# Would you sell your Soul? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192 "2016-01-15T04:06:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/21 "2016-01-15T05:23:25Z")
I don’t believe I have one, so, if the devil is real, he’ll win my soul because of my irreligion. If he exists, and is stupid enough to reveal himself to me, I’ll develop faith really quickly, revile him, and he loses out! If the cost is really an unlimited period of suffering…what possible benefit could be worth it? (I just might sell my soul in order to save a loved one’s soul. I could put up with a lot of suffering, knowing I’d spared a family member the same fate. But that’s about it: one “infinite” pay-off in exchange for another.) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/22 "2016-01-15T05:43:04Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > I understand that most of people here are Christian… What makes you think that? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/23 "2016-01-15T06:39:29Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Only rarely does one find a story in which one sells one’s soul to the devil and then defeats the devil to regain one’s soul at the end. > > See: (1) [_The Devil and Daniel Webster_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_and_Daniel_Webster) by Stephen Vincent Benét. > (2) _Damn Yankees_. Quite a few Spanish legends along those lines; usually what’s used to pay for the soul is some public works. Two that come to mind are the Acqueduct in Segovia (the soul belongs to a servant who is tired of having a very long walk for water) and several involving bridges (one from the province of Girona involves a mother whose child is sick; she needs the bridge to be able to take him to a healer). ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/24 "2016-01-15T06:44:36Z")
Accepting the premise a soul actually exists; never, are you mad?! In the real world I’ll sell you any and all souls I posess for half a stick of gum. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/25 "2016-01-15T07:38:53Z")
Too lazy to look it up and do a link, but: For "Making Deal w/Devil and then getting out of it’, see: Printer’s Devil, Twilight Zone ca 1961. It is also the only video I know of with a functioning Lineotype machine. (for “Steampunks”: Find out what a Lineotype is/was) ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/26 "2016-01-15T10:05:28Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Only rarely does one find a story in which one sells one’s soul to the devil and then defeats the devil to regain one’s soul at the end. > > See: (1) [_The Devil and Daniel Webster_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_and_Daniel_Webster) by Stephen Vincent Benét. > (2) _Damn Yankees_. > [@Nava](#): > > Quite a few Spanish legends along those lines; usually what’s used to pay for the soul is some public works. Two that come to mind are the Acqueduct in Segovia (the soul belongs to a servant who is tired of having a very long walk for water) and several involving bridges (one from the province of Girona involves a mother whose child is sick; she needs the bridge to be able to take him to a healer). There’s _The Bottle Imp_ by Robert Louis Stevenson; though that concerns a device which sets up the transaction as temporary, but subject to a “law of diminishing returns”. Towards the end, it seems certain that the hero is inescapably off to hell… ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/27 "2016-01-15T10:07:03Z")
I remember an experiment made long ago by some French magazine. Some guy acting serious and looking professional asked random people to buy their soul (and presented them with a contract to sign if they agreed). When he was offering a trivial amount of money (like, say, 10 French francs), he would find many takers. But as soon as he began to offer serious money (say, 50 000 FF), nobody was willing to take on the offer (presumably, people were taking it as a joke if a paltry sum was offered, but were beginning to wonder if the payment was significant). ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/28 "2016-01-15T10:13:09Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > If you do not believe in eternal punishment, why would you act in good faith? Are you saying that the only thing that makes you act in good faith is the belief you’ll be punished if you don’t? As for the question in the OP, I don’t believe in a soul, but if I had one I wouldn’t sell it. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/29 "2016-01-15T10:20:20Z")
Well assuming I believed in that sort of thing why would I sell my soul for guaranteed eternal punishment, what like I’ll have 100 years of awesomeness for an eternity of suffering? Doesn’t seem to make much sense. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/30 "2016-01-15T11:18:02Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > What makes you think that? My thoughts exactly - if word-count is the barometer, most people hereabouts are atheists, and a substantial fraction of those want to make sure everyone knows it. If I have a soul, it’s not for sale. If I don’t have one, I doubt there is any entity able and willing to buy it. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/31 "2016-01-15T11:52:34Z")
The only way any answer besides ‘never’ can make any sense is by fighting the hypothetical. If one _assumes_ that the result of selling one’s soul would be an eternity of suffering and torment, then no one finite lifetime of pleasure and decadence could possibly be worth the trade. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/32 "2016-01-15T11:58:45Z")
Well, if the ofeer ffr a trillion dollars is out there, I’ll take that. All sales final. No refunds. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/33 "2016-01-15T12:25:00Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Well, if the ofeer ffr a trillion dollars is out there, I’ll take that. It’s [Zimbabwe dollars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_dollar), not US dollars. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/34 "2016-01-15T12:55:24Z")
I wouldn’t see the point in selling my soul. If it’s a given that you can sell your soul, then you know you have an afterlife. And the afterlife goes on…well, forever. Knowing that, why would you want to have a few good years for an eternity of suffering? Morality aside, NOT selling your soul is the logical choice. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/35 "2016-01-15T12:59:45Z")
I tried to sell mine for a fair price but at the time there was a glut of souls on the world market. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/36 "2016-01-15T14:00:36Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > … eternal suffering … No way. I don’t want any of that. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/37 "2016-01-15T14:10:39Z")
I’m certain I am damned anyway (I am selfish, lazy, I put the wants of my family above the needs of strangers, I am irreligious or Unitarian [I always get those confused] and I have a history of using people). I cannot imagine the Devil offering to pay for something He most likely already has a lien on. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/38 "2016-01-15T14:19:54Z")
I apologize for the double post, but I came up with another reason I am most likely damned anyway. Given the sheer number of religions and rites which humans have been practicing since we first wandered out of the trees, the odds of my being born in the time, culture and faith that is most pleasing to the Almighty approaches zero. If “Demonstrated Form of Worship” really is 75% of our final grade then we are all fucked. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/39 "2016-01-15T15:06:33Z")
In this world, I’d do it for $10,000. In a world in which a soul actually exists, not for any money. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192/40 "2016-01-15T15:11:27Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > In this world, I’d do it for $10,000. > > In a world in which a soul actually exists, not for any money. Exactly right. Although, for similar reasons, I traded my nonexistent soul for two fingers of single malt scotch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-your-soul/743192.md?page=3)