LOL, that sounds more like you spout off just for the sake of spouting off, and not really having a clue...
You are nothing
- Thread starter china
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It's more of a semantical thing I think, that says, "you" don't truly exist as anything but as an object (not a physical object) of reflective consciousness. And of course that reflective consciousness is also not a physical object, it's really nothing.
Let's assume that in the present, there is a being in the world that would go up, chop off that tree and watch it roll down the hill. As this being is doing this act, it is not truly consciously aware of itself as itself doing that act. Therefore that being chopping down that tree has not yet constituted itself as "you". It is simply aware of the act of chopping this tree or watching that tree rolling down the hill.
During the aftermath and reflecting upon the event, that being now constitutes itself as "you", but by that point "you" have become a memory or an object of nothingness in reflective consciousness. So that is why you actually do exist and have some influence in this world, but "you" exist as nothing.
Even if you were to try and trick yourself by deliberately imagining yourself in the act as it is happening - ie. "I'm waving my hand right now" - in time, the action still precedes the acknowledgment of its ego, or 'existence precedes essence."
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our memories take care of that, by living on 'past' the present, and one can have instant recall
of any event that took place, either a half second ago, or 40 years ago, if they choose to.
of any event that took place, either a half second ago, or 40 years ago, if they choose to.
On an existential level, who or what is doing the memorizing, thinking and being aware. Is it our physical being or is our consciousness, which has no physical form? The ego has no physical form either and it is the originator of thought. Our physical bodies are just vehicles with the most complex computer known to us. But conscious awareness is not our bodies. It doesn't originate from that machine. A computer only stores data and retrieves it when asked to. What our awareness does with that data is another story.
As I pointed out, however, my "nothingness" can inspire my physical me to do things. And as such, even an inspiration or something that inspires is something. Nothing is literally no thing, not anything.
Then what accepts inspiration?
we are an interesting and amazing package, portable, with all the mechanisms needed 'inside' to take
us from birth to death, I don't believe anything we do comes from anywhere else, (outside of the real
life on our earth),with the exception
of electricity, which we contain, and is also everywhere around us, so my scientific knowledge stops
right there, I will assume we give off electricity and also capture it as we need it.
Then we'd never wake up. And in a few people's instances, never be brought back to life. If all we are is physical and nothing else, then the brain is processing electrical signals for nothing. We might as well be rocks.
But, the intangible part of us, whatever else you want to call it, is not nothing.
If we break everything down to its very basic components, we end up with energy. Energy can take on different forms depending on the frequency of that energy: sound, light, heat and motion. Some can emanate all at the same time, like us. That energy permeates the entire Universe and connects everything to everything else. The aboriginal people call it the web of life. Pluck any strand on the web and effects the entire web. That is a concept that most people have a hard time wrapping their minds around because it entails a tremendous responsibility to life. In that sense, you are not nothing; you are an integral part of everything.
A vehicle needs a driver to function, someone to give it commands. But you are right, our consciousness is nothing only in the physical sense, but it is something that is required for life to function.
This statement is already contextually incorrect. It is not 'your nothingness'. You do not own or control consciousness. Consciousness is almost like a radio signal and your body is like the radio. It's transcendent and without your body as an emitter, cannot be contextualized. Likewise, your body, without this elusive wave of transcendent consciousness, is a rock.
You lose none of your freedoms by learning that 'you are nothing' in this sense. Rather, you are supposed to be even more free to realize that you are not formally bounded by some concrete ego. As far as I'm supposed to understand this, you become much more malleable once you realize you can foresake a lot of what is on your resume.
Rephrased then, as I pointed out, however, anyone's "nothingness" can inspire their physical beings to do things. The consciousness of anyone can inspire them to do things.
Sorry, I accept that I have an ego and it prods me into doing stuff, prods me away from other stuff, tells me that I am limited in things I can do simply because I am human, etc. It is something. I am something beyond a physicality. I have a character, a personality; those are also somethings.
You are right about that. Some people think that they are their resume. Acknowledging your innate ability to create your own reality is frieghtening to many people who would rather believe that they are controlled by gods and demons and victims of outside influences. As Cheech once said, "Responsibility is a heavy responsibility, man!"
Does your physical being do that all by itself? Or does it have help from your ego and personality?
Ego and personalities are constructs of our higher consciousness. They wewre created when we were too young to deal effectively with the world and cercumstances around us. It is this higher consciousness that animates our bodies and is the source of our creativity. What people imagine that to be varies according to their beliefs, but the simplest way to say it is that it is in the drivers seat. The ego may like to think it is control, but it can easily be replaced by a higher consciousness, if we so chose to take that responsibility.
I'm not sure I really follow what you're saying here. What I understand from what you have said is that "being aware of anyone can inspire them to do things." Putting that into context, if I'm aware of Alex Trebeck, he will be inspired to do some thing..
The existence of your ego is not in question. The nature of the existence of your ego is what is in question. The existence of a material substance that would constitute something's physicality is 'real'. The absence of a material substance that would constitute someone's character, personality, etc. is also 'real'.Sorry, I accept that I have an ego and it prods me into doing stuff, prods me away from other stuff, tells me that I am limited in things I can do simply because I am human, etc. It is something. I am something beyond a physicality. I have a character, a personality; those are also somethings.
Both of those qualities exist and are real. If I were to say: "AnnaG is the best conversationalist on the forums", at that moment in time I have recalled your ego which now exists in reflective consciousness. That ego, while there may be energy or mass or electrical sparks going on in my brain to represent its fruition, is still only an object of consciousness. Much in the same way, if I recall a former post of mine, and also in the same way if I attempt to predict future posts in this thread.
It may have an influence on my future decision making and yours, but it still constitutes as nothing. It may lead to 'something' and it may be inspirational, but the very crux of that awareness stems from the nothingness of possibility. What is real and something and if you'd like to attribute that to yourself is the actual action itself. But at that point in time, your ego actually doesn't exist; it only does so after you think - 'I did that' or beforehand - 'I will do that'.
That level of awareness is what Sartre calls - 'pre-reflective' consciousness. That is the level of awareness where the ego does not exist but only the world does. 'That's a tree! That's a cat! That's a thing!' And then he goes on a bit, I think, about how we're trying to get to that level of awareness naturally, such that we don't have to continue referring to our ego in reflective consciousness.
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I may be nothing but this ice cream cone is wonderful.
Hey wait a minute....
If I can feel wonderful then I must be something.
Hey wait a minute....
If I can feel wonderful then I must be something.
By the time you came to the realization you felt wonderful, you ceased to exist as something.
I have no intention of stopping feeling wonderful.
When I stop feeling something then I won't exist.
But it is nothing; or so you guys are arguing, anyway.
Oh, no! Nothing is driving the bus!