Afterlife, spirituality, and the "soul" in Stargate

[Alteran Prior]

Is there an afterlife in the Stargate universe (for people who actually die, not ascend)?

What is a "soul" in the Stargate universe and why do biological beings have "souls" (an apparent requirement for ascension) while non-biological beings (such as the Replicators and Asurans) do not (and therefore apparently cannot ascend)? What does "spiritual" mean in the Stargate universe?

[blueray]

people die as seen in the shows (matouf, janet, carson, etc) and presumably went to heaven or whatever. and those who assend go on to another form of existence, but as seen in the show their body literately disappears and turns into energy. which makes assending different then completely dying.

as for who can assend i belief its anyone who is living (so replicators can't) but any other being asgard, nox, etc can as well.

[Infinite-Possibilities]

The show does not present any opinion one way or another regarding the afterlife.

I also think you might be taking the Replicator Keller's comments about human souls being required for ascension a bit too literally. I also don't think the Replicators implied that a "soul" was tangible in the franchise the same way it might be in say, Warhammer 40,000. The replicators were trying to determine what specifically human quality the natural humans possessed that gave them the potential to ascend because they didn't know how or what it was the made the difference. Modern Asgard can't ascend either, but I don't think the show implied they have no souls while humans do.

Basically I do think the finer details are almost left entirely up to the viewer.

[KEK]

There seems to be about as much evidence to support an afterlife in the fictional Stargate universe as their is in ours, ie. - zero. As for souls, while kind of implying they do exist in Stargate, it was left somewhat ambiguous as to what they actually are, or whether our calling them 'souls' would really be accurate at all.

[Gatefan1976]

The show does not present any opinion one way or another regarding the afterlife.

I also think you might be taking the Replicator Keller's comments about human souls being required for ascention a bit too literally. I also don't think the Replicators implied that a "soul" was tangible in the franchise the same way it might be in say Warhammer 40,000.

*Feeds I-P's soul to the emperor to fuel the Astronomican*

The replicators were trying to determine what specifically human quality the natural humans possessed that gave them the potential to ascend because they didn't know how or what it was the made the difference. Modern Asgard can't ascend either, but i don't think the show implied they have no souls while humans do.

Actually, they imply that there is something to do with the cloning process that inhibits ascention in some way or form, yet they don't offer any "hard and fast" rules as to why that is. The most, umm, "logical" reson would be that the "soul" is not just a mental component, but a physical one as well and as the Asgard no longer have thier original forms, they can no longer fulfil whatever metaphysical requirement is needed for ascention in a "physical" way.

[Inquisitor]

The way I interpreted Oma and Daniel's conversation in Threads, and Rodney in Tao of Rodney, that there is no soul, for anyone.

When you die, you die and you conscious stops (as if you were never born, this is the 'alternative').
But bodies can undergo a physical process (involving protons and electrons) that can transform your body and consciousness into an ethereal form.

[Anoobian]

The way I interpreted Oma and Daniel's conversation in Threads, and Rodney in Tao of Rodney, that there is no soul, for anyone.

When you die, you die and you conscious stops (as if you were never born, this is the 'alternative').
But bodies can undergo a physical process (involving protons and electrons) that can transform your body and consciousness into an ethereal form.

Daniel specifically said that Jack's soul was at risk when he kept dying and being resurrected by Ba'al when Ba'al was torturing him. It goes from saying everyone is a soul to it just being a mere consciousness or a thought process. Like when Daniel swapped with that one old guy who had the Goa'uld killing technology or when that machine took over Sam's body. It was like they weren't a soul, but a unique set of mental network that made up their thought process.

Soul, Afterlife is not really specified at all.

[Twilord]

I think Stargate uses the term soul to signify an element of conciousness, self-awareness, and 'intact-ness' which is a vital component in 'shedding' the body.

The Asgard couldn't ascend because there bodies had degenerated to far for their influene upon it to be fully intact. The Asurans (they ARE NOT replicators, even if they were the best thing in Atlantis) however were hoping that it was a 'mental block' in they're case; but were also prepared to physically edit themselves incase it wasn't.


As for the existance of an afterlife, its simply not discussed. For all we know quantom immortality could hold through in Stargate and the conciousness of an individual may only percieve the realities in which they manage to stay alive.

Otherwise I hope Janet is in heaven laughing her ass off. (I was gonna say Hammond, but I decided that might be in poor taste, RIP Don S. Davis, you were a delight to watch.)