Souls? But...as I see it...

[The11thDr.]

The body is just made of matter and energy isnt it? Unless there is something else that it is made of that isn't energy or matter then what is it?

Ok So I must be seeing life in a rather cold way i suppose but to me it just seems to be...

Biology
chemistry
Physics
...
Thats it, thats what makes us run? (to be honest i cant say for certain, i kind of cringed while watching "watchmen" and Dr. Manhatten explaining that a dead human being is configured the same as a living one. but...if they are a same then whats the difference! Didn't explain that did he?)

Ive also been told that there is a distinction between a "soul" and a "spirit", can that be cleared up for me? I would really want to know what that was.

[RickD]

11thDr., Can you tell me where the human thought process begins?

[The11thDr.]

In the brain I would assume, but I know where. In the brain and across the body.

Theres certainly some current involved, I would even hazerd a guess and say that our brains are quantem computers(the supposedly superpowerful kind of theoretical computer)

Of course I cant exactly see it all happening, so I dont really know what goes on in there do i? Just make a assumption and if that is wrong then you learn something.

[Kurieuo]

If everything about us is reducible to what is physical, can you explain in purely physical terms mental phenomena like qualia, or intentionality (our intention to do something like go to the shop tomorrow)?

Hopefully this is not putting you on the spot, but I'd be interested to know what philosophical position you align yourself with which you feel adequately answers the mind-body problem?

[The11thDr.]

Well I wouldn't exactly say reducible, parodoxically humans are simple if you think about it, but to the smaller and smaller scale the more complex it gets, only now are we making microprocessors at the 32nm scale(almost nanoscale but not quite) But Something really small has been putting living organism's together for thousands of years(DNA!)

Really if you think about the trend for storage its getting smaller all the time,

CD=700mb=1980s
DVD=4.7gb=1995
BD=25gb-2008(won format war making HD-dvd players worthless)-Surival of the fittest?
HVD=10tb-2020(theoretical holographic disc)

Anyway the way i see it there is probably, idk 10MB of dna in our cells, and we got trillions of cells of course, so that is kind of incredible biology and stretches belief a bit.

[Kurieuo]

I don't know if you were intending to be funny... but I really don't know how the discussion lended itself towards disk space.

[The11thDr.]

well we got a lot of disk space, sort of. its all ROM though.

But is that the soul, or is the information inside just matter and energy?

[B. W.]

well we got a lot of disk space, sort of. its all ROM though.

But is that the soul, or is the information inside just matter and energy?

What do you think it is?
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[The11thDr.]

Well I think that the information in our body makes us sort of immortal, our knowledge and our genes. Cant you call that a soul?

Dna doesn't just represent a code(genetic code?) or symbolise it, it actually IS one isn't it? The connections in our brains are unique arent they? So that must count for something too.

[Gman]

Well I think that the information in our body makes us sort of immortal, our knowledge and our genes. Cant you call that a soul?

Dna doesn't just represent a code(genetic code?) or symbolise it, it actually IS one isn't it? The connections in our brains are unique arent they? So that must count for something too.

Or our consciousness.. However if one was to look at the brain, how would one conclude that there was consciousness? If you looked at a chemical process in the brain could you find what someone said that day or a book that they might have read? So far no one really has a definitive answer, its a mystery.. Actually, you could say it is water since that is really what most of our brain is composed of and some electricity.

[The11thDr.]

You would shove electrodes into it and feed it nutrients, brains have been kept alive out of bodies in experiments. It is grim but they can detect activity, Probably not exactly conscious but they could send the brain signels and get a change.

[Gman]

You would shove electrodes into it and feed it nutrients, brains have been kept alive out of bodies in experiments. It is grim but they can detect activity, Probably not exactly conscious but they could send the brain signels and get a change.

True.. It doesn't mean that we don't know anything about it, there maybe locations in the brain that are identified but can the natural world be explained and understood only in natural terms? If so, then we must have some indication that it is possible.

[The11thDr.]

Yes the natural world can only be explained of in natural terms if that is all there is, but if that is not all there is then perhaps we can find something that implies unnatural or artificial events and stories. If there are things that go beyond nature then...

If so, we need some indication that it is possible

[Gman]

Yes the natural world can only be explained of in natural terms if that is all there is, but if that is not all there is then perhaps we can find something that implies unnatural or artificial events and stories. If there are things that go beyond nature then...

If so, we need some indication that it is possible

Like consciousness?

[Kurieuo]

You would shove electrodes into it and feed it nutrients, brains have been kept alive out of bodies in experiments. It is grim but they can detect activity, Probably not exactly conscious but they could send the brain signels and get a change.

You can detect signals too in computers/robots, however this by no means evidences consciousness or their feeling of phenominal qualia. That said, the questions in my first post here still remain open to be answered. I'd be interested to know what you believe on such matters.