To me blind faith means making it up as you go along but it doesn't mean you have it right. You then have to live in a limited sphere of wondering about your choices & your outcome.

For a Christian...blind faith means we have this inspired word of God to look to, to know His will for our lives. When trouble comes & we have the tendency to want to take an easy way out or believe what our eyes see, this is where we are led to do what is right in God's eyes & not what the world says to do. The word then says...

Who's report will you believe?

When I am sick & dying...but God's word says by His stripes we are healed. Who's report will you believe?

That's not blind when we KNOW what God's word says. Blind meaning blind to what we see in the natural means God's word takes it place over us instead.

God has been stressing unity to my spirit lately with such intensity. We don't see God because of unbelief. Jesus would chase out unbelieving people so He could perform miracles. Yet God's word says to put down the things of this life & all it's cares, turn to Me & repent & I will forigve you your sins & heal your land. Learn of Me for I am gentle. If we would just stop the arguments & just come together in unity to believe God you would see mountains move.

For the Christians here...please ask God to show you what you are lacking in Him. He will fill you & raise you up. Now is the time.

As far as being "ants' or 'pawns" or "pets", well I can say that there are no fence sitters here. You are either for God or against Him. We are much more than pawns to God. MUCH MORE. God would never use us for his "amusement" but He "invites us" into His plan which is higher than any one person.

God bless.... I like what you wrote. It was very thoughtful.

I, truly, cannot believe you have never been married. Hey, it is hard out there. You keep being yourself. There is someone that is made just for you. I hope he is kind, full of humor and quick to set you straight. Strong women such as yourself need a man who can handle you. He will be a very lucky man. Get off this damn site and get out there girl. Do what is interesting to you. That is the way to socialize with men. You cannot feel the chemistry online. Don't get me wrong I know that there are people who have found love on the internet. But, it should not be your only resource. I don't know you personally so I cannot say what you have tried. Hey, stop trying. Just get out there. Go fishing. People talk to people they have never met when doing that. Go out there with your fishing pole and bait and ask someone, " Hey, how do I do this?" You would be very surprised how many people will help you. It is relaxing too. If you don't meet a man, then you can at least make some great friends.

Creative, you seems to be jumping to a whole lot of conclusions here that sound like nothing more than your own personal opinions without any genuine reasoning behind them.

You say,



You say that computers have no 'perceptual faculty', but this is highly arguable. Many laptops will 'sense' (perceive) that their battery is getting and tell the operator than they need to be recharged.

You can say, "Oh well, that's all just programmed in with the use of sensors that sense the battery voltage"

Maybe so, but if the computer can "sense' something enough to "respond' to that input then isn't it 'perceiving' the event?

Keep reading, I'm not done,...



I'm completely with you one this, but I think I understand it differently from you, and here's why,...

You say, "Self awareness requires the ability to perceive self"

I agree. However, you put the emphasis on requires, allow me to put the emphasis on ability.

I say, "You say, "Self awareness requires the ability to perceive self"

This is what awareness of anything must start with - the ability to perceive.

However, if there's nothing out there to perceive that doesn't imply that the ability to perceive isn't still innate. You can have the ability to perceive even when there isn't anything to perceive. Having the ability to perceive does not require that you have something to perceive.

It's like I say to you, "My car has the ability to run". So you ask me, "Is your car running now?"

I say no. It just has the ability to run, but it's not running now.

Then you say to me, "Well if your car isn't running now, then it clearly doesn't have the ability to run"

That's basically your argument here. You're saying, well, if you have nothing to perceive, then you can't have the ability to perceive.

This, is what you are saying with your therefore statement,...



That's wrong. That's like telling me that it's impossible for my car to have the ability run if it isn't running now. You're trying to suggest that running is necessary if you are to have the ability to run. That you can only have the ability to run if you are always running.

In other words, you are trying to say that you can only have awareness if you are perceiving something.

I'm saying, no. You can be aware that you are not perceiving anything. I'm saying that the ability to be aware must come before the ability to perceive.

Now you may argue, "But animals have no self-awareness and they can perceive!"

I would suggest that this statement is a whole topic for conversation in it's own right. Having awareness and being aware of the self are two entirely different things. Awareness, and the ability to be aware are not dependent on having a sense of self. Self-awareness is being aware of a very specific concept (i.e. the concept of the self). Awareness in general does not need to be an awareness of self.

Getting back to the computer with the low battery. The computer has the ability to sense that's it's battery is low, and report that sensation to the user as a need. (My battery needs to be charged)

But is the computer aware of this? Is there a self inside the computer that is perceiving what was sensed and reported as a need. I think we'll all pretty much agree that the computer has no awareness.

I would say that animals are aware they are aware when friendly people are around. They are aware of certain kids of dangers and threats. They are certainly aware of which other animals are of their same species and even of their GENDER! They are aware of a lot of things.

Animals have a lot of awareness. They just don't have self-awareness, at least not in an egotistical sense like humans do.



I can't argue with this. If you cant perceive that you are a human you aren't even going to think of yourself as a human. If you cant perceive an environment you aren't going to be able to react with it or even know that it exists. But you can be 'aware' that you have no form and no environment to interact with. You can be aware that there is nothing to perceive.

So awareness does not depend on perception, it's merely the ability to perceive. You can be aware that there is nothing to perceive.




I need to comment on the following too, but I thought I'd put it in a separate post.



I'm in complete agreement with you here. But from a totally different vantage point. Like Jeannie has said, you seem to have everything inside out.

You're looking at the real world and trying to figure out how we can understand it. Then you are saying to yourself. If we could not perceive it then we could have no knowledge of it to begin with.

That's absolutely 100% correct.

However, you're starting at the wrong end.

You starting with a completely formed, very complex universe and trying to work your way back to nothingness. They you are saying silly things like, "If we couldn't perceive this complex world we wouldn't be able to be aware of it!"

Of course we wouldn't be able to be aware of something that we can't perceive! In that sense perception must come first. How could you possibly be aware of something that you can't perceive?

I'm with you 100% on that and I see exactly where you are coming from with that. But that's BACKWARDS thinking. You have it inside out.

You had to have the ability to be aware FIRST!

Without the ability to be aware it wouldn't matter what exists to perceive you wouldn't be able to perceive it anyway if you didn't first have the ability to be aware.

The ability to be aware must come FIRST before you can perceive anything.

DISCLAIMER:

I've been using the words perceive and aware here based on the usage and definitions that you gave for them in your context. You have the following,...

Perceive - the ability to 'sense' stimuli
Aware - the innate ability to comprehend or know that you have 'sensed' stimuli

You must have the ability to comprehend or know before you can perceive anything.

You must be innately aware before you can perceive anything.

And now let me add that I personally don't use these words in this way.

I was just keeping in line with the way that you were using them. And maybe that's good.

I've always believed that words are more of a contextual thing anyway.

Words can often get in the way of communication. Yet this is all we have to work with.

I'm out there. God just showed me that humanity's standards have gotten so low that my sites were lowered to just accept it. One day I thought, "What the heck was I thinking???" when I saw so many godly & powerful Christian men that is. :)

I just don't feel the need to settle anymore. I know what you mean though. I'm getting ready for His best for me & having fun along the way. Love you wedding pic. You're a lovely woman.

I hope I'm not sounding snotty...it's not what it's about. I really wish more people would see what I saw so they could have their best life too.

Thats whats up

Yes well I didn't lose my sass or my tongue because of my faith. I think my faith has enhanced my ability to communicate with others in spite of my sassy ways.

Hey! I'm living proof that God has a sense of humor.

Just kiddin'.... LOL

Some comments for creative:

Although I agree completely with Abra, and he has said it better that I could have, I will ask this one question that many scientists and doctors have asked and been unable to answer..until maybe recently....

(below)




The question is: What specific part of the brain is sentient and aware? Where is the conscious will? What part of the brain imagines? What part of the brain dreams?

Some say it is the pineal gland in the center of the brain that gives rise to religious experiences and other out of body awareness.


The human brain processes information even better than a computer. It is basically nothing more than a biological computer receiving and processing information of all kinds from the senses. Given all of that, scientists still do not know what part of the brain actually is sentient and aware of self and has a will.

So what might be the function of this gland? Does it connect us to our source? If so, if it is tampered with, will we die or loose our soul?

Some call it the third eye. I think this could be a very interesting study.

accepted perception=reality

If we take a serious look at the world around us , we can not find a perfect designer . So " perfect " exists only as a linguistic term and not as a reality .

I think this is the big question right there! The question that everyone ultimately wants to know, including believers in the Bible.

The ultimate question is this,... "Are we nothing more than walking computers? Or are we connected to some deeper underlying spiritual essence?"

Even believers in the Bible would have to agree that, if we are not our bodies, then our 'souls' are somehow interfaced to our physical bodies. Even Christianity is a form of "The Matrix". The only difference is that Christians think they know who is running "The Matrix".

If we are nothing but our brains (as you seem to be claiming Michael), then in theory, a sufficiently complex computer could indeed become just as sentient and self-aware as a human being. Just as much 'alive'. And that may very well be the case. But maybe not. I all depends on what Jeannies has asked, "Are we connected to a higher source?"

If we are, then maybe computers could never become alive in the same way as humans. If we aren't, then why couldn't computers become our equals? Our brothers?

We already recognize that animals are 'alive'. But most people don't believe they have 'spirits'. And they certainly haven't had the 'enlightenment' of self-awareness yet. But who's to say that they can't evolve to that?

How would that happen? Would an ape just one day wake up and scream "Eureka!". Would it be an instantaneous awakening? Or would it be a slow groggy realization that takes place over a longer period of time? Would it be something that an ape would need to be born with? Or could an older ape 'awaken' in midlife?

How would we know when at ape has awakened? According to studies Chimpanzees do show signs that they borderline on at least a potential for self-awareness, but they haven't seemed to have quite crossed over the line yet.

What would it take to cross over that line? Is that line all-important? Is self-awareness somehow significantly different that not having self-awareness? Or is it merely a different state of mind. A different viewpoint. Nothing fundamentally all that different from a non self-aware animal?

Are animals that are not self-aware nothing more that biological robots that have no more 'life' in them than a battery operated toy? Or a computer? I don't think anyone would claim that. I think everyone recognizes the living aspect of animals and treats them like they are ALIVE.

They are certainly 'conscious' if not 'self-aware'. We can see the difference between a conscious animal and an unconscious animal.

If we are 'stand-alone' beings. Then computers could also become both sentient and self-aware too. They would just need a certain level of complexity. Other animals could also become self-aware.

Why should humans think they are special in this regard? (unless of course they have been reading fairytales that claim that a Santa Claus God gave them the gift of life).

As I sit at my computer desk my big black cat carefully approaches wanting some attention. He wants me to hold him. He is such a big lovable baby. I raised him from two weeks old with a bottle. He has always been real lovable, wanting to sleep "cheek to cheek" or under my chin wrapping his arms around me.

Animals feel and give love, or at least it certainly seems so. Especially cats if you are close them. A day does not go by that he does not want some holding and hugging.

This is the cat I wrote about in my attraction experiment. He was delivered strait to my door. He was just what I needed and wanted and asked the universe for.

Do animals channel love from source? I think so. My sister has a parrot who won't take up with anyone but her. I think that parrot thinks she is his mate.

Jeanniebean

Maybe it is the law of attraction as its best . Now I need a lady who resembles your cat in mind only ... .

Oh, JB I see you do have a cat Where are the rest?

Wow! Your a freakin genious.

You might want to get more. I really don't think that trip to Hawaii is going to happen.

OMG! You were asked a simple question and then your write a darn book. Come on.

Thank you. for being so wise and educating us all.........................................................................pause................................NOT.

Your soul is not going anywhere until you pass this life silly. Maybe, you should go to the doctor and have your glands checked if your that worried.

What? You get a free book and you complain?



If you like I can write you a song. Would that make you happy?

Who is perfect ?.