Posted by Gremlin [12.255.181.7 - 12-255-181-7.client.attbi.com] on 12 July 2002 at 02.30.29 ZuluTime:

In Reply to: regarding your posted by Andy on 12 July 2002 at 02.10.26 ZuluTime:

This is beyond the scope of the debate, of course.

A lot of the time, my stance isn't superior. I actually go out of my way to do a lot of dumb things. It's not really about me, so much as it's about format.
     I've addressed this in another post, but they're all starting to look alike now--partly because I didn't like having different shades for read and unread posts.
     In the beginning, people didn't know anything at all; they created excuses to 'explain' how things worked. We don't do that anymore.
     We no longer look at dead people and see only skin and blood and bones. We understand a little more about physiology now. We understand that the brain relies on electrical signals to function, and that the body relies on the brain. We understand that people are basically reactors which process fuel into energy, and that the process stops as a result of lethal activities.
     I've had just about every sort of test there is, at this point. EKGs, EEGs, CT Scans, MRIs, and so on. I've got 32bit images of what every layer of my brain looks like from six different angles. And there's no soul in there.
     I've got a pretty good understanding of my genome, but I appear to be missing the SoulMarker which I'm supposed to believe I have.
     Without a brain--mapped and surveyed to hell and back--I don't exist. Short of cybernetic measures, every other machine in my chassis relies on the operation of my brain. And my brain doesn't contain a soul. In fact, all my parts are accounted for, and none contains a soul.
     So: instead of thinking that people are composed of skin and blood and bones and magic, I realise that people are composed of cells and genomes and glands. But no magic. No souls.
     So that's one stance I have which could be considered superior. Instead of glancing at a corpse and seeing skin and blood and bones, and pretending that they're all held together by a soul, I look and see a complex biomechanical machine with millions of parts and miles of nerves.
     Could there be a soul in there? Maybe. But probably not. And I can promise you that the people who saw only skin and blood and bones never found a soul; they only assumed it was there because they couldn't think of a better reason for dead people and live people to be so different and look so alike.