Knife Soul?

Originally posted by biogon

fishbulb,
What if you had a knife/tool/gun that you used to save your life? Would you be more/less willing to part with it? What if it saved your life over the period of a few years, or the usage/presentation of it sparked a conversation that allowed you to meet your significant other?

Sentimental value could be defined as either the owner's or a third party's observation?
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I draw a distinction between sentimental value and the near-mystical properties people attribute to objects. I have a few things that have been in my family for generations, and others that were gifts from close friends; and I would not be willing to part with these items. However, I still don't attribute any sort of soul to these objects, and I certainly don't consider them to be alive.

More so than other objects, I see knives as strictly tools. They are for cutting things, not worship.

If you take a knife you consider to have a soul and melt it into a puddle of metal, does it still have soul? It is still the same knife, but with a different shape.
 
Originally posted by fishbulb
I draw a distinction between sentimental value and the near-mystical properties people attribute to objects. I have a few things that have been in my family for generations, and others that were gifts from close friends; and I would not be willing to part with these items. However, I still don't attribute any sort of soul to these objects, and I certainly don't consider them to be alive.
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Would you trade a family heirloom for the same object but from another source? No? So what's the difference if the item has no 'mystical' property to it?

I don't consider objects to be alive, but I do think they can absorb some sort of an energy.

If you take a knife you consider to have a soul and melt it into a puddle of metal, does it still have soul? It is still the same knife, but with a different shape.
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When you die and rot in your grave, are you still the same person, just of a different shape?
 
Originally posted by ThinkOfTheChildren


When you die and rot in your grave, are you still the same person, just of a different shape?
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We are basically energy, and energy does not die; it simply changes forms. I've always thought this scientific fact was one of the better arguments for belief in reincarnation (or some other form of life after this one).
 
I understand the science of what you're saying, ASP. That's not my point. I am saying that I don't agree with the argument that a melted knife is "still the same knife." I was trying to make an analogy since I don't believe that a corpse in a coffin is 'still the same person' that people knew before. Sorry if my analogy was a poor one.
 
Please dont get angry, but i am not sure that anything, living or dead has what people refer to as a soul, and clearly, this forum is an inappropriate place to debate this timeless question, but i will say this. I think that many people have an inate, very strong attraction to, almost a need for, perfection, (which includes perfect function and/or design, and perfect execution of said design), and beauty, and an object that has perfection or beauty, or ideally both, becomes coveted by the person, and in this way, makes a powerful mental connection that is more than casual or fleeting. Maybe this is what gives an object "soul" if you prefer to use that terminology. Just my opinion on a touchy subject.
 
Think Of The Children,

I absolutely agree with your melted knife and corpse analogies. That thought just led me to a little reincarnation tangent via free association. Yours was not a poor analogy at all. I simply strayed from the subject at hand.
 
Well put Megalobyte. Interesting thought. Could it be that our ongoing search for the sublime becomes the very source of our moral compass?
 
The care that goes into the making is what gives an object soul. And just because said object is made "by hand" doesn't mean it has soul.

Paul
 
Originally posted by ThinkOfTheChildren


Would you trade a family heirloom for the same object but from another source? No? So what's the difference if the item has no 'mystical' property to it?

When you die and rot in your grave, are you still the same person, just of a different shape?
Click to expand...

1) The difference between a heirloom and "soul" is that I don't value the object, I value the people and history associated with it. I can understand if somebody were to value a knife greatly because they like the maker, or it saved a life, or it was their dad's; something along those lines. At this point it is no longer a tool.

However, there are people around here who see knives in general as mystical objects, full of primal power and energy just because they are sharp and fun. Even if something is a handmake custom, it still isn't alive. Lots of things are handmade by skilled craftsmen that are not given the same aura attached to cutting implements

I value things because of the people associated with them, not for their own sake.

2) No. That is the difference between a human being and an inanimate object.
 
Originally posted by satin
Or here's one more...
Be at a gun show, and see a beautiful, wonderful condition, Nazi-SS dress dagger, and ask to see it, and when you pick it up, feel something that can only be described as evil, crawl up your arm, like something so cold it burns, and and start to crawl all over your body... feel it choke off your breath, and make your heart skip, then try to hammer itself to death, feel it make you shake so bad you almost drop the knife... and careful as you can lay the knife down, and resist the urge to run the f*ck away, as fast as you can, as you feel that feeling of evil release its grasp, and go slipping and scream off of you and out of you.
Tell me that knife didnt have a soul... I say it did, evil as sh*t!! But a soul none the less... I felt the damn thing, and that knife has a dark, dark, soul to it.
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Now, replace that actual Nazi dagger with an exact duplicate made in the year 2000, and you would get the same reaction...How can that be?
It's because the knife has no soul of any kind, and the only power it has is what the person holding it believes it does, and is willing to bring about themselves, for whatever reason.
Same goes for any other inanimate object...If you choose to have your skin crawl over a Nazi dagger, that's your choice, but to call an inanimate object 'evil' is silly...it's just as silly as calling a gun 'evil'. Inanimate objects do not take action by themselves, and cannot evoke a reaction beyond what a particular person is willing to experience.

Like I said, if believing that your material possessions have SOUL, and routinely talk to you, helps you to appreciate them in some way, that's great and I have no problem with it.
However, mine don't, and I don't in any way feel diminished or deprived.
 
Sometimes when I receive a knife made by a custom maker,I look at it and realize it has been created by a human being.So it has become part of the maker.There is part of the maker in the knife.His or her thoughts??? Feelings??? Love??? Something.
Some makers more than others.My .02
Good topic
Randy
 
Exactly what Randy said. Sometimes you may have gotten calls on a knife that is being made for you by a friend. That friend has poured their effort into something they have created and a part of them is reflected in the knife. At times, they may have been thinking of you while they were working.
 
You guys crack me up. What I think of as soul has nothing to do with neither bazzar mystical properties nor particle physics. It's all a matter of artistry. I look at some knives and they have a stale lifeless look to them. The artistry of design just isn’t there. These knives may be very functional, but lack the aesthetic appeal that might draw a person to them.

On the other hand, some knives have an extraordinary amount of character to them, possessing beautiful grind lines and handles with an organic quality to them. This organic quality comes from natural handle materials or just a well flowing shape that imparts a certain amount of confidence that the knife was designed to be held in your hand. These “soulful” knives are sometimes functional, sometimes not. The ones that have both soul and functionality are a rare breed, just as their makers are.

Yes. Some knives do have soul. They are created by artists who pour all of their own souls into their making.
 
My girlfriend's late dad was buddist, and they have a series of beliefs about the body, and the afterlife. That is, to not touch the body for 3 days after death, and that your soul goes on after 57 days after death. during that time, no one should touch your posessions, esp. watches, or any other thing carried daily, lest your soul be called back, and miss its train, so to speak. Our knives probably fall into this category.
 
Lots of you guys here are taking the question too literally. An object CAN have a soul, but don't stretch that to mean that just because someone says something has soul, that they meant that it is a sentient being, that they mean it is alive. This is misinterpreting what is meant when one says that an object has soul. To ME, it means something else, which I will relate by example, as I can't quite describe it.

Mass-produced food (Think buffet or large wedding) has no soul. It is food, plain and simple. Sure, it can taste good, but it is not truly fulfilling.

Grandmother's food has SOUL. Mom's food has SOUL. It has soul because of the energy, effort, and LOVE that went into it. While the women are cooking, they are thinking, "oh, my little drjones is going to LOVE this soup SO MUCH!!!:D" Mass-produced food lacks this all-important element of care and most importantly, LOVE.

Japanese food, (which I do love) has no soul.

Mexican, Greek, Italian food, HAVE souls. My body feels totally nourished, and my spirit uplifted by a hot, hearty plate of enchiladas, rice and beans. NOT so with cold sushi. (Even though I do enjoy it.)

Do you understand what I'm trying to say? Do you have the same feelings at all?

Anyway, this definitely applies to objects other than food. There is no way that you can tell me that a BMW or Ferrari does not have a soul and that a Hyundai does. To me, it's about the care and love that was put into crafting the item, food, car, or knife.

GOD, I'm hungry now...:(

My opinions!
drjones
 
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