Life doesn't make sense...

How do atoms, non-living spheres, or strings, tiny pieces of energy..... make a thinking, moving thing? That's like putting trillions of solid wooden balls, and expecting them to start moving to make cells and thinking after awhile. We are just a bunch of strings or solid spheres moving. How is that possible? How are the balls or strings thinking?

[edit on 26-1-2007 by TL]

[edit on 26-1-2007 by TL]

Good thinking, if we are made out of attoms or strings how do they know to move in to the right direction, after all they are just atoms and strings.
So what keeps us glued together.

Think of it more like an ant colony one and is "dumb", not doing anything in particular usually focuses on one task, now put hundreds of thousands of ants together, you get a fully functional "smart" organism able to react to many different situations

Originally posted by TL
How do atoms, non-living spheres, or strings, tiny pieces of energy..... make a thinking, moving thing? That's like putting trillions of solid wooden balls, and expecting them to start moving to make cells and thinking after awhile. We are just a bunch of strings or solid spheres moving. How is that possible? How are the balls or strings thinking?

[edit on 26-1-2007 by TL]

[edit on 26-1-2007 by TL]

Solid little spheres? No offense, but how old are you? Atoms are not solid little spheres, that is just the textbook drawing of an atom. Atoms are mainly empty space.

Originally posted by shrunkensimon

Originally posted by TL
How do atoms, non-living spheres, or strings, tiny pieces of energy..... make a thinking, moving thing? That's like putting trillions of solid wooden balls, and expecting them to start moving to make cells and thinking after awhile. We are just a bunch of strings or solid spheres moving. How is that possible? How are the balls or strings thinking?

[edit on 26-1-2007 by TL]

[edit on 26-1-2007 by TL]

Solid little spheres? No offense, but how old are you? Atoms are not solid little spheres, that is just the textbook drawing of an atom. Atoms are mainly empty space.

You missed my point. It doesn't matter what they look like. They are still not living.

Originally posted by Cs_Exile
Think of it more like an ant colony one and is "dumb", not doing anything in particular usually focuses on one task, now put hundreds of thousands of ants together, you get a fully functional "smart" organism able to react to many different situations

Yea, but are atoms ants? How do atoms start MOVING to create this organism? Ants obviously have a brain, so thats what tells them to move to this position and such.

Ah, yes, TL, Life certainly presents us with conundrums. We are finding out now that what we call the "physical world" is energy.
We all inhabit, take on, this energy in this physical world. You, and I, and everyone else. We are All Life.
What are the "we" that take on this energy? What we call "spirit".

We study all forms of this energy. You could, for example, be a geologist and study a rock, then for fun, skip a rock across the water. Life is full of limitless possibilities.

I wanted to add this
One could say that the energy that bundles up to make the brain and body is just that, a bundle of energy to make a brain and body. I believe that there is also "spirit."

[edit on 27-1-2007 by desert]

Originally posted by TL
You missed my point. It doesn't matter what they look like. They are still not living.

There is no magical stuff called "life" or "living". These are scientific terms to describe activities of large collections of atoms and molecules. It would not make any sense to point to one collection of molecules that does all the "life" stuff and say, "Well, yes, it reproduces, metabolizes, grows, responds to stimuli, etc, but it isn't - you know - ALIVE - like this other thing over here that reproduces, metabolizes, grows, and responds to stimuli."

It's like the concept of "pretty". If you looked at each atom in a pretty woman's face, would you call each atom separately "pretty"? No. They're organized in a way that we CONVENTIONALLY call pretty. But, as with life and thing like viruses, there are grey areas.

Originally posted by Sophismata

Originally posted by TL
You missed my point. It doesn't matter what they look like. They are still not living.

There is no magical stuff called "life" or "living". These are scientific terms to describe activities of large collections of atoms and molecules. It would not make any sense to point to one collection of molecules that does all the "life" stuff and say, "Well, yes, it reproduces, metabolizes, grows, responds to stimuli, etc, but it isn't - you know - ALIVE - like this other thing over here that reproduces, metabolizes, grows, and responds to stimuli."

It's like the concept of "pretty". If you looked at each atom in a pretty woman's face, would you call each atom separately "pretty"? No. They're organized in a way that we CONVENTIONALLY call pretty. But, as with life and thing like viruses, there are grey areas.

Zooming in on a face has nothing to do with atoms being able to move and group up.

It is called Quantum mechanics, organic chemistry, molecular biology, life. Once you understand the nature of the building blocks it all makes sense. Perhaps you should start at the beginning and learn a little more about atoms, molecules, and basic organic chemistry. Once you begin to understand atomic bonds, molecular structure and formation, it will make more sense to you.

Unfortunately this is a rather big subject and a few lines on a web board would do it no justice. I am certain you can find out all you need by going to the library or surfing the web. The building blocks of life begin at the atomic scale. The building blocks of the universe begin at the sub atomic scale.

I must say again the starter of this thread asked a good question.
Quantum mecanics at a microscopic level does not answer the question.

Everything is cheiotic and random in quantum mecanics, that means that half of me has a chance of going in another direction while the other go's in front.
At atomic level there is a problem, all atoms look and are the same, the atoms in the water are the same as the atoms in me, there is no colony of atoms, so the atom let's say that is away an inch from my hand is the same as an atom from within me, what gives color? what makes things move.
Do atoms have brains?
Do atoms have instincts?
Atoms can't explain while we stay glued, scientists can't even explain what gives color, because the atoms that form water, land, etc are all the same look alike.
Quantum mecanics is even more chaotic and random to explain order and perfection, acordin to it from time to time I should be able to walk thru the wall after trying couple of times as my matter interacts with the wall.

Color is a human defined element. While many creatures can detect differences in light wavelength (Fruit and flowers being different colors for this reason), color is essentially just different wavelengths of light being absorbed by the matter.

Atoms are not the base substrate of the universe, as they are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons- which are likewise made up of quarks and other sub-atomic particles (Hence the term sub-atomic particles).

Likewise, these are made up of other particles.

String theory puts forward that the basist form of matter is vibrating strings of energy.

I put forward that the fabric of reality is like a fabric. A design, a mozaic. Of course, I would also put forward that there is a primal sentience that essentially we are a part of... the base energy of the universe being some primal creation urge giving rise to matter itself.

The problem with trying to reduce material existence to an understandable level is this; when you hold an apple in your hand, you are not touching it really. The surface molecules of your hand and the surface molecules of the apple never quite meet. There is empty space between. So then, what keeps the apple in your hand, should it not merely slip out since there is no connection between the two?

All existence is made up 98% of empty space. This is a huge problem in the realm of physics that they have been trying to tackle for many decades now. The primary theory is that the nuclear forces somehow keep everything from falling apart at an atomic level, because otherwise all the empty space wouldn't bind anything together.

Complicated, non?

This is just one of the great mysteries of being alive. It reminds me of a story from one of my favorite authors, Robert Ludlum....

"Do you remember being in kindergarten and you placed a seed in a cup of dirt and put it in the window sill? After a few weeks it sprouted out of the dirt and began to grow...

No one knows why this happens."

Thats not an exact quote but it's about the sheer wonder of being alive. Everything around you is amazing and a miracle. Never stop being amazed by the wonder of it all...

Originally posted by pepsi78
Atoms can't explain while we stay glued, scientists can't even explain what gives color,

This isn't accurate. Have you taken a basic chemistry course either in high school or at the college level? I have (both) and while I've long since forgotten the nitty gritty details, bonds that keep atoms tied to each other as molecules and molecules tied to other molecules are well documented and understood. Modern chemistry would not be possible without these bonds being understood. It has to do with the number of electrons in the shell of a given atom, which can vary (unlike the number of protons, which cannot vary within element). Certain elements bond under certain conditions to other elements and tend to stay that way unless an amount of energy GREATER than the bond strength is inputted, either by physical force or energy input, etc.. As for color - that is simply the tendency of atoms/molecules to absorb or reflect certain wavelength photons. It is well understood, or paint and optics companies would not be able to do what they do.

Anyway, my point is that you may feel that absolutely everything is a mystery, but it is not. Scientists have spent decades and centuries studying this stuff and if you take a class you can learn what's known so far. OR you can keep thinking it's a mystery.

Life making sense is irrefucable nonsense. And speaking of wooden balls and sense, does it make sense for my girlfriend to wail on my sac and then say she is too tired afterward for two chunks of vanilla in your mouth? Replicas, that's all they are.

I think people are getting confused.
Nobody really understands anything, all everything people are doing is OBSERVING and coming up with math to fit what an observer sees. In any field
of science, there are heaps of theories. They are just observations, educated guess's as to what goes on inside an atom, the airfoil of a wing, a black hole...ect. These are all just observations ! In electronics they have theories which are used to generate electricity, but if you ask any engineer they wont be able explain the WHY, they just say its a theory or property of something. All we are doing is looking and observing, nothing more. cant believe some people think they know how things work ! The most brilliant minds in the earth dont even know, end they change very often, their theories. Look at the Hawking Paradox, he changed his mind after 20 years !

In short the answer you are looking for is this: We do not know. IF you did you would be god.

[edit on 29-1-2007 by R3KR]

Everything is the way it is because it could not exist any other way.

It is purely by chance that we are able to observe, contemplate, and most importantly, question our existence.

What if consciousness creates matter, and not the other way around??

Life making sense is irrefucable nonsense.

Everything is the way it is because it could not exist any other way.

-It mite appear life doesn't make any sense to you personally, aswell as many others no doubt, but by saying it doesn't make sense you are implying that you already know the answer to the question; What is the purpose of life? Your saying life is nonsense, its random, chaotic, probable by chance etc, but even then, by stating that is makes no sense you have unintentionally declared you understand that life has no purpose. Its better to say you honestly have no idea, although i admire anyone who states their belief anyway(so long as its not forced, but asked of). Anyone who hasn't pondered the big questions, irrelevant of the answers they've formed, isn't really alive IMHO lol.

-Exactly. it could not exist any other way because what we have ladies and gentlemen, is perfection. Reality IS perfection, its just human ego can't see this because of the illusion we have on Earth. Nature is beauty and perfection, DNA is perfection, plants such as ferns demonstrate fractals in nature, how matter can suddenly take on a complex form and be self-aware, matter having awareness.

If that is not perfection, i don't know what is!

I think people are getting confused. Nobody really understands anything......IF you did you would be god.

Which can be answered by "TheBandit795";

What if consciousness creates matter, and not the other way around??

My belief is energy is consciousness. As Bill Hicks once said, "matter is merely energy condensed to slower vibration". The illusion of society makes us focus on materialism and "matter", it has made us forget our connection to the higher realms of consciousness.

As someone else said, theories are just theories, they change, its all based upon observation. Give Einstein or Hawkings some '___' and they would probably be able to draw you reality. I say that because they observe the outside really well, and can apply what they know, but what they lack is insight.

Einstein said once, "I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings." I think this shows he has a fairly good grasp on the truth of reality, although i do not agree with Spinoza on the mind/body parallel subworlds not overlaping or interacting. I believe we are the most dense portion of consciousness, the bottom of the pile, so not being able to see higher existence limits us, aswell as making us look down on other life below us, the "food chain".

Originally posted by TheBandit795
What if consciousness creates matter, and not the other way around??

Hmmmmm, consciousness as in Consciousness, God? Well, sounds like the ancient Creation Story to me.


Another hmmmmmm, Shrunk, "consciousness raising" to a "higher level" hmmmmmm