You bring up a very interesting idea, there. I'm not sure I have a good answer for that, all I can offer is an opinion ... or a possibility, perhaps: Scientists say that if you put the genetic material from say, a virus, a fungus, a plant, an animal and a Human in a blender, there would be no telling what creature(s) it came from. Apparently, all life on Earth has 1 common ancestor, if you go back far enough. ... Just the one.
Now, if I may be so bold as to take a quote from Billy Shakes and modify it, slightly, what if "Life is but a stage and" every living thing is a character, (good or evil, regardless), played by one actor. We might feel compelled to call this actor ... "God." So, in that context, I would go so far as to say that a line really cannot be drawn between the ghost of animal, vegetable, or mineral. They only "share" the one soul. Mind you, I am a Christian, so culturally, I'm not prone to perceive the soul this way, but it could help address some deep, philosophical questions.
Now, if I may be so bold as to take a quote from Billy Shakes and modify it, slightly, what if "Life is but a stage and" every living thing is a character, (good or evil, regardless), played by one actor. We might feel compelled to call this actor ... "God." So, in that context, I would go so far as to say that a line really cannot be drawn between the ghost of animal, vegetable, or mineral. They only "share" the one soul. Mind you, I am a Christian, so culturally, I'm not prone to perceive the soul this way, but it could help address some deep, philosophical questions.
I think we can all "feel" there is something that lies just above, below or beyond our conscious mind. We can feel it influencing us with things that we've imprinted upon it without intending to or knowing we were doing it. But we usually think of this "sub" conscious mind as individual and personal to us as our conscious mind. To consider that there is only one subconscious and when it unconsciously influences us we are being influenced by the same exact thing that influences everyone else and that it is the universal soul that interfaces with every human mind like a radio signal being picked up by a million receivers, it's boggling.