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09-27-2004, 01:05 PM

Averages are funny things - a standard deviation from the average normally allows for 34% of the population either-side of the median figure. I can't think how I'd measure the standard deviation of a group of 1's and 0's but will leave this part of the conversation alone now in deference to the more interesting part...

I've been trying to work this one out for the last week. It's been so long since I properly exercised my brain, but after reading the post on using the teleporter (also on this board) I got to wondering what it was that conciousness actually is, how it develops and how it is capable of being aware of itself - or more personally, what *I* am, how *I* develop and how can *I* be aware of myself. The thoughts kind of take you off into a strange self-referential world where it's hard to hold on to anything concrete, as soon as you feel as though you've latched on to and understood something important, it slips away - and you can't find it again.

This seems to be the problem with imagining a conciousness without the concept of an external soul - but just because it's difficult doesn't mean it can't be done - If it is the case, it makes the hard to answer questions posed earlier much easier (in most cases) to answer.

Compared to soulness, gravity, quantum fluctuations and entanglements have all been much easier to find - in fact in many cases they were predicted by mathematical models that suggested certain things with certain properties could be found under certain conditions.

I suppose the main question is, if a soul is the essence of a conciousness - where did it come from, and what is the method by which it attaches itself to people (or animals) here on earth (what would happen to a person or animal that got left-out?) There are so-many people and creatures being born, that to match-up souls to brains would be more than a difficult task. Do the souls know where they're going to get 'posted'? Do they choose, or does something else? If they go to heaven once the person they've occupied dies, there must be a separate place where they are made. Who decides how many to make? What if there are too many? Or not enough? Why go to all the effort in the first place? In short, how does this soul machinery work?

09-27-2004, 01:05 PM	#30 (permalink)
zen_tom Guest	Averages are funny things - a standard deviation from the average normally allows for 34% of the population either-side of the median figure. I can't think how I'd measure the standard deviation of a group of 1's and 0's but will leave this part of the conversation alone now in deference to the more interesting part... I've been trying to work this one out for the last week. It's been so long since I properly exercised my brain, but after reading the post on using the teleporter (also on this board) I got to wondering what it was that conciousness actually is, how it develops and how it is capable of being aware of itself - or more personally, what I am, how I develop and how can I be aware of myself. The thoughts kind of take you off into a strange self-referential world where it's hard to hold on to anything concrete, as soon as you feel as though you've latched on to and understood something important, it slips away - and you can't find it again. This seems to be the problem with imagining a conciousness without the concept of an external soul - but just because it's difficult doesn't mean it can't be done - If it is the case, it makes the hard to answer questions posed earlier much easier (in most cases) to answer. Compared to soulness, gravity, quantum fluctuations and entanglements have all been much easier to find - in fact in many cases they were predicted by mathematical models that suggested certain things with certain properties could be found under certain conditions. I suppose the main question is, if a soul is the essence of a conciousness - where did it come from, and what is the method by which it attaches itself to people (or animals) here on earth (what would happen to a person or animal that got left-out?) There are so-many people and creatures being born, that to match-up souls to brains would be more than a difficult task. Do the souls know where they're going to get 'posted'? Do they choose, or does something else? If they go to heaven once the person they've occupied dies, there must be a separate place where they are made. Who decides how many to make? What if there are too many? Or not enough? Why go to all the effort in the first place? In short, how does this soul machinery work?