Thumology, a term I coined based on thumos, the Ancient Greek word for spirit, is the study of spirit. What follows is an initial list of nine basic observations about spirit, that which makes alive.
1. Some beings are alive; that is, spirited. Some are not.
Spirit is the difference between being alive or not. Those who are alive have spirit. Those who
have no spirit are not alive.
2. Spiritedness is temporary.
Every one dies. At some point, in a variety of ways, spirit leaves and we die.
3. Spiritedness is potentially eternal.
I see no empirical reason to believe that anyone lives forever. However, it does seem that even
though individual living beings die, as long as living beings continue to reproduce, life goes on.
Life is potentially eternal.
4. Unlike physical bodies, spirits do not develop through stages of growth and decline.
We're either spirited or not. I see no evidence of the spirit growing to maturity and declining with
age.
5. Spirit varies in degree.
I do observe that some are consistently more spirited than others. I also observe that our
individual spirits can vary quickly from high to low. Sometimes we're very spirited. Sometimes
we're mildly spirited. Other times we're not very spirited at all.
6. Spirit varies in its qualities.
For example, our spirit can be mean or loving, warm or cold, expansive or contracted, weak or
strong, aggressive or passive, and so on. I call how we are spirited most of the time our thumic
norm.
Our moods and emotions are examples of how the quality of our spirits vary in relatively short
periods of time.
7. Spirit is quasi-physical.
I got this idea from the Ancient Greeks. In their view, the thumos (spirit) of us humans is located in
our chest, in the area of our thymus gland. We can feel it physically. When we're afraid we might
feel an uncomfortable tightness or burning sensation in our chest. When our spirit is passionate
about something, we might feel a pleasurable warmth or heat in the same area. We can also feel
changes in our heart rate and respiration.
8. Spirit has multiple functions.
First, our spirit animates us. It makes us alive.
It also has emotive, deliberative, and cognitive functions. It is the seat of our emotions. We can
deliberate issues in our spirit. We also know things in our spirit.
9. Spirits are interconnected.
I've observed in others and experienced in my own spirit, connections with the spirits of others.
For example, one person's sadness, joy, or fear can influence the spirits of others with whom the
person relates. Many of us also know the experience of esprit de corps.
There is a social dimension to spirit.
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