Believers in (a) God and (b) spirits that survive death, have a hard explaining such ideas to sceptics like me. But what about the reverse position?
Believers are entitled to ask how something that is only physical can have experiences. A lump of strictly physical rock cant, so why can strictly physical flesh?
2007-07-15 08:10:18 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Living beings have senses such as taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight.
A rock doesn't.
Pretty easy, really.
2007-07-15 08:23:16 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Strictly speaking, nothing but a human can have 'experiences', since the term is defined as a human characteristic. Only by anthropomorphism do we extend such things to some other intelligent animals.
Rocks certainly can't. They don't have the external senses or the internal storage for it.
CD
2007-07-15 15:17:23 · answer #2 · answered by Super Atheist 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
a lump of rock does not have a nervous system to relay pulses of information the way living beings do.
but as an animist, I coohse to perceive the universe as a place where that lump of rock may very well have an essense, a spirit, just as a living being may. I do not claim it does as an absolute, nor do I expect to prove (or for anyone else to prove) it does; I choose to experience the universe that way as much as I can. It's a way of experience - not belief.
2007-07-15 15:16:25 · answer #3 · answered by kent_shakespear 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1. Biologically, "flesh" as you put it, has nerves that connect to the brain. The brain takes the feelings that the sensitive nerves receive and send it to the brain. The brain then processes it as pain, tickling, or otherwise.
2. Rocks don't have brains - they're nonliving material.
2007-07-15 15:17:50 · answer #4 · answered by Alley S. 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
A rock is just an inanimate object. Humans and animals are animated objects.
2007-07-15 15:18:21 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Somehow your theory is not coming through any too clear. I can't follow your line of reasoning. Sorry.
2007-07-15 15:16:36 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The best answer to your question, in my opinion, is this book:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness_Explained
You should buy it if you are so inclined, or read many of the discussions about it online if you are not.
2007-07-15 15:18:39 · answer #7 · answered by Diminati 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A rock isn't organic -- it isn't alive, so it can't experience things.
2007-07-15 15:14:00 · answer #8 · answered by Resident Heretic 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It's called being cognizant. Self-aware.
atheist (THINK)
2007-07-15 15:16:13 · answer #9 · answered by AuroraDawn 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A rock isn't alive and doesn't have a soul. C'mon. Think.
2007-07-15 15:17:57 · answer #10 · answered by RDF 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋