Self

[T3l Ca7]

An atom can not think by itself, a cell does not have thoughts, they merely react to stimuli. How does the assembly of those have something quite different: a soul, a ghost however you want put it that's capable of not merely reacting to things but also proactively acting on desires and wants?

[H.M.S. Stargazer]

Well, allegedly, souls/ghosts are neither atom filled nor are they living (as we view life).


So the fact they work independently in normal situations, should hardly be a surprise.

[Jerome Scuggs]

An atom can not think by itself, a cell does not have thoughts, they merely react to stimuli. How does the assembly of those have something quite different: a soul, a ghost however you want put it that's capable of not merely reacting to things but also proactively acting on desires and wants?

Check out "I am a Strange Loop" by Douglas Hofstadter. He tackles this very question, in the best way I've ever seen it done.

What do we mean when we say "I"? Can thought arise out of matter? Can a self, a soul, a consciousness, an "I" arise out of mere matter? If it cannot, then how can you or I be here? I Am a Strange Loop argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the "strange loop"--a special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains. Deep down, a human brain is a chaotic seething soup of particles, on a higher level it is a jungle of neurons, and on a yet higher level it is a network of abstractions that we call "symbols." The most central and complex symbol in your brain or mine is the one we both call "I." The "I" is the nexus in our brain where the levels feed back into each other and flip causality upside down, with symbols seeming to have free will and to have gained the paradoxical ability to push particles around, rather than the reverse. For each human being, this "I" seems to be the realest thing in the world. But how can such a mysterious abstraction be real--or is our "I" merely a convenient fiction? Does an "I" exert genuine power over the particles in our brain, or is it helplessly pushed around by the all-powerful laws of physics? These are the mysteries tackled in I Am a Strange Loop, Douglas R. Hofstadter's first book-length journey into philosophy since Godel, Escher, Bach. Compulsively readable and endlessly thought-provoking, this is the book Hofstadter's many readers have long been waiting for.

[Xog]

she's worse than me

[T3l Ca7]

Random thoughts

Since I have already started a topic, I see little point to start another thread.

Now on the topic of religion, I came across such a statement:

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction." - Blaise Pascal

If we speak religion on a broad term and include in it such things as private convictions such as the believing communism is better than capitalism (although the reality proves otherwise), then really it is one of the most valuable advise to the society.

[Jedi DC]

telcat, leave intellectual matters to the intellectuals

[the_paul]

If we speak religion on a broad term and include in it such things as private convictions such as the believing communism is better than capitalism (although the reality proves otherwise), then really it is one of the most valuable advise to the society.

I keep reading this and reading this and I get stupider and stupider everytime I do. Wtf are you trying to say?

[Squeezer]

edit: nvm, re-read the question.

The simple answer Telcat, is that the church doesn't actually value the ideology handed down to them more than they do the capital they've accumulated. You gotta have money to make money in the modern world.

[paradise!]

I do not understand your question. You go from atoms reacting to stimuli to ghosts. Are these 2 separate questions?

????

[PaulOakenfold]

note: pushup bra does not work on brain

[Kontrolz]

Telcat, how can I use you to get onto irc?

[Fit of Rage]

Obligatory inside-joke lol.

[roxxkatt]

Someone help me, i think my atoms are haunted.

Call ghostbusters plz

[roxxkatt]

also, xmas

[Soup du Jour]

I think you're better off reading books than trying to promote (I think?) metaphysical discussions here, especially when your questions (I think?) are borderline incomprehensible.

Are you the community channel girl?


On a separate note, THANK GOD cheese is back. I think I speak for everyone when I say we missed random fonts, sizes and colours.