Wasn't sure if this should go in the science forum of spirituality forum but here it goes. "We are all one." So I am sure you have either heard or understand that everything, life, non-life, birds, rocks, trees, you, are all made up of the same thing. Not similar things, but the exact same things. So we can understand that, but can we truly appreciate it? As a living organism, it is difficult to perceive yourself as the same as a rock. But you know that you are the same. Despite the understanding of the equality of everything in the universe, we still draw lines of distinction in between life and the environment around life. We attribute special, almost magical qualities to life and cognition. This is a common human trait, to deeply and truly believe in a magical quality concerning anything they do not fully understand. We can see examples of this in everyday life, and throughout history. What I urge you to see, is that we are the same, not just sometimes, but all of the time, right now there is no distinction between you and your computer concerning some arbitrary difference of life vs non-life. To help you better understand my perspective I will give you an example. Lets pretend that there is "something" viewing our reality, our solar system, our planet, etc. Lets now say that this something perceives each individual particle separately, and fully understands the workings of atomic and quantum functions. It can now look at these particles and "see" all the reactions between molecules and atoms occurring. If it sees these things, would it not see that the processes of life are not just chemical reactions? Not just atomic interactions? Would it draw some non-existent line between these complex reactions, and the equally complex reactions occurring around them? Instead, perhaps it would see these processes, this matter moving about in ways that human physical science can not predict, these life processes, such as a human walking across the street, as the end result of a long, long chain of atomic interaction that has just inevitably led to this point? I propose that all is predetermined, not predetermined by some god or deity or any intelligent being, but predetermined in the way that water reacting with oxygen and iron will produce rust. It would throw the idea of "free will" out the window, if we came to understand that each thought we had, each movement we made, was only the cause of a chemical reaction in our brains, which is but the effect of stimulus from the environment. Because the universe like to play by the rules, all of these effects and reactions could be understood and predicted theoretically. The uncertainty principle comes into play here, but perhaps that is merely a human contrivance, not an absolute. There are no distinctions, merely a continuum of quantum, atomic, molecular, cellular, biological, conscious functions. "We are all one." Please think about these things in your own way, thank you for reading. -Marley
This sums up a large part of my philosophy on life. But it does leave out consciousness. I see the complexities, the atoms, the chemical reactions in our brains, all things physical, merely a mechanism that consciousness chooses to use to express itself in a compatible way within this reality construct.
I agree, we give ourselves too much credit merely for breathing and maintaining a body temperature of about 37 degrees... From the Earth we came and to it we shall return -.- "If everything that's alive is going to die, and everything that's ever lived is dead where does the whole life being sacred part come into play?" -George Carlin
Yes not a bad way of looking at it, although I do caution against attributing magical qualities to the unknown, but really what we perceive of reality and even our conscience may be an illusion. I'm glad you share a similar understanding.
Why pretend? We are that "something." The illusory pattern is what the chemical reactions create... awareness.
I agree with a lot of your post, except for the part ......"It would throw the idea of "free will" out the window, if we came to understand that each thought we had, each movement we made, was only the cause of a chemical reaction in our brains, which is but the effect of stimulus from the environment." If we understand this, and take it into account in our thought proccesses and actions, is that not free will? By understanding your above quote, we as thinkers can understand how our own minds work. And once we do that, well, aren't we the ones in control? Please, if you disagree please say so, because this is what i base a lot of my philosophy on, and i want people to challenge it so that i can improve it. In other words, seek the truth. It's what i think everybody should do.
Well, as Perpetual Burn said, we are the sentient entity that is at the end of of this long line of interactions. I have this view of the universe as a never ending, churning of information into increasingly complex forms and our own "consciousness" is just a point on this never ending continuum of information processing and sorting. Do to the fact that everything is in fact the same, our perception of reality is not "us" viewing "it" from some tiny room behind our eyes, but the distillation of information into increasingly complex forms. If I revert back to my all knowing being analogy, understanding the interactions of particles to the fullest extent that they can be understood, and knowing the exact location and direction of these particles would offer the observer the exact ability to predict everything, every location of every particle of matter. If you could know that, considering brain function is entirely physical, even every thought could be predicted, even though the idea of a "thought" is only novel to us, it would appear as just another chemical reaction taking place. The only flaw in this ideology would be if true, unpredictable randomness exists.