What Is the Spirit?
If someone is poking me in the arm, are they really poking me? What is “me?” Is it just my body?
Let’s say that my body is “me.” What if I died, and then you poked me in the arm? Would you still be poking “me?” If my conscious self is not in my body, am I still me? Clearly not. If so, then accepting a donated organ would change who you are. Also, losing a limb would change who you are. Even getting a tattoo could change who you are. Since your character has not changed, you are still “you,” even if your body changes.
So what is “me?” Is it my mind? Let’s group my mind, will, and emotions together and call them the “soul.” Is my soul “me?” Though my body is needed to hold my soul, perhaps I would still be pretty much the same person, even if my soul could inhabit a different body. But is there more to me than my soul and body?
Artificial intelligence can create a machine or computer program that seems to have a mind, will, and even emotions—a “virtual soul.” All these responses can be simulated and programmed. But what would such a machine or robot be missing?
Suppose you have such a robot and give the robot everything he needs for comfort, fun, and intellectual stimulation. This should fulfill the robot’s requirements for his happiness circuits. He will be happy all day, every day.
Now, suppose you put a person in the same situation. Let’s say a woman has all she needs or wants: a nice home, beautiful children, a loving husband, free time, nice friends, all the money she can spend. She has everything she needs to fulfill the needs of her soul. Will she then be “happy?” Perhaps you have heard stories of people who are in just such a situation, but get involved in drug abuse, infidelity, or perversions. What drove these wealthy, connected people to such things? They had everything they could have wanted, and yet they wanted more. They felt that somehow, there was something missing from their lives, but they couldn’t pinpoint it, so they looked for a way to fill this unnamed “hunger.”
This need is a spiritual need. It cannot be met by material possessions, personal pursuits, or even relationships with people. If you have ever felt a sort of hollow feeling in you chest when you are alone, then your spiritual needs were not being met. Though you might not have felt very sad, you felt there was something missing, something “more” to life. Because you are a person who has a body, soul, and spirit, you have more than just the needs of the physical body: rest, exercise, food, air... and even more than the needs of the soul: education, freedom, expression of feelings. You also have spiritual needs.
To see that you are different from an artificially intelligent program, and that you do indeed have a spirit, consider the following: What if all the robot’s needs were met, and yet he still was unhappy? “It’s all so meaningless!” the robot moans, “Can’t there be more to life than this?” Ludicrous! It’s laughable that a robot might be spiritually unfulfilled, because he is clearly missing something we have. However, it is a very common scenario for humans to go through philosophical crises.
How, then, can these spiritual needs be met?
Let’s talk about what affects the spirit:
All these things affect the spirit in different ways. How can the spirit be made peaceful? Anything that calms fear, gives a sense of meaning and justice to life, and gives hope can fill spiritual needs. People fill their spiritual needs in many ways: serving others, defending their beliefs, religion, and so on. But what is the best way to fill this need?
The best way to meet one’s spiritual need is by believing in and serving God. Because God is powerful, he can put your fears to rest. Knowing there is a God overseeing all of creation makes you feel that the universe is just. Serving God gives your life meaning: by becoming part of the plan of God for the world and doing things for him, you serve as the instrument of God himself! How much more meaning could you ask for than to be part of a perfect plan for the destiny of humans and the universe? Hope comes from knowing that after you die, your consciousness will not be lost in oblivion, but remain with God.