Oh really, dear R7 Rocket?
This is a most sweeping claim. So I just need to ask you a question: How do you know that? On what evidence do you depend to come up with this conclusion?
Please give me a thorough briefing on this matter. for I find your statement totally perplexing.
What you are saying is that mind is merely an epiphenomenon of physico/chemical processes in the brain. This claim is so sweeping, that I really do demand to see your evidence for it. For epiphenomena are thought to have zero causative effect on anything. Yet it seems quite evident to me that minds are capable of changing the ways that human beings decide and act. And I am to suppose to think that this is some sort of fluke of brain chemistry???
And while you're thinking that over (I hope), here are some other questions I have for you:
Do you believe that the evolution of human beings is essentially random? That the only power in nature that can establish anything new in biology is environmental pulls of Nature itself ("natural selection"), acting on accidents of mutation? (Which are usually fatal to organisms afflicted by such mutations?)
Another question: Do you believe there is any such thing as human nature itself? That is, that human nature might somehow be a "given" in Nature, and not a product of some (fictitious) evolutionary process?
If you check the history of the human race, you will find that, over thousands and thousands of millennia (judging from the historical record), that human beings qua human beings do not change much over time. I find it positively striking that whether you are consulting records from ancient Egypt, through classical philosophy, through Judeo-Christian writings, or just reading the 14th-century writer Boccaccio (See: The Decameron), the same human problems and concerns always emerge as the same over all historical time. The human "picture" seems never to change.
So, how does Darwin's theory help us to understand ourselves? Answer: It doesn't. It just changes the subject entirely. It says there is no human "nature." Man is "unfinished business," just leave it up to Nature to "complete" him. The next thing you know, the way things are going, is that Man will "evolve" into a machine, or "devolve" into a sub-human, vicious predator. And as long as we can blame his "brain" for doing all this, then Man is not responsible for what happens to him or to his species or the very world around him, which he profoundly influences by his thoughts ands actions. "Nature did it!!!"
If man suffers from this disordered understanding, if his societies deconstruct into chaos and strife as a result, then it's okay: "Nature did it," not man.
Man is responsible for nothing if he is but the pawn of the activities of his bodily chemistry.
And oh, by the way, where did DNA come from? Is that an "accident" too, just another evolutionary process?
Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you for writing!
Your thoughts????
God bless!
Truly, when we suggests the mind/soul/spirit is merely an epiphenomenon of the physical brain he is left with no logical basis for personal responsibility, judicial systems, etc.
And that, as you mention, is because an epiphenomenon cannot cause anything to happen. So it had to be the brain's fault. LOLOL!
"The Mind is as the brain does."
This is a most sweeping claim. So I just need to ask you a question: How do you know that? On what evidence do you depend to come up with this conclusion?
Use drugs and drink booze if you want to test that conclusion.
Please give me a thorough briefing on this matter. for I find your statement totally perplexing.
I'm not your personal secretary or researcher.
Do you believe that the evolution of human beings is essentially random?
Nope.
That the only power in nature that can establish anything new in biology is environmental pulls of Nature itself ("natural selection"), acting on accidents of mutation? (Which are usually fatal to organisms afflicted by such mutations?)
If non-fatal mutations are insignificant, why don't we look alike?
Do you believe there is any such thing as human nature itself?
Yes. We act on our preprogrammed instincts.
Human Nature... ...not a product of some (fictitious) evolutionary process?
What? Does that mean that everyone has the same family size?
If you check the history of the human race, you will find that, over thousands and thousands of millennia (judging from the historical record), that human beings qua human beings do not change much over time.
*cough* Whites, Blacks, East Asians, Ashkenazi Jews, Aborigines, Lactose Tolerance, Carbohydrate Tolerance differences...
I find it positively striking that whether you are consulting records from ancient Egypt, through classical philosophy, through Judeo-Christian writings, or just reading the 14th-century writer Boccaccio (See: The Decameron), the same human problems and concerns always emerge as the same over all historical time.
Let's consult some congo records... Oh wait, they don't have any! Hmmm...
So, how does Darwin's theory help us to understand ourselves? Answer: It doesn't.
Really? Would you rather take a midnight stroll in Honey Boo Boo's white trash neighborhood or Shaniqua Jackson's ghetto neighborhood? Heard of the phrase "alpha ****s, beta bucks"?
It [evolution by natural selection] says there is no human "nature."Man is "unfinished business," just leave it up to Nature to "complete" him.
"The theory of evolution by natural selection: Natural selection is the gradual natural process by which biological traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of the effect of inherited traits on the differential reproductive success of organisms interacting with their environment.
For a given environment, assuming that the living population already exists and that there is a variation of genetic traits in that population, those traits that enable making more babies than the other traits become more common. Split the population in two and put the the two groups in different environments, you'll end up with two different sets of traits being selected for."
You should read my posts before you reply to them.
The next thing you know, the way things are going, is that Man will "evolve" into a machine, or "devolve" into a sub-human, vicious predator.
Looks like your idea of "evolution" is the same as a progressive's idea of "evolution"... pokemon evolution.
Humans are vicious predators. You should start reading history and you should actually read the Bible instead of parroting what your pastor says.
And as long as we can blame his "brain" for doing all this, then Man is not responsible for what happens to him or to his species or the very world around him, which he profoundly influences by his thoughts ands actions. "Nature did it!!!"
Have you heard of the saying, "The stupid shall be punished"?
And oh, by the way, where did DNA come from? Is that an "accident" too, just another evolutionary process?
The theory of evolution by natural selection assumes that life already exists in order for it to work. Not only should you actually read my post, you should read other posts that already answered this.