Do you consider yourself as a creature, or do you interpret your existence merely in terms of a machine?

Question

I find it a remarkable fact that man, as long as he regarded himself as a creature, interpreted his existence in the image of God, his creator; but as soon as he started considering himself as a creator, began to interpret his existence merely in the image of his own creation, the machine.

Just interested how you see or interpret that.

Answer 1

We are of course a living being... even our physical body is much more than an efficient machine since it has the capability to keep stretching more and more and adapt to external environment through self change. As for our interior self, it is almost the opposite of a machine, being prone to inconsistency and error apart from the ability to change oneself and influence others in the quest of self chosen objectives.

We have indeed begun to see ourselves as machines of late... perhaps it is the influence of our greater leaning on science compared to arts and humanities. Knowledge is of course a great asset, but almost useless without the feelings to savor and enjoy its fruits.

Answer 2

First, my dear, I don't agree with your "premises. The "either or." The "fact" you express as an absolute, i.e., man considered himself as a creature when he interpreted he was the image of God (??) as the creator, & then, that man considered himself his own creation (??) as a machine.
Is the image of God a "creature"? I know of NO ONE who believes they created themselves.
One could credibly say that all living things are creatures of one species or another. Could they all be in the image of God? What is the "image" of God? Zeus of the long beard from which the original image was conjured? Surely not!
Do you truly know anyone who believes they created themselves? & if you do, do they perceive themselves as machines?
I hope you get some insighful input, but this question has far too many assumptions for me.
I'm very familiar with human behaviour, concepts, opinions. I hope someone will answer your question to YOUR satisfaction. I cannot.

Answer 3

humanity's (as i address both sexes) seems to have a need to find a reason for everything a need to define everything this is not a bad thing but can be steps away from a simple realization of a whole eg our existence.

i think of myself as what i am an animal that is what seems most plausible and that is a belief not a fact as nothing can be a fact as someone can doubt my theory that i am an animal and say that i am something else.

in my thoughts i am an animal just part of a different species i may have a more active mind than other species but who is to say for sure why it is that humanity has succeeded so much on this planet.

we are constantly searching for the reason for ourselves why we are the way we are we need some sort of comfort and feeling of security and reassurance of ourselves and if everyone else goes along with it we feel better.

if i where to be "god" (not that i believe in any spiritual beings of any kind) and create something only if i was completely happy and confident in myself would i create something in my own image.

even then if i was to create something that is other than something that resembles myself it would still have characteristics of myself as that is the only way i know how to live at the moment otherwise i don't know what other organic system can work within an atmosphere or in a vacuum or in another type of planet or under different pressure how elements and chemicals will react its impossible to tell, i guess i could make it work.

hard to really discuss things like this with this kind of communication.

Answer 4

I'm a godly machine!
I agree with the belief that we were made in the image of our creator, and actually I see it as a fact that I can prove... Just place a picture of you next to your parents'!

We are complex Machines that interact within a bigger machine that is the "biosphere" which is of course the face of planet Earth, which interacts with our planetary system, which interacts with the rest of the galaxy... and so on. Just like protons, neutrons, and electrons interact within an atom, which interacts within a cell, which interacts within an organ, which interacts within our bodies and so on...

We are machines and creatures at the same time because life is very patterned and mechanical. For every action there's a reaction and for every reaction that we encounter we react according to our beliefs, which in turn trigger yet another reaction and so on...

I hope I'm painting a clear enough picture so that you can "react" to my answer as I've reacted to your question!!
...with inspiration to think!!

Answer 5

Some certainly did, like Charlie Chaplin. Self as self's property is an under developed concept, partly because we can not forget the infinite history from which we become existent and partly because the totality of our life contradicts it. Certainly we are living, and as such are chemistic, mechanistic and phenomenological.

http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/works/sl/slobject.htm

http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/works/ol/ol_phen.htm

INTRODUCTION
1. Our ordinary Knowing has before itself only the object which it knows, but does not at first make an object of itself, i.e., of the Knowing. But the whole which is extant in the act of knowing is not the object alone, but also the Ego that knows, and the relation of the Ego and the object to each other, i.e. Consciousness.

Answer 6

I consider myself to be a human being in this current birth. But, I believe I have an eternal identity as infinitesimal expansion of God.

Externally I have my "creature" side since that is the nature of the human being. And now humans identify with their machines. But, this is all external.

"A Krsna conscious person does not expect good or bad results in his activities. His mind and intelligence are fully controlled. He knows that because he is part and parcel of the Supreme, the part played by him, as a part and parcel of the whole, is not his own activity but is only being done through him by the Supreme. When the hand moves, it does not move out of its own accord, but by the endeavor of the whole body. A Krsna conscious person is always dovetailed with the supreme desire, for he has no desire for personal sense gratification. He moves exactly like a part of a machine. As a machine part requires oiling and cleaning for maintenance, so a Krsna conscious man maintains himself by his work just to remain fit for action in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. He is therefore immune to all the reactions of his endeavors. "
Bhagavad Gita As It Is 4.21, Purport by Srila Prabhupada

Answer 7

I temporally exist as a passenger in this body.

I am not the creator but I am an integral part of the source.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 8

Interesting question but why limit choices to God or man-made? I believe my origins are alien, specifically ANUNNAKI, not only myself but the human race and everything else that exists since the Big Bang. Yes, I'm serious, please read : rule by SECRECY by Jim Marrs, but only if you wish to explore an option other than Creation or Man-Made. merry

Answer 9

i just perceive myself as an animal just like everyone else, i try not to get a god-like ********* when i find myself right. i try to find out my own answers, more preferably alternative answers from everyone. we were curious without the answers for a long time, when we finally found a way to get those answers, we or just the scientists and their followers started believing that we can find the answers to everything and i think thats very close to god-like *********

Answer 10

I consider myself a human.
Neither creature or machine.