RICK OGDEN Interdialogs with Jacob Ghitis On:
* I'm Alive....Honest! *
Jacob, consider all the following "truths" that most people believe without much questioning.
1. Few people today would consider an oxygen atom, a water molecule, nor
chains of molecules as being alive. All these "systems of small parts" are
dynamic and orderly, but few would say there is any "true life" within them.
*1). Rick, I suggest you read THE LIFE PRINCIPLE, in which I elaborate on complex proteins constituting the earliest manifestation of life.
2. With this knowledge alone it is easy to see that ALL of your body is made
of "nonliving parts". Some of your body parts might be replaced with
nonliving parts like metal hip "bones", heart valves, tooth fillings, etc.
A favorite concept of science fiction writers is that a human body could
eventually be entirely replaced by small manufactured parts, and the system
of how the original parts interacted could be preserved and maintained by
the replacements.
*2). All that is irelevant. You cannot replace the brain areas that contain the memories that constitute the "soul," meaning the self. Do that, and you get another individual in the body of a stranger.
3. This might even be acceptable in the more "sacred areas". For instance, if doctors commonly "cured" a migraine headache by replacing a single nerve
cell inside the brain with a small electronic chip, in theory, most people
would agree to the substitution, just as they might agree to a hip
replacement.
*3). If the neuron being replaced has no role in the individuality (self, memories), it is truly replaceable.
4. Such systems can be described, quite faithfully, as a group of methods for messages to be conveyed. Yet no single message that is sent is considered to be a living entity.
*4). A message is a composite of signals. There are many ways to send signals, without which nothing organized and dynamic can exist.
5. Clearly your body is made of nonliving parts that follow rules of nonliving processes of interaction, and it is only the entire system of how they interact that is commonly called "alive".
*5). Living organisms are made of tissues defined by cells. Each cell is a living unit, necessitating energy for survival and function. There are cells that serve as constituents of structural components, such as bones. Even the heart can be substituted by a mechanical pump. Dialysis replaces the kidney's functions. Eventually everything may be replaced, except the memories, which are the soul, the self. Now, let your imagination run wild with the possibilities of creating new souls or exchanging them.
"Wanted: a nice body to exchange for mine. Your memories will be preserved, and after a time you will get used to your new body, enjoying the million bucks I offer for yours. We will go to the Police to have our digital and other identification marks changed."
Ask yourself,
Am I dead? Am I mostly dead? Why are these questions so absolutely silly
to ask? Why am I so smug and merely entertain the questions as "goofy
diversions?"
** I ask, therefore I'm alive." **
Are all my thoughts messages? If so, who sends them? To whom?
Are my thoughts "raw code?"
Or, are my thoughts more like the "noisy artifacts" of my parts keeping the
system "going?" Does my "wiring" "hum" with thought?
Where do I live in this machine?
Why do I live here?
Am I the sum total of all these interacting parts and the history of how
they have interacted? Is that all?
** Yes, one is the sum total. As for the other questions, it will interest you to know that when a protein in a cell has to be destroyed, an undertaker
protein is marked with a code by another protein, an enzyme. The code guides the undertaker to the right place where the butcher protein takes charge. For some of these steps, energy is required. It is obtained through the action of an enzyme on ATP produced from food we ingest and oxygen we inhale. **
If a God exists, is he a robot maker?
** You know, Rick, one of the great ideas that sprouted in my mind thinking how to answer this question, and actually all questions regarding "God" was the following: If you wish to get clear answers, you have to ask clear questions. Thus, you need to define what do you call "God."
Of course, the "great idea" is not exclusive of questions relating to "God," yet it suddenly became clear to me that we take for granted what everybody means by the term "God." **
What would happen if I spent the rest of this day being aware of my really
living part?
** Jesus, Rick! You would be thinking about your self, meaning yourself, and that includes everything of you that is in your memories. For God's sake, it is past. Why not place a prominent add in a newspaper explaining who you are looking for? If you find her, you found "God."
