2 ms·
Are you aware of your cells (as in, the individual cells, not "my cells" as a concept)? Are your cells aware of you (as in, the you that is contemplating these
by phs318u 10y ago
Are you aware of your cells (as in, the individual cells, not "my cells" as a concept)?
Are your cells aware of you (as in, the you that is contemplating these questions, not the adjacent cells that make up part of you)?
For me, the answer to the first is no, and I strongly suspect the answer to the second is also no.
So I don't believe that the grains of sand would be aware. But it is possible that "entity comprised of sand granules" is aware, just as "entity comprised of carbon-based cells" is aware.
- rubberstamp 10y agoBasically its all physics rules how particles interact and the energy flowing through. Now am "I" in control of making decision to do one thing and not the other? Or was it inevitable that the decision was made as that was the only possible outcome of particles inter acting in my brain at that moment? I am stuck with that thought
- skosch 10y agoWhether or not it was the only possible outcome is a question of determinism, which at the quantum level looks like it should be answered with no. That doesn't mean, however, that the outcome is random; it rather depends strongly on the sum of all of the life experiences that have influenced your brain's wiring, all the way since the second trimester of your mother's pregnancy. In that sense, your decisions are uniquely yours. Whether or not that was actually "you" is a different question, but since "you" don't actually exist as an independent agent (despite your feelings to the contrary), it's a moot point to discuss. You may be interested in the experiments on volition by the late Benjamin Libet (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Libet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Libet).