Activities of Life—Movement of Physical Objects

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Paidion
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Activities of Life—Movement of Physical Objects

Post by Paidion » Fri Mar 20, 2015 4:52 pm

For the last few years, I have become increasingly aware of the fact that virtually everything we do (or perhaps absolutely everything we do) can be reduced to moving physical objects.

1. Eating. We move physical objects to our mouth, and swallow, moving them to our stomach. Our digestive system moves them along, etc.

2. Kissing our spouse. We move our physical lips to contact those of our spouse. This brings to mind the definition of a kiss which I once heard. "The anatomical juxtaposition of two oracular muscles in a state of contraction."

3. Playing a game of chess. We are basically moving chess pieces to various locations on a physical board. And we find these movements to have meaning for us.

4. Responding to this forum. We move our fingers on a keyboard, which causes electrical impulses to flow and create images on the monitor screen. We do, in fact, indirectly manipulate those screen images.

I have been searching for something we do that does NOT involve moving physical objects. The only candidate which I have considered to be a possibility is "thinking."But I'm not certain even about that one. Perhaps that activity is the movement of electrical impulses in our brains. Of course, you may think that there is some sort of a non-material metaphysical ego which is the source of all this physical activity—and that may be so. I am inclined to believe that there is a metaphysical "self" which transcends the physical and is that self which causes all that we choose to do. If so, the connection between the metaphysical and the physical is indeed a great mystery and seems to be unfathomable. Indeed it is this "self" or "soul" or "spirit" that many Christians think survives death, even before the resurrection. I disbelieve the latter, but I do not deny the existence of this metaphysical self. How can I, when I perceive myself in this way? As Descartes put it, "Cogito ergo sum." (I think; therefore I am). But what is this "I" that exists? That is the question! I welcome any thoughts you may have on the matter (whatever "thoughts' are).
Last edited by Paidion on Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Paidion

Man judges a person by his past deeds, and administers penalties for his wrongdoing. God judges a person by his present character, and disciplines him that he may become righteous.

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robbyyoung
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Re: Activities of Life—Movement of Physical Objects

Post by robbyyoung » Fri Mar 20, 2015 5:51 pm

Hi Paidion and God Bless,

What comes to mind is Ezekiel 18:4 "Look, every soul belongs to Me (GOD)... The person who sins is the one who will die... [vs.9] He follows My statutes and keeps My ordinances, acting faithfully. Such a person is righteous; he will certainly live. This is the declaration of the Lord GOD."

Who can argue against GOD's absolute sovereignty over all the affairs of men, from the smallest - to the greatest? IMHO, the connection between the physical and metaphysical, we sometimes feel, is none other than GOD doing as HE pleases concerning what belongs to HIM. Our conscientiousness is a gift to give praise to The Creator who owns it. As seen, God can sovereignly decide to alter your conscientiousness (Dan 4:16), if HE so chooses, for HE owns it.

Brother, I believe that connection to be GOD.

God Bless!

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TheEditor
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Re: Activities of Life—Movement of Physical Objects

Post by TheEditor » Fri Mar 20, 2015 7:12 pm

These are issues I have pondered for as long as I can remember. As a matter of fact, I don't know about you, but if I allow my mind to think about certain subjects for to long, it kind of unnerves me. When I was a boy and I contemplated eternal life, I was fine with just a statement like that. But when I thought of the nut and bolts of it....really put myself in that "place" of "being"...wow...a really uneasy feeling overcame me.

I have had discussions with my atheist friends about consciousness. I have found that some of them, though they will say they don't like the idea of dying, have no problem just accepting this idea--consciousness--within the matrix of mortality. I could never wrap my mind around that. After all, what makes you, you? You are, of course, the sum total of your experiences. But you are also RNA and DNA, and their are always the 'genes that don't wash out' as they say. However, if I were raised to be in a different belief system in a different location with different opportunities and challenges, it would still be through my own eyes, ears, senses that I experienced them. And it would still be "me"; just a modified or tweaked version of me.

So, I don't know. I was raised to believe that the soul was distinct from the spirit; the spirit was thought to be the breath of life from God that all creatures possess (like the Congregator wrote in his book) and that nothing distinguishes our spirit that we get from God from that of the animals. The "soul" was taught to me to be the "person"--body plus spirit--and that the soul could die or be destroyed. Currently, I'm not so rigid on such matters. I'm open to suggestions.

Regards, Brenden.
[color=#0000FF][b]"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."[/b][/color]

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backwoodsman
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Re: Activities of Life—Movement of Physical Objects

Post by backwoodsman » Sat Mar 21, 2015 9:24 am

Paidion wrote:I have been searching for something we do that does NOT involve moving physical objects. The only candidate which I have considered to be a possibility is "thinking."
...which of course burns calories, which amounts to shuffling around and burning little globs of sugar and fat. Even the most ethereal task we can think of amounts to movement of physical objects.

It appears we're doomed to an eternity of shuffling physical objects around. The only respite will be the brief interval between death and resurrection, so enjoy that while it lasts. Sadly, some can't even look forward to that. :)

On that note, I think it's almost time to shuffle some slightly larger globs of sugar and fat into my mouth.

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robbyyoung
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Re: Activities of Life—Movement of Physical Objects

Post by robbyyoung » Sat Mar 21, 2015 12:36 pm

TheEditor wrote:I have had discussions with my atheist friends about consciousness. I have found that some of them, though they will say they don't like the idea of dying, have no problem just accepting this idea--consciousness--within the matrix of mortality. I could never wrap my mind around that. After all, what makes you, you? You are, of course, the sum total of your experiences.
Hi Brenden and God Bless,

Consciousness is indeed tricky to explain. From my studies I believe God gives every human Godly Awareness (consciousness), however, this awareness must be cultivated in order for it to produce a strong testimony to and for the individual. Our thoughts is a product of our experiences and our experiences do not precede our Godly awareness. This Godly awareness is a true blessing from God. 1 Tim 4:2 speaks to the horror of having this awareness taken away. A simple search through history, to the present, can testify to the utter evil within mankind upon this happening.

If you do a search and read the passages related to consciousness, you will see how it's Godly awareness that's in view, whether it's weak, strong, or taken away altogether. So who are you? You are a unique, individual soul endowed with Godly awareness that will testify for or against you when you stand before HIM. We should strive for experiences that saturate our thoughts towards Godly awareness. I'm not sure if I got this all worded correctly, but these are my thoughts thus far, and of course, I'm always open for suggestions as well ;) .

God Bless.

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