I consider myself an agnostic too, I keep saying I don't know and keep brooding over questions.
I often wonder where human thought is heading over the centuries. After Socrates, Plato, Russell, Kant, Nietzsche, religions, cults et al, as time progresses will we evolve in thought (or through thought)? Or is the entire spectrum a finite playground for us, limited by our animal grounding. When we create robots and artificial intelligence, we are acutely aware that our machines cannot know more than us, nor think (if they could) any better than us. So we could also be just limited entities who cannot go beyond the envelope that the very intelligent forces that have made us have programmed for us. Or is it otherwise ? The machines and AI entities that we create are non-living objects, while we are living creatures.A computer may tap into the Internet, but we can tap, as most spiritualists believe, into the Collective Consciousness. We think, fret, invent, philosophise and we are continually butting our heads against the frontiers of knowledge in the search for the Truth deep within.Will we break through in the future and confront our Maker ? An essential, nay fundamental trait of our concept of a living being is the ability to reproduce.If we believe our maker to be a living entity, it/he/she must be capable of reproducing. Having been around for many eons, this entity must be having a vast progeny scattered all over the place.Another trait of a living being is the inevitable death of the being. So the maker-entity must die (Nietzsche notwithstanding). Even with a lifetime in multiples of Methuselah many times, the Being must die. But religion holds that God does not die. So, if we have an entity that does not reproduce or die, then according to our definition, the entity is non-living. So did a non-living entity make us ? That would be a nice joke on us, a 'machine' created us, the living ! Extended further, is it possible that non-living intelligent beings exist ? All our concepts of life are is as per OUR criteria of living, so it is quite possible that life exists outside our criteria and definitions.When we look for life in deep space, we search within our narrow definitions. There is a belief held by some cults/groups that the Earth in its entirety is a living being with its soul 'Gaya' deep within the core and that it reacts with quakes, eruptions, floods to the provocation at the crust. Sounds possible, going by these thoughts. -----Jose Lourenco __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. http://search.yahoo.com ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
