More 9 prizes up for grabs

As a parent, the simplest and most honest answer is my children, should they die.

For a more fun answer, I'd probably pick my Lego Mindstorm/netbook robot that I occasionally labor over. I've hooked him up to the Internet and let strangers move around my house and comment on its blog. During boring moments at work, I've played with my kids through its fuzzy webcam.

Since it already seems to have a bit of a personality, I could see that blossoming into something more complex and interesting. Fortunately I'm not waiting for magic, but instead want to get speech recognition software installed and see if I can get it to follow me around and answer questions via Wolfram Alpha.

I remember loving the idea of magic as a kid, but quickly realized the most reliable sort of wizardry is science. Computers in particular have served me well over the years, so the thought of bringing one to life has a distinctive appeal.

My dishwasher. Totally. Then I'd never have to do dishes again.

I would bring one of my favorite stories to life, so that I could live in the world I have always dreamed about. If a sliver of my soul could do that. :)

I would create something that would be able to move and talk easily, I guess a bit like the ragdolls. Bringing something like a Barbie to life, it would be hard for them to move since they don't usually have elbow or knee joints, a mouth that can open and close, or fingers that move. A specially created doll, something I made. Me making it just seems right if a bit of my soul is going to go into it.

If I could give a bit of my soul away, I would give it to a sapling. Just any little tree would do fine. I can only imagine the thought process of a tree; probably slow, yet decisive and straightforward. I wonder how it would communicate: Maybe by using its roots, leaves, or branches and making pictures (even though this whole idea is far-fetched, I don't think a tree could read, let alone spell). Maybe its goal in life would be to reach the sun; it just seems instinctual of trees (if they had instincts) to reach toward the sun. Automatic. When it dies (everything dies, eventually) what would its emotions be? I can imagine so many feelings that could be caused by torturous burning, being chopped down, or slowly wilting away at the hand of disease...

On another note, I wonder how people would react... Would tree-huggers everywhere flock to the 'living' tree? Would people be appalled by the idea of mowing their lawns? Would attention-greedy psychos try to torch the tree in hopes of recognition? Would anybody notice at all? Maybe, maybe not. This whole 'transferring you soul' idea is very much open to interpretation and imagination. I like it.

Serious answer:
I dont want to say to bring back the dead for the fear of playing God.
However, perhapse my soul could be split and divided into a posession of the lost loved one.

If I could bring anything to life... it's hard to narrow it down but... I would either bringing my grandfather to life from my motherâs side or bringing a music box to life (the dancing ballerina inside included).

My mom didn't have a "healthy relationship" with her father; if I'm not mistaken- she didn't hear "I love youâ enough. He also died in my motherâs arms (literally). So, if I could bring him back just long enough for him to say "I love you" I know it would make her the happiest women alive, even if she is going thru a heart-wrenching divorce with my father. But, so I don't "play the laws of God", as my grandmother would say, I would bring to life a music box.

I love music deeply and having a music box that played music every-time I needed it would be wonderful. It would open every time I entered the room, playing a beautiful melody, and have the ballerina swirl and jump and twist just like a real one.

Kind of playing off the music box stuff, I'd put it in an MP3 player. I have always wondered what a soundtrack to my life would be like. This would be something similar: an iPod imbued with my soul could instantly play the perfect music for the occasion. It's like a mood ring you can hear!

Another option would be a computer, to create the ultimate interface technology. No mouse, no keyboard. The computer would be able to sense my exact intentions. No more shift+ctrl+w (close Firefox window) when I meant ctrl+w (close Firefox tab)!

My first thought was actually to put my soul in a book, but what would happen? Would the events of the book seem real? Would I become a character? Could I later remove my soul and put it into another book to experience that one? That sounds so lovely.

I loved this question! It's a wonderful thought experiment. :)

I would put my a sliver of my soul into one of my pet's toys, so that I could play with them even when I wasn't with them.

I would put a sliver of my soul into a robot. That way if future races visited Earth I could tell them about the past and let them know what earth was once like.

I would put a sliver of my soul into my giant stuffed sheep for no other reason than it would make me smile. It has a bell around its neck and I can just see it bouncing around my apartment. Since pets aren't allowed I think it would be a good compromise.

If I could bring anything to life by transferring my soul into it, it would be a ship. A wooden ship that I had made myself. You often hear about people who "put their heart and soul" into their hobby, and while this is a little more fantastic of a suggestion, it basically abides by the same idea.

A ship is my idea of the embodiment of Adventure. Humans are most out of their element in water, and ships are our attempt to brave that frontier. The ocean is unpredictable, and yet we spend months out there, trying to best those waters. This adventure is what I dreamed about ever since I was a kid, and if we're going to be taking some magical journey, I couldn't justify it any other way than by ship.

If I were granted the ability to put a piece of my soul into anything and bring it to life, I have to say I would do some sort of vat of water. It seems interesting, a fluid life... but it raises many questions: if mobile and journeyed to a larger body of water, would it be able to remain separate from the rest of the waters and sustain a shape? would it be able to communicate in some way? If in freezing temperatures, would it freeze or would it be able to remain a liquid because it animate and moving, or would it not be able to move fast enough. Or even more interesting, is if it had control over each of its molecules could it then vibrate them to create its own heat. So many questions to ask...

But perhaps my real reason is it would simply be freaking awesome to do something like horses made of water running down a river like in Lord of the Rings.

question

If we won in one the other contest can we post to this one. If not I just want to know this is a really great question and I would like to share my opinion even if I can't enter into the contest

probably my car

No doubt about it. The communal washing machine in the basement of my apartment building. That soul-less monster sits there now, pink sock in hand (or should that be drum?) waiting for me to decide to wash my white clothes again. If the basement in 'The Evil Dead' had laundry facilities it wold be my washing machine that lurks there. Just one piece of human compassion and empathy, that's all it would need to become good again, to forever do right instead of wrong.
Then again, is doing wrong ALWAYS wrong? There that annoying neighbors cat that constantly pees in the corridor....
Here kitty, kitty.....

@ 14 Melanie
Of course you can take part in this discussion too! And maybe you'll get double lucky too.

Ooooh. As a long-time gamer (GM and player), if I could imbue something with a little piece of my soul to bring it to life, it would be the worlds that I've participated in creating. After all, it's not that much of a stretch -- they already have a piece of my heart. To bring one of those fictional worlds to life: would I be a character? Would I be a god? Would I simply be a vast pool of life-force, or the source of magic?

I love the outdoors and gardening, though I'm generally awful at the latter. I think that I'd most cherish a little bit of greenery wherever I went. Technically plants are already alive, but adding a little bit of my soul to have them be able to come with me providing scenery, and not wilting under the flourescent lamps of my windowless office, would make many a day.

Thank you everyone for your lovely, wonderful and well-thought out ideas for soul-transfer recipients. It was really hard to choose just five winners, and I wish I had 20 prize bags to give away. But alas, that's not to be.

In no particular order, here are the selected winners:

#13 Brett, for his Abyss-like water nymph;
#8 Aly, because I like the idea of always having the right song on;
#18 Jennifer B, because she wants to finish building a WHOLE WORLD;
#16 Sigmund, because we've all experienced suffering at the hands (drums?) of heartless machinery; and
#1 Adam, because he has combined geekery with parental love, and I think that's the best intentions a man can have.

Congratulations! Send your details to prizes@sciencepunk.com and I'll have your prize bags dispatched to you forthwith!

And to everyone else, thank you, and hopefully I'll have more competitions with more chances to win in the near future.

Yeah...most likely, my favorite...childhood toy/toys.
Jeff