What happens when we die

Originally posted by Scriabin
I suggest you read up on this.

The brain is a colloid in which how many synapses may take place? How many neural connections are possible?

How is the brain at all comparable to a magnetic disk, an updated version of a phonograph record?

You did not ask me whether the brain was similar to a hard disk, you asked me whether they stored information in the same way. The brain is not just a storage device, it is also a highly advance computer. But its storage elements are really not that much different from a hard disk.

Originally posted by Scriabin
but the brain has the capacity to rewire itself. We don't know the extent of that.

We can rewire the brain, ourselves, it appears. Tibetan monks who meditated regularly for many years had their brains mapped to see what their discipline enable them to do that ordinary, untrained people cannot do. It appears that the monks had voluntary control over bra ...[text shortened]... unwarranted conclusions or making analogies that go beyond what the empirical data supports.

The monks are aware of the fact that they are not their thoughts and they use their mind the way you use your car;

Nothing Holy😵

Originally posted by twhitehead
You did not ask me whether the brain was similar to a hard disk, you asked me whether they stored information in the same way. The brain is not just a storage device, it is also a highly advance computer. But its storage elements are really not that much different from a hard disk.

when you "erase" a file on a hard disk, you have not reordered the magnetic particles, only removed the index reference in the FAT areas of the disk that led to that data. You therefore can recover that data using off the shelf software. You have to use other software to locate that data and either overwrite it or remove it from the disk to take it out of storage.

The brain does not work that way at all.

but lets' start with the first point: do you know what a colloid is? do you know what hard disks are made from? care to tell me how they are similar?

Originally posted by black beetle
The monks are aware of the fact that they are not their thoughts and they use their mind the way you use your car;

Nothing Holy😵

who said anything about holiness? I'm talking about brain function. Some Buddhists practice their disciplines within the context of rituals that have over centuries become a religion. Buddhism differs considerably from theistic religions. Can you tell me why?

Originally posted by Scriabin
who said anything about holiness? I'm talking about brain function. Some Buddhists practice their disciplines within the context of rituals that have over centuries become a religion. Buddhism differs considerably from theistic religions. Can you tell me why?

There are differ Buddhist systems, some theist and some not, some requiring worshipinig of a supernatural existence and some not. Also, a Buddhist can be Christian, Muslim etc if s/he feels up to it.

Zen Buddhism is different because it focus at the understanding of the nature of the mind😵

Originally posted by Scriabin
when you "erase" a file on a hard disk, you have not reordered the magnetic particles, only removed the index reference in the FAT areas of the disk that led to that data. You therefore can recover that data using off the shelf software. You have to use other software to locate that data and either overwrite it or remove it from the disk to take it out of storage.

The brain does not work that way at all.

I really don't see why it matters how they work specifically. The truth is that they are both information storage mechanisms and both can be erased or destroyed and the end result is permanent loss of the stored information. (Yes I know that you need to overwrite hard disk data multiple times in order to remove all traces of it.)

I still maintain that the question:
"Does your memory still exist after death?", should be no harder to answer than the question "Does your last years worth of work that you forgot to back up and has now been destroyed by a virus still exist?"

Originally posted by black beetle
There are differ Buddhist systems, some theist and some not, some requiring worshipinig of a supernatural existence and some not. Also, a Buddhist can be Christian, Muslim etc if s/he feels up to it.

Zen Buddhism is different because it focus at the understanding of the nature of the mind😵

I do not know any Buddhists who are theistic. What are they called?

I am training in Vipassana meditation, which is decidedy non-theistic. That discipline arrises from South Asian Buddhism. In the South and East Asian cultures in which Buddhism developed, the distinction between philosophy and religion did not exist. As such, the Western need to classify Buddhism as one or the other is somewhat spurious and may be a mere semantic problem.

Spinoza argued for the existence of a permanent reality but said that all phenomenal existence is transitory. In his opinion sorrow is conquered "by finding an object of knowledge which is not transient, not ephemeral, but is immutable, permanent, everlasting." Buddhism teaches that such a quest is bound to fail.

Hume concluded that consciousness consists of fleeting mental states. Hume's Bundle theory is a very similar concept to the Buddhist skandhas, though his denial of causation lead him to opposite conclusions in other areas.

Schopenhauer's philosophy had some parallels in Buddhism.

Wittgenstein's "word games" map closely to the warning of intellectual speculation as a red herring to understanding, such as the Parable of the Poison Arrow.

Nietzsche dismissed Buddhism as nihilism, but his philosophy of accepting life-as-it-exists and self-cultivation is quite similar to Buddhism -- he merely misunderstood Buddhism.

Heidegger's ideas on Being and nothingness have been held by some to be similar to Buddhism today.

Originally posted by twhitehead
I really don't see why it matters how they work specifically. The truth is that they are both information storage mechanisms and both can be erased or destroyed and the end result is permanent loss of the stored information. (Yes I know that you need to overwrite hard disk data multiple times in order to remove all traces of it.)

I still maintain that ...[text shortened]... orth of work that you forgot to back up and has now been destroyed by a virus still exist?"

you have a habit of not seeing what you don't want to see and insisting on maintaining an immaterial point. We see that.

your thought process needs the equivalent of an oil change.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
It seems like you and me are the only ones in agreement here my friend, a 'soul', being a living breathing animated being, inclusive of both humans and animals, thus when God breathed life into Adam he became a living breathing entity, not that he was given a soul, but that he became a living 'soul', or animated creature. That the 'soul', or person ...[text shortened]... ated in scripture

(Ezekiel 18:4) . . .The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.. . .

LOL...I like how you twist the scriptures to fit your beliefs. If it wasn't blasphemous, it would be funny.

Originally posted by dystoniac
LOL...I like how you twist the scriptures to fit your beliefs. If it wasn't blasphemous, it would be funny.

According to an ancient compilation of things the Buddha is supposed to have said is this, which I quote for the sake of irony:

"Do not accept anything by mere tradition ... Do not accept anything just because it accords with your scriptures ... Do not accept anything merely because it agrees with your pre-conceived notions ... But when you know for yourselves – these things are moral, these things are blameless, these things are praised by the wise, these things, when performed and undertaken, conduce to well-being and happiness – then do you live acting accordingly."

According to the Samyutta Nikaya, one of the "three baskets" that make up the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism, says the noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path – right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.

It is a philosophy of ethics, not faith. Since the time of the Buddha, the refutation of the existence of a creator has been seen as a key point in distinguishing Buddhist from non-Buddhist views.

Buddhism is usually considered a religion, but is also commonly described as a "spiritual philosophy", because it generally lacks an Absolute creator god.

The Buddhist approach is clinical and systematic. In the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha analyzed the problem of suffering, diagnosed its root cause and prescribed a method to dispel suffering. He taught that through insight into the nature of existence and the wisdom of "not-self" or "selflessness" (anatta)
all sentient beings following the noble eightfold path can dispel ignorance and thereby suffering.

Hence Buddhism does not hinge upon the concept of a Creator God but upon the personal practice of ethics, meditation, and wisdom

Originally posted by black beetle
There are differ Buddhist systems, some theist and some not, some requiring worshipinig of a supernatural existence and some not. Also, a Buddhist can be Christian, Muslim etc if s/he feels up to it.

Zen Buddhism is different because it focus at the understanding of the nature of the mind😵

Although Buddhism has a vast number of scriptures and practices, the fundamental core of Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, are distinguished in the world of religion for not having any mention of God(s) or any notion of worship of any deity. They are purely ethical and meditative guidelines based on the truths of psychological suffering due to impermanence.

Since the time of the the Buddha, the refutation of the existence of a creator has been seen as a key point in distinguishing Buddhist from non-Buddhist views.

Originally posted by Scriabin
Although Buddhism has a vast number of scriptures and practices, the fundamental core of Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, are distinguished in the world of religion for not having any mention of God(s) or any notion of worship of any deity. They are purely ethical and meditative guidelines based on the truths of psychological su ...[text shortened]... ce of a creator has been seen as a key point in distinguishing Buddhist from non-Buddhist views.

All these thoughts are not yours.

Is there any thought in your mind that is genuinely Yours?
😵

Originally posted by Scriabin
According to an ancient compilation of things the Buddha is supposed to have said is this, which I quote for the sake of irony:

"Do not accept anything by mere tradition ... Do not accept anything just because it accords with your scriptures ... Do not accept anything merely because it agrees with your pre-conceived notions ... But when you know for your ...[text shortened]... cept of a Creator God but upon the personal practice of ethics, meditation, and wisdom

It seems to me that you have the delusion that you are what you think😵

Originally posted by Scriabin
you have a habit of not seeing what you don't want to see and insisting on maintaining an immaterial point. We see that.

your thought process needs the equivalent of an oil change.

What am I failing to see?
As I understand it, I gave an analogy and you claimed it was a bad analogy because it was not identical to the original. But what use is an analogy if it identical? All that matters is that the issue I am trying to bring attention to is identical or at least very similar. Whether or not the brain has tracks, sectors, bits and bytes is quite irrelevant to whether or not my analogy is reasonable.

So why is my point immaterial?

Originally posted by Scriabin
Although Buddhism has a vast number of scriptures and practices, the fundamental core of Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, are distinguished in the world of religion for not having any mention of God(s) or any notion of worship of any deity. They are purely ethical and meditative guidelines based on the truths of psychological su ...[text shortened]... ce of a creator has been seen as a key point in distinguishing Buddhist from non-Buddhist views.

The words of Buddha are correct; and they are related to the evaluation of the mind.

One thinks according to the level of his understanding😵