Ancient Domains Of Mystery, forum overview / General / The human mind
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Iridia Moderator on this forum YASD Last page view: 3966 days, 14 hours, 32 minutes and 52 seconds ago. |
A lot of people believe that life has no *intrinsic* value-- but you can make your own meaning. I don't believe that, but some do-- it's about the most optimistic you can get if you don't believe in an afterlife. Die Gedanken sind Frei |
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Stone Giant Registered user the Traveler Last page view: 8295 days, 9 hours, 42 minutes and 17 seconds ago. |
Unregistered user, like Iridia said you can make your own meaning. I used to be depressed because I was bullied at school and I felt like a low life wimp for most of my childhood. But that gave motivation to exercise and become more physical. Now I'm quite athletic I'm trying to develop my mind more so I'm nicely balanced. A good way to keep you from feeling like you have no meaning is accounting for all your weaknesses and then use your determination to overcome all of them. Developing willpower to do this is very hard though but once you have it, seemingly impossible obstacles can be overcome with persistance. My goal in life is now to seek my true potential and if I fail then at least I gave it my best shot. I find my weaknesses are my lack of creativity, concentration, confidence, organisation and resistance to peer pressure. Second thoughts, not existing would maybe be better than being in hell. In hell you'd have to stay there forever right? Not existing might be only tempory before your recarnated. |
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Iridia Moderator on this forum YASD Last page view: 3966 days, 14 hours, 32 minutes and 52 seconds ago. |
Not criticizing or anything, but isn't it kind of risky to stake your life's meaning on something that, like you said, can fail? I mean, you could crash your car and mess up your mind and your body, and where would your meaning be then? It seems kind of shaky to me... but the I believe in more than just scientific absolutes. Die Gedanken sind Frei |
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fgn Registered user Last page view: 8283 days, 7 hours, 40 minutes and 36 seconds ago. |
Stone Giant/ Reffering to the last paragraph of your post: "Not existing might be only tempory before your recarnated" - What's then if somebody doesn't believe in recarnation? You can't compare being in hell and no existing - being in hell is a punishment for "bad" living on the Earth. And no existing... hm... you can't say also what's worse, because nobody can say how it feels if you don't exist. "wlazł kotek na płotek spadł na pysk złamał se dwa żebra wypadł mu dysk" |
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Gyr Returned Unregistered user |
Actually, the basic machinery of the brain IS fairly well understood. It even uses well known and established means. Sorry, Jacknife, it does NOT use quarks (at least in some special capacity. Insofar as all atomic interactions are theorized to use quarks, I suppose you could say it does) The brain is composed of a network of cells, also known as 'neurons'. These cells have the ability to communicate with one another by means of electrical pulses. There isn't an actual electron flow (as there is in the metallic wires of your computer), but there is a change in electrical charge called an 'action potential' (caused by charged particles, ions, flowing back and forth across the cell membranes). The problem with understanding it is manifold, however. First of all, the neural networks of the brain are not simple binary switches like you'd find in a computer. There are many synapses (connections between individual neurons; you basically only find three at each switch in your computer's CPU) and they do not fire in an easily predictable manner. Moreover, the human brain is composed of about 80,000 neurons per cubic centimeter of volume. With our current technology it is utterly impossible to map, let alone comprehend the effects of such a network. It are THESE drawbacks which keeps us from understanding how conciousness works. Given something of that magnitude, how can you say that it is unlikely that the brain IS the mind? I am not trying to step on anyone's beliefs here, but I strongly suspect that very few people who actually study neuroscience to any reasonable extent believe in an afterlife. PS: And, if you believe in reincarnation or some such, is this any worse than realizing that at some future time you will be a completely different being without any memory of who you now are? |
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Iridia Moderator on this forum YASD Last page view: 3966 days, 14 hours, 32 minutes and 52 seconds ago. |
Good points, but how can you KNOW the brain is the mind? There's nothing that says there isn't a "soul" or "spirit" that exists separate from the mind and uses it like we use a computer. We may eventually find out how the brain works, but, who knows? we may discover that the essence of what makes us human can't be found in anything physical. As a side note, many neurologists believe that there is something more than the brain. One that I've heard of is Dr. Ben Carson, a black neurosurgeon who successfully separated siamese twins joined at the head. (I had to read his autobiography for a book report in high school.)0 Die Gedanken sind Frei |
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Gyr Returned Unregistered user |
Hmm, what (more or less) is your concept of a soul'? What is your concept of 'mind'? As I believe was noted above, there are many cases where individuals who have suffered brain injuries have displayed (sometimes drastic) personality and memory changes. Is personality related to this concept of 'soul'? The matter and energy inherent in any organism ARE likely to end up as part of other organisms after the original's death (organic matter filtering through the food chain). This doesn't have anything to do with identity. Is this different from a 'soul'? It is philosophically impossible to disprove something, but to the best of my knowledge, there is about as much evidence of a -mechanism- for the transfer of some other form of 'soul' as there is for the existence of fire breathing sea-serpents living in the depths of the ocean, or the existence of creatures made purely out of ice living in Antartica. I've never heard of the person in your side note, so I'm on thin ground discussing this, but... First off, there are accredited historians who believe that World War II never happened. This isn't exactly a commonly held belief, however. If you feel that my postscript is erroneous, however, try going to a local university and/or hospital, finding the respective neurologists and ASKING them about their beliefs. I don't think there are many at my own university, but I'll try the same and get back to you. |
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Iridia Moderator on this forum YASD Last page view: 3966 days, 14 hours, 32 minutes and 52 seconds ago. |
The concept of a "soul" as separate from "spirit" (personality, mind, will, emotions) has existed for centuries--basically, the soul is the part of a person that has an awareness of and can connect with God. That is what sets us apart from animals--not that we're self-aware, or use language or tools, but that we can connect with God. Die Gedanken sind Frei |
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Gyr Returned Unregistered user |
I'm afraid I use the terms interchangably. What I was really trying to find out, though, are the characteristics of a normal person you ascribe to being part of the brain and those you ascribe to being part of the soul/spirit/mind/whatever. More specifically, -IF- you assume that a soul or spirit uses the brain as a computer, what aspects of a normal, complete human being are part of the brain, and which are part of the soul/spirit/mind/whatever? I wonder if, being an Atheist, I'm soulless :-) [Edited 1 time, last edit on 1/29/2002 at 22:45 (GMT -5) by its autor] |
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Iridia Moderator on this forum YASD Last page view: 3966 days, 14 hours, 32 minutes and 52 seconds ago. |
okay... a week ago I was asking my philosophy prof the same question--what's soul and what's spirit? A lot of people seem to confuse the terms. Basically, anything physical is based on your spirit; anythin non-physical is based on your soul. Like your emotions would be part of your spirit, capable of being influenced directly by organic things like depression or a blow to the head. On the other hand, people wondering about life after death, believing in God, or other such things, is part of the soul, which is non-physical and deals with the non-physical. The two are interconnected so that if your brain is injured, you may not be able to think too well about whether or not you're going to Heaven, but the soul will still exist, just unable to make itself heard-- like you trying to type out a term paper with a crashed computer. I don't really understand it too well myself; and as a lot of people lump soul and spirit into one, which isn't really a huge difference from what I think, because as I said they are closely related. According to this reasoning, BTW, it is actually your soul that has decided that you don't want to believe in God. Your believing or not, of course, has no bearing on whether or not He actually exists! Weird, no? Die Gedanken sind Frei |
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brothaforest Unregistered user |
Do you people believe in telekinesis? Could it be possible to harness powers of the mind by using hypnotism, like a posthypnotic suggestion or sumthing. Haven't found anything about the subject in the net, found some sick shit tho - trepanation, the drillin of skull... really sick puppies in the world :)- |
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Iridia Moderator on this forum YASD Last page view: 3966 days, 14 hours, 32 minutes and 52 seconds ago. |
If you want to go the scientific route, yes, I think it's possible. Note I said "possible"--doesn't mean it occurs. Ever looked into four-dimensional geometry any? If a person had access to the fourth dimension, they could do some pretty weird stuff, including telepathy, telekinesis, and clairvoyance. I got my introduction to 4-D geometry when I was 12, by reading an ancient book stuffed with political satire (not the best way...) called "Flatland". In story fashion (which is why a 12-year-old would tolerate it), it tells about a world in which there are only two dimensions. Extrapolate what a three-dimensional creature could do to a world with two dimensions into our world, and you have a lot of paranormal activity. Let's say someone with psychic powers has some sort of an "appendage" that stretches into the fourth (spatial, not temporal) dimension. This person could reach into a closed room and get something out of it, send a message "through" a solid wall, or "look" at distant events. Depending on the nature of the hypothetical fourth dimension, this person's powers might or might not have a range. Then of course there is always the hypothesis that there are four-dimensional creatures (good, evil, or neutral) that humans may be able to communicate with, who could do these things for a human (though why anyone would want to spend their lives bending spoons from the fourth dimension is really beyond me.) Well, enough prattling; the answer to your question is both yes and no--I believe that it's possible, but it doesn't necessarily happen. Die Gedanken sind Frei |
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Jan Erik Administrator Last page view: 9 days, 4 hours, 3 minutes and 52 seconds ago. |
But if the soul is seperate from our personality, mind, will and emotions then just what is left for the soul? Or does the personality we have in life "transfer" to the soul when we die? Would we even remember anything from beeng alive? Storing memories is part of what the brain is doing after all... Seems to me like the person we are will pretty much end with the death of the body however you look at it... Jan Erik Mydland HoF admin |
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Vallak Registered user The Nightmare Elf Last page view: 8280 days, 20 hours, 28 minutes and 3 seconds ago. |
As someone who believes in reincarnation, I'm Buddhist, then I have to say that the fact that I won't remember who I was means absolutly nothing to me. Nothing really does, besides preparing ones self for the next life. Life, and everything within it, is a never-ending circle. There are a Heaven and Hell, but nothing you can do on Earth during your time here are worthy of an eternity in either. It's only a temporary stay, just like life on Earth, until the next phase. This process serves to cleanse your 'soul' to the point of achieving enlightenment, or oneness with the universe. "But then I sigh, and with a piece of scripture, Tell them that God bids us do good for evil. And thus I clothe my naked villainy With odd old ends stolen forth of holy writ, And seem I a saint, when most I play the Devil." -William Shakespeare, King Richard III |
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Sengoku Registered user Last page view: 8141 days, 17 minutes and 44 seconds ago. |
Vallak, what is enlightenment? I'm fascinated with Buddism and I believe it's the way for everyone. I believe the the mind connects with the soul too. Here's a random belief that I played with for a while that I want you people to know just to see what you think. Exposure to an environment can allow information to be passed into the mind through the interface of the body, senses and the brain. When the brain has experiences and evolves to understand how the environment works better the mind starts to develop it's own style of manipulating and interacting with the environment which is different for each person. When we die the mind energy is passed onto the soul and the soul ascends onto a higher plane of a universal energy. This energy is a collection of all information gathered through passed lives. The universal energy - I will call the Force, is within us all and can be refered to by deep meditation, when humans have evolved thier minds more they'll be able to connect themselves more easily to the Force and use it to gain knowledge and stuff. |
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Sengoku Registered user Last page view: 8141 days, 17 minutes and 44 seconds ago. |
Read this too, this is from the Buddha thoughts of the moment: "In spiritual life there is no room for compromise. Awakening is not negotiable; we cannot bargain to hold on to things that please us while relinquishing things that do not matter to us. A lukewarm yearning for awakening is not enough to sustain us through the difficulties involved in letting go. It is important to understand that anything that can be lost was never truly ours, anything that we deeply cling to only imprisons us." |
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