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phredgreen · 05-04-2003, 09:32 AM

you need to think about science and the human psyche.

sceintists have mapped the human genome. they know which genes make you tall or short, make you fat or skinny, give you blue, green, brown, or grey eyes. they know how to stop diseases before they start. they can build a "perfect human being" using this intimate knowledge of the building blocks of life.

however.

they don't know more than a pamphlet's worth of shit about the human brain and how it works. sure, they can strap electrodes to your noggin and see which areas give off sparks when you think about your first pet sparky or the loss of your great grandpa or your first romp in the backseat of your mom's nissan, but they don't actually know what's happening and why. the greatest scientific mystery in the world is the human brain.

so where does that leave humankind?

we love to think of ourselves at the masters of our domain. we can travel from the deepest depths of the ocean to the highest heights of the mountains and even beyond into outer space and planets well beyond our reach. we can travel anywhere in the world and know exactly where we are, we can easily produce enough to feed/clothe/shelter/medicate the entire world's population (not that we do, but we certainly have the capacity to as a race, if the logistics were set up properly). we are at the top of the evolutionary food chain, and yet we're still a bunch of kindergarteners making paper dolls when it comes to knowing and controlling the human mind.

so where is this taking us?

we still don't truly <b>know</b> ourselves. we will never truly understand our fullest purpose until we are aware of what those big grey masses of nerves in our heads do to/for us to the fullest extent. perhaps somewhere in that jumble of cells is a person, is memories and thoughts, morals and limits, the whole idea of one's true being. immanuel kant was right... "i think therefore i am" - but until we know why and exactly how one thinks, we're still lightyears off from truly knowing ourselves.

05-04-2003, 09:32 AM	#9 (permalink)
phredgreen who? Location: the phoenix metro	you need to think about science and the human psyche. sceintists have mapped the human genome. they know which genes make you tall or short, make you fat or skinny, give you blue, green, brown, or grey eyes. they know how to stop diseases before they start. they can build a "perfect human being" using this intimate knowledge of the building blocks of life. however. they don't know more than a pamphlet's worth of shit about the human brain and how it works. sure, they can strap electrodes to your noggin and see which areas give off sparks when you think about your first pet sparky or the loss of your great grandpa or your first romp in the backseat of your mom's nissan, but they don't actually know what's happening and why. the greatest scientific mystery in the world is the human brain. so where does that leave humankind? we love to think of ourselves at the masters of our domain. we can travel from the deepest depths of the ocean to the highest heights of the mountains and even beyond into outer space and planets well beyond our reach. we can travel anywhere in the world and know exactly where we are, we can easily produce enough to feed/clothe/shelter/medicate the entire world's population (not that we do, but we certainly have the capacity to as a race, if the logistics were set up properly). we are at the top of the evolutionary food chain, and yet we're still a bunch of kindergarteners making paper dolls when it comes to knowing and controlling the human mind. so where is this taking us? we still don't truly <b>know</b> ourselves. we will never truly understand our fullest purpose until we are aware of what those big grey masses of nerves in our heads do to/for us to the fullest extent. perhaps somewhere in that jumble of cells is a person, is memories and thoughts, morals and limits, the whole idea of one's true being. immanuel kant was right... "i think therefore i am" - but until we know why and exactly how one thinks, we're still lightyears off from truly knowing ourselves. __________________ My country is the world, and my religion is to do good. - Thomas Paine Last edited by phredgreen; 05-04-2003 at 09:34 AM..