted the depiction of human souls as simply people without bodies, without realizing the implications of not having a body. Simply put, our entire perception of reality is dependent on a physical body. Take sight for example. We "see" things because light hits the lenses in our eyes and is bent a certain way, then it hits the retina which converts the data to electrical impulses, which travel through the optic nerve, and is finally interpreted by the brain, recreating an image that we "see". Every step is dependent on the physical apparatus of our body. A similar process occurs for all our senses.

And that is just the basic sensory organs. On top of that, complex emotions are also dependent on physical electrochemical functions. I won't argue that emotions are "simply" electrochemical functions; however it is highly likely that without the physical components feelings simply won't feel the same, if we could feel them at all.


I can neither prove nor disprove the existence of the human soul. However, I think it is beyond doubt that the experience of being a human soul is radically different from being a physical human. Most probably, the difference between a human soul and a human is bigger than the different between a human and an animal, since animals at least have similar sensory organs. If human souls exist, can they see? Perhaps. But it will definitely not be the same kind of sight we possess and living humans.