Life

You have argued repeatedly that the unborn is not a human being until he is self aware.

But now you say that the body (the container) is all there is of human life.

If , once having a body, one is as human as one can be, then why is self awareness required?

C'mon guys, there's consciousness even in the electron (refer to Young's Double Slit Experiment using an electron beam - http://www.upscale.utoronto.ca/GeneralInterest/Harrison/DoubleSlit/DoubleSlit.html). Also please read "The Dancing Wu Li Masters" by Gary Zukav. Somehow, even an electron seems to be aware what is in front of it...somehow it is 'conscious' and hence 'makes' a different choice in different circumstances.
Life is everywhere, it need not always manifest itself in flesh and blood, but it may be present even in silicon and steel.
The human body itself is not a single entity, there are millions, no billions of organisms sustaining within the human body. Just because we do not perceive them does not mean that they do not exist.

Electrons are not conscious. They do not make conscious "choices."

Silicon and steel are not alive, in any sense of the word.
The human body contains billions of living cells, many of which are detrimental to our continued health, but NONE of them are individually conscious.

Just because you imagine something does not mean it exists

Public release date: 21-Nov-2006
[ Print Article | E-mail Article | Close Window ]

Lee Siegel
[email protected]
801-581-8993
The University of Utah

The Brain Institute at the University of Utah
Proteins anchor memories in our brain
Math study: Holding nerve-signal receptors in place is crucial
University of Utah mathematician Paul Bressloff has completed a study suggesting that our memories are held in our brains with the help of proteins that serve as anchors for other...
Click here for more information.

A University of Utah study suggests that memories are held in our brains because certain proteins serve as anchors, holding other proteins in place to strengthen synapses, which are connections between nerve cells.

"The essential idea is that synapses are in a constant state of flux, so how can they be the seat of memories that can last a lifetime?" says mathematics Professor Paul Bressloff, a member of the Brain Institute at the University of Utah. "Part of the answer is that there are anchors inside the synapse that keep proteins in place, and these proteins help determine how strong a synapse is, which in turn contributes to forming and retaining memories."

The research is relevant not only to how memory and learning work, but to Alzheimer's disease, which is believed to involve, at least in part, a breakdown in the normal movement of proteins within synapses.

The study will be published Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2006, in The Journal of Neuroscience. Bressloff conducted the research with Berton Earnshaw, a doctoral student in mathematics. It was funded by the National Science Foundation.

Bressloff says the big debate about consciousness is, "Can it be explained simply in terms of a bunch of nerve impulses in the brain? In my opinion, the answer has to be yes" - an answer reinforced by his findings.

"Memories, behavior, feelings all are determined by patterns of nerve impulses in the brain," he adds. "If you change the pattern of nerve impulses, then that changes the memories, behavior and feelings. … What determines that pattern of nerve impulses is a mixture of stimuli we are receiving from the outside world and the strength of connections between nerve cells."

"Our knowledge and memories are determined by these connections in the brain. Who we are is determined by the strength of connections between neurons in the brain."

The Anatomy of Memory and Learning

A synapse is the junction between nerve cells or neurons. The synapse includes three parts: the end or "axon" of the upstream nerve cell, the microscopic gap between nerve cells, and a mushroom-shaped "dendritic spine," which is part of the downstream nerve cell.

What we learn and hold in our memory is believed to be distributed across many synapses, Bressloff says. Some memories, such as a person's face, may be held by just a few synapses, while other memories may be distributed across a large number, he adds.

While a nerve cell has only one axon to transmit outgoing signals, it has numerous structures called dendrites, which are like branches of a tree. Each dendrite, in turn, branches into twig-like dendritic spines. A single nerve cell may have 10,000 dendritic spines, and each spine is part of a synapse. So a single nerve cell can receive signals from 10,000 other nerve cells.

Nerve cells fire electric impulses. When an electrical nerve signal from one nerve cell arrives at the synapse, it triggers the release of chemicals called neurotransmitters. Those chemicals travel across the synapse and attach or "bind" to proteins on the dendritic spine that are called receptors.

One of the most important neurotransmitters is named glutamate, and it binds to proteins known as "AMPA receptors," which are embedded in the dendritic spines on the receiving end of nerve cells. The AMPA receptor proteins are held in the membrane by other proteins called "scaffolding proteins." Bressloff says AMPA is one of two key nerve-signal receptors known to "play a crucial role in learning and memory."

Earlier research indicates learning and memory depend on the strength of synapses between nerve cells. Bressloff says a synapse's strength depends not only on how much neurotransmitter is released by the upstream nerve cell, but on other factors, including the number of receptors like AMPA.

Electrons are not conscious. They do not make conscious "choices."
Silicon and steel are not alive, in any sense of the word.
The human body contains billions of living cells, many of which are detrimental to our continued health, but NONE of them are individually conscious.

Just because you imagine something does not mean it exists.

pararover wrote:

LIFE is CONSCIOUSNESS

I'm afraid this path leads directly to the chicken or egg problem.

Neologist, do you talk to your tomatoes?
Shades of Little Shop Of Horrors

Gelisgesti wrote:

pararover wrote:

LIFE is CONSCIOUSNESS

I'm afraid this path leads directly to the chicken or egg problem.

Neologist, do you talk to your tomatoes?
Shades of Little Shop Of Horrors

Easy answer. The egg came first. Dinosaurs and other creatures laid eggs long before chickens. It's only when we have tunnel vision that we don't see that the answer is all too often not such a linear progressino of thought.

In fact the only way to make my answer wrong is to change the question. That game is also all too familiar. lol.

Synapsesare the junctions between neurons. Yes, they are required for consciousness, because they are the connections in the neural network that produces it.

Consciousness is not extrinsic to, it is non-existent in individual cells and inorganic matter. Consciousness is not some nebulous substance or magical force inherent in life, it is the result of neural activity in specific brain structures. Atoms, molecules, and single-cell organisms do not have brains, and it is simply not possible for them to be conscious.

I believe that consciousness is simply the awareness of one's own existence, and of the choices that one can make.
Because I am unable to express my actual view of consciousness this is the best that I could come up with. Can we debate some more on this?

Life is consciousness only at the level you are conscious of being conscious of ... above or below lies spirit .....
When you are conscious of several levels of consciousness simultaneously, you are conscious of the fact of your own life.

When you are conscious of the fact of your own life you become conscious of the consciousness of those that surround you ..... you are on the threshold of enlightenment

Being is the awareness that all consciousness is shared ... even on death's plateau

Way back in the thread someone said that the yolk was the living thing inside a bird's egg. Is that so? I thought the yolk was there for the same reason we want to crack eggs. Food. Food for the little seed growing inside the egg. Have you never opened an egg and found a tiny bloody speck in it? That's the thing that becomes the chicken.

But in a way, all the food we eat is alive. We can only consume organic materials, and they can only be grown. I think we all agree that anything that grows is alive.. (?)

So all in all, maybe the best definition of life is 'deathbringer', since that is what all living things must do to stay alive. They must end other processes of biological life.

Way back in the thread someone said that the yolk was the living thing inside a bird's egg. Is that so? I thought the yolk was there for the same reason we want to crack eggs. Food. Food for the little seed growing inside the egg. Have you never opened an egg and found a tiny bloody speck in it? That's the thing that becomes the chicken.

But in a way, all the food we eat is alive. We can only consume organic materials, and they can only be grown. I think we all agree that anything that grows is alive.. (?)

So all in all, maybe the best definition of life is 'deathbringer', since that is what all living things must do to stay alive. They must end other processes of biological life.

I believe that consciousness is simply the awareness of one's own existence, and of the choices that one can make.
Because I am unable to express my actual view of consciousness this is the best that I could come up with. Can we debate some more on this?

I believe that consciousness is simply the awareness of one's own existence, and of the choices that one can make.