Oh uh... looks like the sacred mysteries of the mind (aka soul) are starting to fade!!
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,299456,00.html
So, if my video game console knows what I'm thinking, and knows how focused I am, or if I'm bored... does that mean my pastor lied to me when I was little, when he said only God knows what I'm thinking?
More importantly... when our understanding of the brain gets to the point where we understand almost all of the cause & effect relationships... what room is going to be left for the soul? How are we going to squeeze "free will" or spiritual accountability into a body that follows the laws of physics?
2007-10-05 01:43:35 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
That's the trouble with taking a stance that has no evidence to support it; and must rely on the other side's inability to explain EVERYTHING, then jump in and try to claim victory by default...
2007-10-05 01:49:37 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
The gaps are getting smaller, but they are still very very wide.
The kind of technology now finding its way into gaming systems has been around in the defense industry for a whole lot longer. The blink of an eye to select a target, monitoring of heartrate, sweat and so forth to assess psychological wellbeing.
The more intricate stuff coming along now can detect some very basic patterns, but all this alpha beta and theta stuff is a long way from allowing someone to read our thoughts. The most reliable tests at the moment are lie detector tests and those rely not on reading thoughts, but monitoring impulses to see whether a person is or is not lying.
If there is a way to hook you up so your internal dialogue gets played out over a loudspeaker, I think and hope that it is a long way off.
As far as physics/consciousness/soul goes, this is a really fascinating area on which some progress has been made.
Much of the research on brain function is led by the study of brain damaged accident victims, looking for common patterns of injury when the victim has memory loss, loss of physical function and so forth. The ability to find where the damage is has been greatly helped by new technologies but in essence it is the same as looking to see which jigsaw piece is missing, and what it did.
The idea that our consciousness may be nothing more than a few jigsaw pieces common to all humans is a bit scary though.
The freewill stuff I can offer you a lot of assurance on. Quantum Mechanics central paradigm rests on the universe being indeterminate in an absolutely fundamental way, meaning that if you knew precisely the state of the universe right now, you could not predict with certainty what it will look like later. So the possibility for freewill is quite safe for now.
2007-10-05 09:04:45 · answer #2 · answered by Twilight 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If ever a man reaches that stage,it would be a degree of self awareness.Brain is just an organ and shall work as programmed or asked to and can't take over the functions of intellect.Therefore,as long our intellect is free,there shall be questions without immediate answers.I can't vouch safe for a soul though.
2007-10-05 08:55:27 · answer #3 · answered by brkshandilya 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
god of gaps, very very small, but he may always have a tiny pedestal to rest on, because knowing eveything is a long way off....of course, that makes this god far from all powerful, but just very tiny...
2007-10-05 08:47:57 · answer #4 · answered by Jay 4 · 6⤊ 0⤋
isn't fox news an oxymoron?
you actually raise some interesting points, but i have to run to the office and can't answer them right now. sorry. here's a star though!
2007-10-05 08:46:46 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
I INVOKE THE 42nd LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS!
2007-10-05 08:47:48 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
You won't. We will. You stay. We go.
Bye!
2007-10-05 08:49:37 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋