Ted Grant II
Registered Senior Member
Is a disembodied mind possible, such as one of the many gods that humans have dreamed up over the last several thousand years? I have thoughts on this matter. My thoughts are matter (!).
A "thought" is a special dynamic arrangement of matter and is a well known fact from now on. It is actually a series of physical events in the brain (electro-chemical events) and can be monitored using a machine. It is possible to give me a drug that allows my existing memory to function normally, but prevent me from remembering anything new. It is well known that a bump on the head of a certain type could destroy my ability to remember the past or my ability to think. When you die, your brain will cease to function "properly". After 3 days, it would be impossible to get it functioning again because fresh blood is required to sustain the brain's activity and it's cells (they are extremely delicate).
If you scratch a vinyl record badly, the reproduction of the music (software) will be spoiled. The software on your hard drive consists of a special arrangement of charged particles that can be converted to human readable form on the screen or in the speakers (for example) or be used to perform calculations by the CPU etc. A simple strong magnetic field nearby could destroy the software by re-arranging the charges in an undesirable way, although, strictly speaking, there would still be software on the computer, just not the kind you wanted.
The BIBLE is a special arrangement (traditionally) of ink, paper, glue etc. It can be burned (shock) and edited when copied (heresy). People have been burned for reading the Bible in English. We don't have the original manuscripts, so the Bible (word of God) is dynamic (unlike the Koran in Arabic).
Some software is relatively stable, such as a precious photo or an important email or your date of birth. Some software changes more or less continuously, such as your age, that is, it is dynamic. Our thoughts are dynamic (for most of us !) and they are special (they are not simply random) and they are an arrangement of brain matter as the above examples clearly show. So, it follows that your thoughts could not exist without matter. A disembodied mind or soul is an impossible object (like a round square or a married bachelor). Therefore a mind could not create matter where there was none previously. Therefore God did not create matter ! (sorry to spoil your wishful software). Does it matter? Never mind.
A "thought" is a special dynamic arrangement of matter and is a well known fact from now on. It is actually a series of physical events in the brain (electro-chemical events) and can be monitored using a machine. It is possible to give me a drug that allows my existing memory to function normally, but prevent me from remembering anything new. It is well known that a bump on the head of a certain type could destroy my ability to remember the past or my ability to think. When you die, your brain will cease to function "properly". After 3 days, it would be impossible to get it functioning again because fresh blood is required to sustain the brain's activity and it's cells (they are extremely delicate).
If you scratch a vinyl record badly, the reproduction of the music (software) will be spoiled. The software on your hard drive consists of a special arrangement of charged particles that can be converted to human readable form on the screen or in the speakers (for example) or be used to perform calculations by the CPU etc. A simple strong magnetic field nearby could destroy the software by re-arranging the charges in an undesirable way, although, strictly speaking, there would still be software on the computer, just not the kind you wanted.
The BIBLE is a special arrangement (traditionally) of ink, paper, glue etc. It can be burned (shock) and edited when copied (heresy). People have been burned for reading the Bible in English. We don't have the original manuscripts, so the Bible (word of God) is dynamic (unlike the Koran in Arabic).
Some software is relatively stable, such as a precious photo or an important email or your date of birth. Some software changes more or less continuously, such as your age, that is, it is dynamic. Our thoughts are dynamic (for most of us !) and they are special (they are not simply random) and they are an arrangement of brain matter as the above examples clearly show. So, it follows that your thoughts could not exist without matter. A disembodied mind or soul is an impossible object (like a round square or a married bachelor). Therefore a mind could not create matter where there was none previously. Therefore God did not create matter ! (sorry to spoil your wishful software). Does it matter? Never mind.