Will Clones Have Souls?
The Spiritual Future of Artificial Intelligence
by Michael Levy
PointOfLife.com
The Question here is will a clone have a soul?
I asked this question recently on a spiritual forum and the views of some very well respected spiritual folks were quite mixed. I concluded that it all depends on how we define a soul and who we think we are. These are deep probing questions and many philosophers of the past have come up with a variety of answers, but humanity as a whole has not settled on any one answer to date.
So what is the answer. Lets look into the future and take one scenario:
A person by the name of Will is fifty years old and lives as an atheist. Will has undergone many cosmetic surgeries for vanity. Does Will have a soul? Of course he does; right? He may not recognize God, but that does not mean God does not exist. Atheists may not know if they have a soul, that does not mean they do not have one.
Now Will is very wealthy and decides they would like a clone of himself so his image is left behind after he dies. The clone is made and is physically identical to how Will looked when he was young - all natural with no cosmetic surgery. The clone studies hard, grows up very religious and becomes a priest. Does the minister not have a soul? Will God disown the minister? Who is to cast the first stone? Is the "Will" of God the same as the "Will" of the clone?
What about the advancement with microchips? Very soon we will have robots that can think for themselves. Maybe solar powered, or they may even be powered by inhaling oxygen. Science fiction is fast becoming science reality. Androids may well look just like humans, but that is artificial life and a machine will not have a soul - or will it? It may well be the machines become more intelligent than humans and we are ruled by them. Extreme thoughts but possible some time in the future.
Now more than ever folks need to understand who they are and the reason they exist. If we go through life with no idea of who we truly are, we will get more and more lost in the high-tech revolution. We need a sound foundation to build our lives upon.
Every life form contains a soul, and even a clone will have a soul once the breath of life is infused into the body. We will never be able to know who was born and who is a clone. Spirit is in all life and those that want to think humans have an exclusive contract with spirit will feel anger and hatred towards a cloned human, if they can distinguish one from a naturally created human. Many folks will say a clone has no soul therefore is not really human.
Many folks think they are superior to a dog or cat. Many folks believe animals don't possess a soul. All this blind "dogma" has been programmed in humans for thousands of years. That is why most folks can't be happy. They have to guard their possessions and many humans believe that they possess God exclusively of all other species of life. Some even go so far as to think some other humans are not in God's camp at all. Many different tribes of thought, lined up in divisions of ego's blind thinking and so much time wasted worrying and hating others.
Oh! by the way, did I mention genetic engineering? I heard today they can put genes in our foods to make us fit and well. Maybe also to control our minds in case we feel like rioting against the clones?
Athletes are experimenting with all kinds of stuff to make them compete faster. One-hundredth of a second can mean the difference of big money sponsorship and athletes will try anything to make themselves winners. The latest thing I read was wasp juice from the larvae of killer hornets gives a big boost. Some seek a menu of caterpillar fungus, seal penis and extract of sea horse. How lip-smackingly scrumptious!
With such competition in sports, it will not be long before gene therapy is introduced and injected into sports folk. We will be able to tailor-make our bodies. No need of the surgeon's scalpel. So we will remanufacture a human being to suit a trend. We will become designer beings. Stem cells are cloned cells so many humans will be injected with cloned cells. Does this mean they will lose their soul? The possibilities of modern science boggles the mind. The cures for many diseases maybe just a few years away. No illness means longer lives. Can the planet cope with a population explosion?
This is just a brief glimpse into the future. What would folks say who lived two hundred years ago and could comment on today's lifestyles? Whatever will be will be. Science will advance and humans will survive in spite of their ego selves.
The moments of life are precious and few. We are put on earth to enjoy our lives and what wonderment there is to see a sunrise, to hear the birds sing, to gaze at a sunset. The free things in life are enough. Simplicity in all things is the answer in any era. Everything else is just the icing on the cake. How big a slice do we need?
Remember: Enjoy life and don't fret about so-called advancements. All is perfection in the souls' world and that is the real eternal world. We are all souls together and NOTHING CAN ALTER SPIRIT.
We all need to recognize we are the energy that drives the motor, we are not the motor. We are the energy that feeds the mind, we are not the mind. We are the energy that feeds the thoughts, we are not the thoughts. We take a ride on the carousel of life, but we must remember not to go round so fast or it will make us sick and dizzy. The seesaw makes for one down and one up and we don't want others down at our expense. Best we all ascend in spirits' elevator together.
Michael Levy's poetry and essays can be found on many websites, journals and magazines. He is a renowned guest speaker on finance, wellness and inspiration. He has appeared on TV in the USA and UK and hundreds of radio stations throughout the world. See his website at http://www.pointoflife.com
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