Unraveling Mysteries of Life [antikvár]

ForewordThe goals that we set for ourselves individually and collectively depend on the answers we give to the fundamental question "Who am I?" For example, if I think, "I am an American man," I behave as such.Today, the most influential answers to the question "Who am I?" come from modern science, and the answers that modern science gives are somewhat materiahstic. All of us experience ourselves as conscious individuals, however, according to the dominant ideas in modern cognitive science, consciousness is only a temporary byproduct of biochemical activity in the brain. Matter, if arranged in a sufficiently complex way in the brain, produces consciousness. Thus, matter is primary. At the time of death, when the biochemical activity in the brain ceases, consciousness ceases to exist.So then what are we really? According to the view outlined above, we are machines made of molecules. Not only that, we are machines made of molecules in competition with each other for survival. These are the dominant scientific ideas about human nature in the present age. Although people may privately have other ideas about human nature, these dominant ideas are the ones that are taught in the tax-supported education systems all over the world. In addition, these are the ideas that inform government policy-making. The resuh is that people all over the world have become very materialistic in terms of their goals, even if they are nominally religious. Most people, and governments, believe that producing and consuming more and more material things, in competition with other individuals and groups, is the main purpose of human life.The focus of modern science on matter and its interactions has been productive. It has enabled human society to make progress technologically and economically. However, the progress