h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Some people (most of them?) say that eyes are "windows to your soul". I say it's not so. What if your eyes are red from not sleeping enough? Or too much dope? What if you're blind? Does it mean you have no soul? Or just no windows to them? I'd like an answer for that if possible

What the phrase means is that you can see what emotions a person is feeling by looking at their eyes. This is not true. The pupil of the eye can dilate (expand) or contract. This is ruled by emotion to a certain extent. When people are aroused, their pupils dilate. But this also happens in dim light.

Other than this, the eyes do not vary at all. What does change is the skin around the eyes. The patterns of lines, position of eyelids, eyebrows and so on are all good indicators of the feelings of the person. This is the origin of the phrase. "The eyebrows, eyelashes, eyelids and the wrinkles around the eyes are the windows to the soul" does not have the same proverbial ring to it as the more normal phrase.

Tell me what a soul is and I'll tell you if I can see it through the window.

The soul is the thing inside the person which makes it bad to hit a person on the head with a hammer, while it is OK to hit your car or your computer with a hammer, if you are cross enough and it is really yours. "Soul" also goes by the name of "mind".

This is all so carefully vague that I don't think you will be able to disagree with it.

I have tried - and failed. Have a diplome in vacuity.