Post by gurthbruins on Dec 1, 2011 7:43:22 GMT
(copy of my post on another forum)
re: Of Soul, Mind, and Matter.
Where do I stand?
1. Soul. A rather nebulous word. In the sense of a bird-like creature dwelling inside us, which contains all our most important essences, all our personal characteristics, our memories, etc, which can survive our death: can fly away and come back another day : no. Nonsense. Let's face it, what you regard as "you" is all contained within the limits of your body. Body and its consciousness are two sides of the same coin: destroy the one and you destroy the other. There is no reincarnation, resurrection, or life after death. The whole point of death (a very clever, if late refinement of the creator) is to remove an obsolete individual and replace him with brand-new offspring. That furthers survival of the species, a favourite stratagem of God/universe.
2. The mind goes on inside the brain and also inside the rest of the body. The organism has a certain unity.
3. We are all parts of a larger organism. The sum total of all organisms is the universe. Like all organisms, it has its own consciousness, which is influenced by the consciousnesses of all its parts. The consciousness of your brain is influenced by the consciousness of your stomach; the consciousness of God/universe is influenced by the consciousness of your brain. We are all parts of God/universe.
4. The universe seems to be very law-abiding. The law of gravity doesn't take a rest on Fridays. The laws are so far-reaching, so inexorable, that there is very little room left for free will: determinists will say none at all. (Have you ever observed an action that could not be full explained as the result of causes?)
5. When did the universe start? Of course, we don't know. I say ages long ago. Minus infinity seconds ago. (or should I say ahead?). We cannot conceive of a past-less universe: the fossils in the rock and the rings in the tree deny that. And for every day we go back in time, we can always go a day further, so the past is infinite. What of the future? Is it also infinite? If you are deterministic, then the future exists already, in its final and only form. (I believe the future does not exist, that every moment the universe is created afresh, by itself, and added to the past. The whole universe has to be recreated every moment in order to extend it into the fourth dimension time.)
re: Of Soul, Mind, and Matter.
Where do I stand?
1. Soul. A rather nebulous word. In the sense of a bird-like creature dwelling inside us, which contains all our most important essences, all our personal characteristics, our memories, etc, which can survive our death: can fly away and come back another day : no. Nonsense. Let's face it, what you regard as "you" is all contained within the limits of your body. Body and its consciousness are two sides of the same coin: destroy the one and you destroy the other. There is no reincarnation, resurrection, or life after death. The whole point of death (a very clever, if late refinement of the creator) is to remove an obsolete individual and replace him with brand-new offspring. That furthers survival of the species, a favourite stratagem of God/universe.
2. The mind goes on inside the brain and also inside the rest of the body. The organism has a certain unity.
3. We are all parts of a larger organism. The sum total of all organisms is the universe. Like all organisms, it has its own consciousness, which is influenced by the consciousnesses of all its parts. The consciousness of your brain is influenced by the consciousness of your stomach; the consciousness of God/universe is influenced by the consciousness of your brain. We are all parts of God/universe.
4. The universe seems to be very law-abiding. The law of gravity doesn't take a rest on Fridays. The laws are so far-reaching, so inexorable, that there is very little room left for free will: determinists will say none at all. (Have you ever observed an action that could not be full explained as the result of causes?)
5. When did the universe start? Of course, we don't know. I say ages long ago. Minus infinity seconds ago. (or should I say ahead?). We cannot conceive of a past-less universe: the fossils in the rock and the rings in the tree deny that. And for every day we go back in time, we can always go a day further, so the past is infinite. What of the future? Is it also infinite? If you are deterministic, then the future exists already, in its final and only form. (I believe the future does not exist, that every moment the universe is created afresh, by itself, and added to the past. The whole universe has to be recreated every moment in order to extend it into the fourth dimension time.)
