4 ms·

I started saying exactly this. In my culture, our elders used to say this about old fashioned photographs. Young people used to laugh about this. Now I wonder

I started saying exactly this. In my culture, our elders used to say this about old fashioned photographs. Young people used to laugh about this. Now I wonder if those elders were also joking, just didn’t wanted their photos to be taken. EDIT: I still take plenty of pictures but not too many or share as much. Mostly don’t want my photo to appear in random places. My joke is that if you take too many photos, then you will lose your soul completely.

lbrito 3y ago
I was about to comment that I read some time ago about a certain Islam sect strongly discouraged photos of people because of that. Is that your culture by any chance? I'd enjoy hearing about it again.
- defrost 3y ago
  You might ask Greg Egan why he(?) has no actual verified images on the web. It's not Islam. I also don't upload images of either myself or my family, again, not Islam. There are several cultures that avoid names and images for varying reasons, eg: the use of Kuminjay in Pintubi-Luritja language families.
- amerkhalid 3y ago
  I am not an expert in Islam, so some of what I say maybe completely wrong. My parents are from Sunni sect which is the largest sect. But it is further divided into sub-sects. However, you can pick and choose various rules from different sects/imams. Which is good imo but it is hard to say which rule comes from which sect. (Also some of more conservative Muslims believe that their way is the only right way and they tend to push their views/rules). In Islam, idolatry is a major sin which can render one to ineligible to enter heaven forever. All other sins are forgivable. This is agreed among all Muslims, afaik. So all Muslim are very anti-idolatry but definition of idolatry varies among various Muslims. On one extreme, mere drawing/photo of a person or animal is forbidden just in case it leads someone worshipping that picture. Some Muslims consider it idolatry when pictures of kings or leaders are treated in certain "respectful" or "ritual-y" ways. And that is one of the reasons that Muslims don't like pictures of prophets/religious figures as they are not sure how to treat those pictures. Majority of Muslims, I know, don't think drawings or photography is forbidden as long as you don't perform any sort of rituals like lighting a candle or putting flowers. As for capturing a part of the soul when taking photos, I don't think the most conservative Muslims who considered photography forbidden believed that a soul can be divided/captured like this. At least, the one I knew rejected this idea for forbidding photography. The people who used to say that camera can steal a part of soul tended to be more moderate. Maybe there was indeed some moderate sect that believed this but I am not sure. Or now I like to think that it could have been a joke that went "viral" because some people don't like how they look in their photos (or they cared about their privacy).
mock-possum 3y ago
I mean that’s not really the same thing though. One is due to superstition, the other is due to suspicion. How reasonable? Leave it as an exercise to the reader, but photographs could never actually steal your soul. Surveillance on the other hand could actually be conducted targeting you.

lbrito 3y ago

I was about to comment that I read some time ago about a certain Islam sect strongly discouraged photos of people because of that. Is that your culture by any chance? I'd enjoy hearing about it again.

defrost 3y ago
You might ask Greg Egan why he(?) has no actual verified images on the web. It's not Islam. I also don't upload images of either myself or my family, again, not Islam. There are several cultures that avoid names and images for varying reasons, eg: the use of Kuminjay in Pintubi-Luritja language families.
amerkhalid 3y ago
I am not an expert in Islam, so some of what I say maybe completely wrong. My parents are from Sunni sect which is the largest sect. But it is further divided into sub-sects. However, you can pick and choose various rules from different sects/imams. Which is good imo but it is hard to say which rule comes from which sect. (Also some of more conservative Muslims believe that their way is the only right way and they tend to push their views/rules). In Islam, idolatry is a major sin which can render one to ineligible to enter heaven forever. All other sins are forgivable. This is agreed among all Muslims, afaik. So all Muslim are very anti-idolatry but definition of idolatry varies among various Muslims. On one extreme, mere drawing/photo of a person or animal is forbidden just in case it leads someone worshipping that picture. Some Muslims consider it idolatry when pictures of kings or leaders are treated in certain "respectful" or "ritual-y" ways. And that is one of the reasons that Muslims don't like pictures of prophets/religious figures as they are not sure how to treat those pictures. Majority of Muslims, I know, don't think drawings or photography is forbidden as long as you don't perform any sort of rituals like lighting a candle or putting flowers. As for capturing a part of the soul when taking photos, I don't think the most conservative Muslims who considered photography forbidden believed that a soul can be divided/captured like this. At least, the one I knew rejected this idea for forbidding photography. The people who used to say that camera can steal a part of soul tended to be more moderate. Maybe there was indeed some moderate sect that believed this but I am not sure. Or now I like to think that it could have been a joke that went "viral" because some people don't like how they look in their photos (or they cared about their privacy).

mock-possum 3y ago

I mean that’s not really the same thing though. One is due to superstition, the other is due to suspicion. How reasonable? Leave it as an exercise to the reader, but photographs could never actually steal your soul. Surveillance on the other hand could actually be conducted targeting you.