Poll:Can all the members of a species,.....

This is just for a little research I am doing, after the poll closes I'll tell anyone whose interested a bit more about it.

The polling question:

Can the members of a species, an ecosystem, or another grouping of multiple organisms have a unified spiritual soul?

um, what?

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

um, what?

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Sorry about misspelling the the word spiritual in the actual poll........maybe the mods will fix that for me :)

The poll closes in 30 days...I let you know then what its about if your still curious. Any votes and/or reponses will be appreciated.

Without any background information, the poll is going to be a useless crapload of data.

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

Without any background information, the poll is going to be a useless crapload of data.

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All the information you need to answer the question comes from your prior knowledge and beliefs and the question itself.

If I tell you what I think or why I am doing it or where it comes from then I wont really be surveying people's prior beliefs, now will I?

:)

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If I tell you what I think or why I am doing it or where it comes from then I wont really be surveying people's prior beliefs, now will I?

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In that case, cool. Just checking. I was waiting for you to hear what people had to say then smack them down after you lured them in, lol.

LOL...its not a trap....just a poll...

How about:

D. It's counterintuitive to mix science and religion.

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Originally Posted by xdeus

How about:

D. It's counterintuitive to mix science and religion.

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This poll is multiple choice not fill in the blank... :)

pick the statement you agree with the most (i.e. you might NOT agree with it 100%)

I don't agree with any of those 100%.

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

I don't agree with any of those 100%.

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See edit above

Well, I'm 150% sure I have no clue what this is about.

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

Well, I'm 150% sure I have no clue what this is about.

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If you can wait for a ball python to hatch out after breeding for a cool looking morph I think you can wait on this.....lol

:)

Waiting for eggs to hatch??? Psshhh, I'm still growing most of them out!

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

Waiting for eggs to hatch??? Psshhh, I'm still growing most of them out!

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That's even longer!

i dont believe any animal has a soul. but then again im not really sure if thats what the poll is even asking. LOL!!!!!

I have a soul patch

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Originally Posted by Mendel's Balls

LOL...its not a trap....just a poll...

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Human traps are cool http://messenger.msn.com/MMM2006-04-...cons/70_70.gif

I hope you get what you are looking for

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Originally Posted by cueball

Human traps are cool http://messenger.msn.com/MMM2006-04-...cons/70_70.gif

I hope you get what you are looking for

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Somebody should "trap" your avatar and dispose of it properly... :zerb:

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Originally Posted by cueball

I hope you get what you are looking for

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Thanks, what I am looking for isnt a right answer....what I am looking for is a lot of votes.

Its an anyomous survey so pick the statement that you can most agree with. Not the statement that you think I am looking for.....

Call me Retardo Montalbon but I still don't get it

HelLo ReTarDo :colbert2:

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Originally Posted by jglass38

Call me Retardo Montalbon but I still don't get it

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You dont have to get it to vote.....do you know everything about a canidate when you vote in an election? Hardly....My advice to people wanting to participate...pick an option you feel somewhat comfortable with.

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Originally Posted by Mendel's Balls

You dont have to get it to vote.....do you know everything about a canidate when you vote in an election? Hardly....My advice to people wanting to participate...pick an option you feel somewhat comfortable with.

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No, but I also don't get woozy when I look at where they stand on the issues. I can't answer a question that doesn't make any sense. Here would be a question that could be comparable:

"Is it warmer in the mountains or in the summer?"

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Originally Posted by Mendel's Balls

You dont have to get it to vote.....do you know everything about a canidate when you vote in an election? Hardly....My advice to people wanting to participate...pick an option you feel somewhat comfortable with.

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I think the reason you won't get many votes is because people don't feel even somewhat comfortable with any option. The question is rather obtuse and lacks any explanation, so how can you expect people to form an opinion one way or another? If I don't know anything about the candidates in an election or if I don't have an opinion one way or another, I'll just skip over them and go to the next candidate. :confuzd:

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Originally Posted by jglass38

No, but I also don't get woozy when I look at where they stand on the issues. I can't answer a question that doesn't make any sense. Here would be a question that could be comparable:

"Is it warmer in the mountains or in the summer?"

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I did not design this polling question and it has been used in the past on another population of individuals (335 individuals to be exact)......I'm not sure what their initial reaction was to the question but they did answer. They very well may have found the whole question just as frustrating as many of you have.

I dont expect to get 335 votes....

My hope is to get ~100 votes..even that might be hard to get on here..how the distribution of those votes falls is what I am interested in.

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Originally Posted by xdeus

I think the reason you won't get many votes is because people don't feel even somewhat comfortable with any option. The question is rather obtuse and lacks any explanation, so how can you expect people to form an opinion one way or another? If I don't know anything about the candidates in an election or if I don't have an opinion one way or another, I'll just skip over them and go to the next candidate. :confuzd:

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You bring up good points....but I'll appreciate any votes in any catergory.

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Originally Posted by jglass38

No, but I also don't get woozy when I look at where they stand on the issues.

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Really, I often do? LOL

What kind of question is that? I bet they can communicate like humans and create little cities if given the change.

i totally understand your question and feel that absolutely ecosystems, different organisms etc have a soul (or collective soul). if you've ever read Dawn Baumann Brunke's book "Animal Communication " this is discussed extensively.

for us to think that we are the only beings/life form with a soul is egotistical. just because we don't understand how to communicate (or are unable to communicate) with other life forms doesn't make us better than them! really... doesn't it make us rather daft? :P

i am surprised that this poll/thread hasn't been closed down though as anytime in the past that spiritual issues have been discussed - the admins have closed it. :grabbed:

but i'm glad i got to vote before it was closed! ;)

I dunno why it seems like such a big deal. Seems like a simple question to me...


Can, for instance...an entire ant colony share a single "soul"...as you understand the world "soul." OR....A tree and all the little critters that live in and around it...could they share a single "soul" since they all commune in one little ecosystem?

I don't have to know WHY he wants the answer in order to have my own opinion about whether things in nature share a soul or not.

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

i am surprised that this poll/thread hasn't been closed down though as anytime in the past that spiritual issues have been discussed - the admins have closed it. :grabbed:

but i'm glad i got to vote before it was closed! ;)

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So long as it doesn't disintegrate into a religious/philosophical discussion....I'm alright with letting it stand. But if folks start arguing about the issue...then yeah...it'll go away.

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Originally Posted by JLC

So long as it doesn't disintegrate into a religious/philosophical discussion....I'm alright with letting it stand. But if folks start arguing about the issue...then yeah...it'll go away.

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No religious/philosophical discussion allowed in an off topic forum?

as far as my experience has been jamie... as soon as someone responds with their views... it turns into a discussion and is closed.

cause there was no arguing in that thread (the one i was referring to)

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Originally Posted by jglass38

No religious/philosophical discussion allowed in an off topic forum?

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Oh come'on, Jamie...you've been around long enough to know better. There are certain "hot button" topics that are not allowed here. The primary purpose and focus of this forum is to provide a safe and comfortable place for people to come to learn about and share their love for herps. If you want to talk religion or politics or other hot topics like that....there are TONS of other, more suitable places to do so.

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Originally Posted by JLC

Oh come'on, Jamie...you've been around long enough to know better. There are certain "hot button" topics that are not allowed here. The primary purpose and focus of this forum is to provide a safe and comfortable place for people to come to learn about and share their love for herps. If you want to talk religion or politics or other hot topics like that....there are TONS of other, more suitable places to do so.

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:sigh2:

Hey, I saw that movie ... Phenomenon with John Travolta and Kyra Sedgwick! I'd buy her chairs for sure!! :love:

:partyon:

-adam

All Judy is saying is that there are certain themes more than others that tend to quickly escalate good legitimate debates into heated arguments which can then devolve into personal attacks. That's all that is trying to be avoided - I don't think anyone wants to see that happen in any case - and if that can be avoided all is good.

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Originally Posted by Smulkin

That's all that is trying to be avoided - I don't think anyone wants to see that happen in any case - and if that can be avoided all is good.

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Sounds like a very sound and very fair policy for the forum to me! ... Kudos to Matt, Judy, and the entire staff for providing us with such a great site!!! :worship:

-adam

Hehe you see we individual, geographically removed folks here seem to have a fairly unified soul for BP's (herps in general even) in a collective sense. Though I don't think that may be treating the term "soul" in the sense you intended.

Thanks Adam for understanding. It's easy to take certain aspects of one beliefs very personally and sometimes folks can interpret disagreement with their beliefs as a de facto attack on their belief system.

:confuzd: i don't see how this could not be religious or philosophy based if the question is about a "spiritual soul"?



vaughn

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Originally Posted by Smulkin

Thanks Adam for understanding. It's easy to take certain aspects of one beliefs very personally and sometimes folks can interpret disagreement with their beliefs as a de facto attack on their belief system.

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As always, you have my full support! :thumbsup: :salute:

-adam

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

i am surprised that this poll/thread hasn't been closed down though as anytime in the past that spiritual issues have been discussed - the admins have closed it. :grabbed:

but i'm glad i got to vote before it was closed! ;)

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It's my opinion and experience that the admins do a decent job of balancing this....

I debated whether or not to allow posting in this poll......I figured I better let posts so that if people had questions about the poll they could try to get some clarification.

Hoepfully there will be no fighting in this thread. That is not my intention...I just want a survey.

After the survey is complete I will reveal my source of the poll and allow those who are interested in reading the source more closely the opportunity to do so......I might require a PM for this....havent decided.....I'm not trying to make the admins job overly difficult.

I would get scientific in my interpretation here. Take, for example, a herd of horses. Each horse has its rank in the herd, and is an individual, yet they move and act as a body of one. You could say there's a "soul" to the herd, a unifying energy that they all share; horses are definately telepathic, as are most organisms (if they allow themselves to be!) and you cannot disturb one member of a close herd without distressing the others or at least drawing their attention.
Define "soul."

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

I would get scientific in my interpretation here. Take, for example, a herd of horses. Each horse has its rank in the herd, and is an individual, yet they move and act as a body of one. You could say there's a "soul" to the herd, a unifying energy that they all share; horses are definately telepathic, as are most organisms (if they allow themselves to be!) and you cannot disturb one member of a close herd without distressing the others or at least drawing their attention.
Define "soul."

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The definition you want to apply to the question is up to the reader. I know there are methodological problems to this.....think of it as more of a descriptive, quasi-scientific poll rather than a purely scientific poll.

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

horses are definately telepathic, as are most organisms (if they allow themselves to be!)

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ROCK ON! :pinkele:

-adam

Find the idea of a soul as something anyone can define or try to put a finger on as a waste of thought.

i find that such a sad statement :(

I have to say no, everything has a seperate "soul" if you believe in that kind of stuff. Most everyone has a different opinion or outlook on something. Saying multiple organisms share a soul would be unrealistic in the way that not everyone of those organisms are believing and have the same values of a said topic.
Hope this makes sense

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

horses are definately telepathic, as are most organisms

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I agree. Snakes are too.....I think. I don't talk to my snakes much but I know when I hold them they know what I'm thinking "don't bite me" for example and being rebelious like they are, they take a snap at you