Hypothetical: Every living thing has a soul. It’s a fragment of God’s own mind and when you die it (along with all your life’s experiences) gets reabsorbed into His mind.
Hypothetical: While living things are custodians of their soul, it is not a requirement for life or consciousness, or even emotion. It is simply a recording device of sorts. As such, you have the ability to surrender it to any supernatural being capable of assuming possession of it.
Hypothetical: upon your death without a soul, all you experience is “lights out”. Should you die in possession of your soul, “You” cease to exist anyway–your consciousness is a raindrop in the sea of God’s own awareness.
A being approaches you and expresses an interest in your soul. The above is explained to you and you know it all to be true. In exchange you can receive, oh, call it a plausible shortcut to whatever you want–such that if your aspirations are grand, you will be viewed by history as an exceptional individual as opposed to some inexplicable phenomenon. You are shown a path to the things you want, or maybe your mind gets altered to relieve you of fears, or perhaps you seek insight? The gifts are subtle but powerful, and while there may be unintended consequences, there are no tricks–you’ll get the spirit and letter of what you ask.
Are you selling? What do you want in exchange for your soul?
If it’s just a recording device and not “me” then I don’t really see much value to it. Seems to me that I’d sell for as much as I could possibly get, but I’d probably settle for as little as a nice steak and lobster dinner.
In terms of what I’d actually ask for… I’d like to be rich, but in the range of $10 million net worth. I don’t need yachts and enormous mansions. I’d like that wealth to be earned through a satisfying ongoing career (essentially the one I have now fast-forwarded to a hypothetical but not impossible future). Health and looks would be nice and if that’s a separate wish, then I’ll settle for what a bunch of money will buy me.
Given those hypotheticals, I’m having a hard time seeing why some hypothetical supernatural being would want it either. I can’t imagine it would be worth enough to bother selling.
The way I’m seeing the hypothetical, I get to basically be God after I die, forever. Or, I could be rich or whatever for the next 5 minutes to 80ish years. Yeah, no deal.
Oh alright, the short version: God and Samyaza used to be best buds. Then God, being bored with the omniscient understanding of the universe, deemed there might be value in gaining perspective from the micro level. So he builds The Universe in his basement lab, and imbues all life with a little bit of his own mind. The creatures run around, or take root, doing their own little thing for a finite time and then the mind fragment comes back to God—viola! Relatively miniscule perspective which now includes fears, uncertainties, and strong emotions rooted in ignorance and a sense of mortality—all of which evade the omniscient. Over millions of years, millions of worlds, the knowledge begins to change God’s thinking. And now He is gripped by growing paranoia, compassion, dread, mind-addling love, etc. These things are foreign to Samyaza and in his mind this experiment is ruining his old friend’s mind. God resists Samyaza’s pleas to stop because He feels fine, more insightful, more powerful. Samyaza understands he can’t directly influence his friend anymore, and sees the power of dissuasion lies in altering the messages delivered by the souls. The plan, then, is to get the creatures to come to a willing understanding that This God Fellow has no actual love for them as particles, He is merely using them for His own purposes, and that the whole thing is wrong and needs to stop. With this as the last and most poignant realization recorded onto the soul, Samyaza collects it and contains it. Out of mercy for the doomed creatures he does what he can to ease the remainder of their pitiful existence. And when he has a sufficient quantity of souls that doubt God’s actions and want this creation thing to stop, he will release them in such strength as to form an epiphany, so God will come to that conclusion as well.
Where does the line start? Who do I call? How I can get this done NOW dammit?
This I’ll have to give some thought to. I assume there will be a pretty long line because there’s no downside so while I’m waiting to sign on the dotted line, I’ll make a list. I have no aspirations to be a grand person known throughout the ages or anything (you phrased it way better but you know what I mean) so it’ll be a pretty short list. I’m sure I’ll have the time. I’m pretty easy to please.
But yeah. What in the world do I need it for? I’d rather have my own house, a new car, and tickets for Florida Georgia Line.
Well maybe not Florida Georgia Line - but good concert tickets anyway.
I get that from my friends on my birthday! I’d want something a bit more substantial.
How about: enough money so I never have to work, so I get fat and lazy and undisciplined, my skills fade, my body erodes, and I descend into indulgence and sin. Thus my soul is worth almost nothing by the time I bite the wax tadpole. I cheat the reaper!
Jabez Stone bargained for ten years of prosperity, which seems rather foolish. A lifetime of prosperity seems like the minimum.
A buddy in high school had the best answer ever to this question:
“If you had to make a deal with the Devil, what would you ask for in exchange for your immortal soul?”
“His.”