Consciousness: Is it seperate from the human body?

[Hezekiah]

Lately I've been fascinated with the idea of consciousness. I've been reading a bit on quantum physics, and have come to the idea that the conscious state of mind is completely seperate from the brain.

In other words:

1) I feel as though I am not my body. For instance, if I cut my own hand off, my hand is no longer me, I'm still in the larger portion of my own body (of course I know that's mainly because my brain is still communicating with the rest of my body).

2) It takes the brain roughly 80 milliseconds to process new stimulus, including getting that information to the brain via the nervous system. Which introduces the idea that time may not exist if it is all according to how fast the brain can process whats going on.

3) Finally, there are all types of optical, tactile and auditory illusions that can play tricks on the brain. We can only perceive our world through our senses, even certain animals can percieve colors invisible to the naked eye. Which, too me, all says that the brain is a magnificent instrument, but is not perfect. And instruments aren't autonomous.

What do you all think?

[psychoslice]

My way of trying to understand consciousness, is to see it like the ocean, we are like the waves upon the ocean, we as the waves believe we are separate from the ocean, as the wave we have our own conscious mind, but the truth is there is only the ocean, One Consciousness. To realize this and to experience this, is called Enlightenment, or Awakening, for it cannot be known reduced to a mere concept, in fact the mind can never know it, its beyond the mind.

[Mudhammam]

I have no idea what you two are talking about. Consciousness is a strange phenomenon as it is without needless speculation about its metaphysics.

I absolutely feel that I am my body. Yes, if you cut off your hand, it is no longer you. Right. Because you are not in a body, you are a body.

As far as time being non-existent outside of your mental processes, it's really just absurd when you think about it since you know, you had a beginning, and there were causes before you that led to your existence. The nature of time may not be exactly as we perceive it at any given moment (there I go again), but to say time may not exist is about as unintelligible a statement as I can imagine.

[Exian]

Alright -Google Shotgun Round- 3..2..1..

Emergent qualities

Complexification

DKS vs 2LT

Replicative Stability

Time's up!

[psychoslice]

I have no idea what you two are talking about. Consciousness is a strange phenomenon as it is without needless speculation about its metaphysics.

I absolutely feel that I am my body. Yes, if you cut off your hand, it is no longer you. Right. Because you are not in a body, you are a body.

As far as time being non-existent outside of your mental processes, it's really just absurd when you think about it since you know, you had a beginning, and there were causes before you that led to your existence. The nature of time may not be exactly as we perceive it at any given moment (there I go again), but to say time may not exist is about as unintelligible a statement as I can imagine.

Of course you feel as if your the body, that's how you suppose to feel, that lets you live your life as a human being, but the truth is that you are not just the body, you are all there is. We are not separate from the Cosmos, we are the Cosmos, we are looking at things in a very narrow minded way, and because of this we are missing the whole.

[Mudhammam]

Of course you feel as if your the body, that's how you suppose to feel, that lets you live your life as a human being, but the truth is that you are not just the body, you are all there is. We are not separate from the Cosmos, we are the Cosmos, we are looking at things in a very narrow minded way, and because of this we are missing the whole.

Of course we're not separate from the Cosmos, but myself and the Cosmos are not synonymous and have very distinct definitions and qualities. I am a "wave in the ocean," so to speak, but the ocean is not in the wave in a sense that suggests contingency, and I am not using ocean analogously for "One Consciousness," whatever that is even supposed to mean.

[psychoslice]

Of course you feel as if your the body, that's how you suppose to feel, that lets you live your life as a human being, but the truth is that you are not just the body, you are all there is. We are not separate from the Cosmos, we are the Cosmos, we are looking at things in a very narrow minded way, and because of this we are missing the whole.

Of course we're not separate from the Cosmos, but myself and the Cosmos are not synonymous and have very distinct definitions and qualities. I am a "wave in the ocean," so to speak, but the ocean is not in the wave in a sense that suggests contingency, and I am not using ocean analogously for "One Consciousness," whatever that is even supposed to mean.

The ocean is the wave, the mind separates it. no mind, then there is just the ocean, no mind, then there is no separation.

[Surgenator]

Lately I've been fascinated with the idea of consciousness. I've been reading a bit on quantum physics, and have come to the idea that the conscious state of mind is completely seperate from the brain.

In other words:

1) I feel as though I am not my body. For instance, if I cut my own hand off, my hand is no longer me, I'm still in the larger portion of my own body (of course I know that's mainly because my brain is still communicating with the rest of my body).

Well, if you cut off part of the brain, you could have a completely different personality.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/prof...nge-part-i
This suggest that the mind and the brain are heavily intertwined.

2) It takes the brain roughly 80 milliseconds to process new stimulus, including getting that information to the brain via the nervous system. Which introduces the idea that time may not exist if it is all according to how fast the brain can process whats going on.

I'm sorry but time not existing is just rubbish. A friend of mine was in a car accident several years back. He didn't wear his seatbelt and was thrown out of the side window. In that 80 milliseconds, his brain didn't process the collision until he was in midair. If time didn't exist, then how did went from car to air, teleported? Plus, other people who witnessed the accident did see him fly through the air.

FYI, my friend perfectly fine.

3) Finally, there are all types of optical, tactile and auditory illusions that can play tricks on the brain. We can only perceive our world through our senses, even certain animals can percieve colors invisible to the naked eye. Which, too me, all says that the brain is a magnificent instrument, but is not perfect. And instruments aren't autonomous.

I completely agree with you that the brain is magnificent, but it is not perfect. I disagree with you that the brain is an instrument. This presupposes that something else is using the brain.

I am curious on how you came to this conclusion from quantum physics.

[Mudhammam]

The ocean is the wave, the mind separates it. no mind, then there is just the ocean, no mind, then there is no separation.

The ocean as in the Cosmos? The wave as in the self? And the mind as...what exactly? You have me confused in your gibberish.

[Hezekiah]

Of course you feel as if your the body, that's how you suppose to feel, that lets you live your life as a human being, but the truth is that you are not just the body, you are all there is. We are not separate from the Cosmos, we are the Cosmos, we are looking at things in a very narrow minded way, and because of this we are missing the whole.

Of course we're not separate from the Cosmos, but myself and the Cosmos are not synonymous and have very distinct definitions and qualities. I am a "wave in the ocean," so to speak, but the ocean is not in the wave in a sense that suggests contingency, and I am not using ocean analogously for "One Consciousness," whatever that is even supposed to mean.

I think (and correct me if I'm wrong) that what psychoslice is suggesting with idea of "One Consciousness" is mankind as a whole, being aware (aka not dead).

I see what you mean though, the ocean is not synonomous with the waves. We as individuals don't make up the collective consciousness of every human being that is alive at this very moment.

As far as us being our bodies, obviously our bodies are contingent on the properties of the unvierse we live in. But when someone dies, their body is left behind, still bound by the laws of gravity and of the universe, but the person is no longer the person who was alive. A dead person is no longer conscious, so where did that consciousness go?