That which is us

If you have no legs you cannot walk
Your brain is no less physical. We do understand that thinking occurs in the brain. Alter or impare the brain both chemically or physically and it is a no "brainer" that the driver will also be impared. Obviously so will our perception of them be limited to the limitation placed upon them.I will continue to hold the view that the world is not flat.

What do you regard, specifically, as a definition of existence?What is, to you, the meaning of non-existence?This message has been edited by U can call me Cookie, 02-22-2006 09:25 AM

---

"The good Christian should beware the mathematician and all those who make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of hell." - St. Augustine

I've read Damasio. He is a favorite of mine and I've recommended him on this forum from time to time. I'll look into Churchland. Thanks for the tip.btw Where and What is Cymru? just curious.The eastern introspective investigations make a distinction between mind as content and what translates from the Tibetan as "primordial awareness". It's this fundamental quality that is the great mystery to me, the fifth mystery after matter, energy, space, and time.Trying to sort out if it's emergent or another fundamental property or an aspect of one or all of the first four. What with over population and global warming and all I don't look forward to the future except to wonder if there will be break throughs in this area. I don't think I'll be alive for it so I personally focus on the reports of the sages but it will be interesting science if humanity survives it's own greed and short sightedness.lfen

I don't know if there were influences or not but in India as well as the West the notion of a soul arose. I suspect dreams of the departed was one source of this idea.The notion of a soul was an important feature of most religions. One of the most impressive things to me about the teachings of the Buddha was that his introspective examination of his consciousness led him to flatly deny there was any permanent self. He also had insights into concepts and language that didn't seem to be developed in the west until quite recently. Although Heraclitus' statement that you can't step in the same river twice indicates some thought about this.The idea of "dependent origination" in Buddhism makes the point that there are no separate things, which I think is really saying there are no things, no entities at all.The old riddle folk song "How can there be a cherry without a stone? A cherry when it's blooming hath no stone, a chicken in the egg hath no bone." Well, at least in the beginning it has no bone. And Whorf's studies of the Hopi language point are further along this route. Things are concepts that are created by our language. As you were writing about earlier we focus on aspects that are of current interest. This leads us to think about lungs separate from atmosphere.A lung would be useless without the totality in which it functions internally in an organism and externally in the environment. And so on.Anyway, I'm tired and my brain is not functioning at it's best but I'm looking at how our language leads us to a skewed if not illusionary way of looking at the world.lfen

Firstly...glad to meet to...well in a virtual, sense which is kinda humorous to me anyway considering the nature of the topic. This is my first experience in a forum of this nature. And this is my first attempt at a forum topic in this format.2nd. I am learning about this sight, it's structure and how people react in it.3rd. I am learning about myself and my abiity in this forum context. One I am truly unfamiliar with.4th. I happened to pick a subject matter that though interests me greatly, is not so easily contrived, well for me anyway. The fact is that I am seeing what my purpose is as I interact. Shortly into the forum I saw that I had to retract part of my initial statements to avoid the topic turning into a mess with completely religious implications. That turns to many circles..I have seen it in the short time I have been here even in this moderated format.
I have learned some valuable things from those in the forum so far.
Gastalt theory...never heard of it before. Thanks to maltonin I now have a basic understanding.5th I am exploring my main question for myself and seeing how others view it in a context of science but know that there is a paradox there that is worth exploring.Haven't you ever had a number of thoughts about a basic idea that in truth all interact and know that the direction you head in may lead you somewhere totally unexpected?And ...this idea or form of an idea that I arrived at while here, is, I believe, worth something:In a forum discussing light I came to the idea that light is evidence of a wave passing through a medium. Then while under this discussion topic
The will/self/soul/power if intent. In terms of science I will use power of intent...which implies energy, and I do believe it is. Evidence of it is all over earth. So, I thought... A series of physical causal events we identify as people is evidence of the power of intent passing through the physical medium of thier body and reacting with the rest of the physical environment.You may not share this view but I have never heard anyone look at it from quite that perspective and believe it allows us to look at a difficult situation for science to deal with in perhaps a new light.
It may be useful. Personally I think it's really cool and doubt that I ever would have arrived there without being here at this sight.

Cymru is the land of Wales, part of the UK. So it's welsh for Wales.Paul and Patricia Churchland are proponents of eliminative materialism and focus on neurophilosophy. It's quite interesting - beliefs and desires have no distinct neural basis and are comparable to phlogiston, consciousness is an epiphenomenom of neural function etc.This message has been edited by melatonin, 02-22-2006 11:36 AM

I can see that for me to function on this sight will be very challenging. My mind does not work quite the same as many I see here. I am not nearly as structured. I have many thoughts under the loose constructs of the forum I have opened. More than I can pursue within reason under this format. It is easy to see that though I have a basic context there are too many paths to walk down.
I play the drums but do not read music. I do play quite well though and enjoy improvising. I arrive at very intersting things this way.
This process will not work well here though. But I do wish to explore and share things of interest.

2ice_baked_taters Let us attempt to do so. First off I would like to know to whom you are asking this and what would constitute proof satifactory to you that I indeed do exist?