Human Identity

Introduction

What does it mean to be human? People have discussed and argued about this for a long time. It is of general interest, but it also plays a significant part in shaping your understanding of other significant issues. We have addressed aspects of the question in several articles.

What does it mean to be human? (Greek, Hebrew and Eastern perspectives)

Human Nature (People are basically good and rational)

You Are Not Your Brain (You are a living body, one important part of which is a brain)

The Ghost in the Machine (The mind-body problem is only difficult if you forget that we are alive)

Real Life (The difference between artificial life and the real thing)

Do I exist in the past, present and future simultaneously? I believe there are models that suggest that every moment is an on going process. "According to theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli, time is an illusion: our naive perception of its flow doesn't correspond to physical reality. Indeed, as Rovelli argues in The Order of Time, much more is illusory, including Isaac Newton's picture of a universally ticking clock". A fascinating subject, the mathematics and physics is probably beyond my aged brain's ability to assimilate.

I think there is a big danger of muddling 'soul' with 'consciousness'. Many sentient beings have consciousness, we are unable to know, and there is no evidence for anything we could describe as 'soul' seperate from the brain/body combo it belongs to. Human beings have large brains, large brains that are capable of advance problem solving, delivered I would say not by a creator but by the process of evolution. Such consciousness has given human beings the awareness of their wider environment and the ability to conceptualise. This leads to many questions, which we fumble around with on this site.

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Comments

Mark Collins September 13, 2022 at 9:28pm

Do I exist in the past, present and future simultaneously? I believe there are models that suggest that every moment is an on going process. "According to theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli, time is an illusion: our naive perception of its flow doesn't correspond to physical reality. Indeed, as Rovelli argues in The Order of Time, much more is illusory, including Isaac Newton's picture of a universally ticking clock". A fascinating subject, the mathematics and physics is probably beyond my aged brain's ability to assimilate.

I think there is a big danger of muddling 'soul' with 'consciousness'. Many sentient beings have consciousness, we are unable to know, and there is no evidence for anything we could describe as 'soul' seperate from the brain/body combo it belongs to. Human beings have large brains, large brains that are capable of advance problem solving, delivered I would say not by a creator but by the process of evolution. Such consciousness has given human beings the awareness of their wider environment and the ability to conceptualise. This leads to many questions, which we fumble around with on this site.

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