Regarding fear of death...
I do not fear dying, but oblivion. Not the unknown, only oblivion. More scared of losing my conscious thought, my ability to sense the earth and everything in it. When somebody dies, mind and body rot and is no more. All knowledge learned, lost, deeds largely forgotten. Soul? Where and what is that? Not a physical entity; it doesn’t exist, only hypothetically.
Conscious thought requires a functioning brain. One’s brain will react differently to various stimuli; the brain develops and changes over time and experience...we develop consciousness, which refers to an awareness of oneself (hard to define, easy to detect). Consciousness, thoughts and personality can be altered. Drugs, brain damage: these can significantly alter your brain (and hence, consciousness/thought/personality). Mental diseases: Alzheimer’s, dementia, schizophrenia: these destroy not only one’s thinking and life, but the lives of those around them. I think these things are far more scary…anyway…
When one dies, one doesn’t see the light; on the contrary, the light goes out and one won’t be able to see.
Scary thought. We may now see why religion is far more compelling than science. Especially Christianity. Christianity grants people the ultimate hope: eternal life in heaven. And provides the worst consequence for failing to be a believer: eternal damnation in hell. But Christianity goes further than that. You see, the ultimate doctrine in Christianity is love. Love thy mother and father, brothers, sisters and neighbors. Love and hope, hope for eternal life; these are far more compelling than truth; than science, which seeks truth.
Consciousness is a non-physical entity, but it is confined to the brain, so when we die, we lose this. We lose ourselves.
Enjoy life. 🙂
Originally posted by YugaSo you are sure that this non-physical entity ceases to exist once our brain dies?
Regarding fear of death...
Consciousness is a non-physical entity, but it is confined to the brain, so when we die, we lose this. We lose ourselves.
Enjoy life. 🙂
Originally posted by whodeyThey could. Why don't you ask one? All an atheist doesn't believe in is God and karma does not require a God (it's a self-regulating system).
So do atheists believe in Karma? If so, how?
EDIT: Maybe this will help:
In Buddhist teaching, the law of karma, says only this: `for every event that occurs, there will follow another event whose existence was caused by the first, and this second event will be pleasant or unpleasant according as its cause was skillful or unskillful.' A skillful event is one that is not accompanied by craving, resistance or delusions; an unskillful event is one that is accompanied by any one of those things. (Events are not skillful in themselves, but are so called only in virtue of the mental events that occur with them.)
Therefore, the law of Karma teaches that responsibility for unskillful actions is born by the person who commits them.
http://www.ncf.ca/freenet/rootdir/menus/sigs/religion/buddhism/introduction/truths/karma2.html
Originally posted by whodeyWithout a functioning brain, one cannot be conscious. Doubt one could detect consciousness in a dead body, or from anything outside a living cell. I do not consider atoms as conscious, as they are bound to the laws of nature. Although atoms may react in the presence of other atoms and stimuli, atoms alone cannot think. Atoms have no sense of control, as I say, they are bound to the laws of nature.
So you are sure that this non-physical entity ceases to exist once our brain dies?
Consciousness, essentially moral consciousness, has only been detected in living things. And I wouldn't consider computers conscious, or at least, computers do not have moral conscience.
Regarding consciousness, the conscious entity has some control over thought process. Considering control with consciousness makes the concept of consciousness somewhat more confusing to me. 🙂
Losing one’s ability to sense and feel correlates with losing consciousness.
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Originally posted by whodeyMaybe computers are child's play compared to the human brain now, but I doubt they would be in the near future.
Technology? Please do not place your hopes in technology. We cannot so much as cure the common cold, let alone keep someone from dying. Technology is good in that it may help us extend our lives a little bit. However, be careful what you wish for. I have witnessed people who have done so and who have lived to regret it.
I saw your other post about how ...[text shortened]... and even help extend our lives a little bit, however, it cannot and will not ever "save" you.
Computers have been doubling in power every 1 or 2 years, and they've been doing this for something like 30 years now, the growth is exponential, can you even imagine how powerful they would be in another 50 years; it boggles the mind.
Originally posted by Bad wolfSo what is greater? The creator or the created? Machines simply process data faster than we can as well as do manuel labor that we are incapable of doing. If we were not able to process the data to begin with, do you really think a machine we created would be able to what we can't? Never foget that a computer is merely a simple tool in which we use to process data. A program is only as good as its programer. It is a far cry from being mankinds savoir.
Maybe computers are child's play compared to the human brain now, but I doubt they would be in the near future.
Computers have been doubling in power every 1 or 2 years, and they've been doing this for something like 30 years now, the growth is exponential, can you even imagine how powerful they would be in another 50 years; it boggles the mind.
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Originally posted by whodeyWhat is the human brain other than the most complex (though biological) computer on Earth.
So what is greater? The creator or the created? Machines simply process data faster than we can as well as do manuel labor that we are incapable of doing. If we were not able to process the data to begin with, do you really think a machine we created would be able to what we can't? Never foget that a computer is merely a simple tool in which we use to pro ...[text shortened]... data. A program is only as good as its programer. It is a far cry from being mankinds savoir.
Why can't, at some point in the future, minds be transferrable between on a human onto a computer?
Originally posted by Bad wolfIf you or I could answer this I suppose we it would make us on equal footing with our Programer. So what do you suppose the chances of that are?
What is the human brain other than the most complex (though biological) computer on Earth.
Why can't, at some point in the future, minds be transferrable between on a human onto a computer?
Originally posted by whodeyYou brought that caveat into things, unwisely, I feel.
Assuming that God exists, are you saying that he could possibly be on equal footing or even inferior to us who are his creation?
Even if we did transfer our thoughts and emotions onto a bio-electrical system of some type, how would that make us in any way equal to God?
You seem to have jumped to a conclusion from an incomplete set of premises (again).
Originally posted by scottishinnzPerhaps you are right. Even if we were able to transfer our thoughts and emotions onto a bio-electrical system of some type, we would still not be equal to God. However, a computer will never exceed the limitations imposed by its programer. If, for example, God made us intellectually to be able to replicate such emotions and thoughts we then could do so. However, we do not even fully understand what it means to be "conscious" let alone how to replicate it. Therefore, with our apparent built in intellectual shortcomings in this regard it seems highly unlikely, if not impossible, to me that it would ever be possible.
You brought that caveat into things, unwisely, I feel.
Even if we did transfer our thoughts and emotions onto a bio-electrical system of some type, how would that make us in any way equal to God?
You seem to have jumped to a conclusion from an incomplete set of premises (again).