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We are all aware of computers. You probably first saw one when you were still a child and were instantly marvelled at the things it can do and the things you can do with it. Since then computers have come a long way and the advancements happen everyday.

The concept of a computer basically boils down to two parts. There’s the hardware and there is software. Let me take an example of a laptop. In a laptop, whatever you can see like the screen, keyboard, the metal body and all the chips and battery inside constitute the hardware.

And then there is the software part that you cannot see. All the softwares are located inside the hard disk and are stored electronically which can be either system software (like Mac or Windows) or other application softwares (like Photoshop, Music Player). 

The hardware and software come together to form a computer. Without the hardware, software can’t exist and without a software, all that would be left is a bunch of plastic and metal and silicon. 

Are We Computers Too?

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As I was in the shower, an odd thought crossed my mind. Surprising how often it happens in the shower, isn’t it? Anyways, I suddenly realised that we have a lot in common with computers. And by we, I mean us humans. 

We work in a pretty similar way to a computer. We take in information, we process it and then we give an output of some kind. Computers and humans do the processing differently but the act of processing still happens. 

But that’s not the “odd thought” I was talking about. Well actually it was more of a question. If we are like computers, and if our bodies and brains form the hardware part of it, what is the software? What’s the programming and who is the programmer?

I mean, our bodies are made up of non-living elements like oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, calcium and others. Yes, we have different parts performing different functions but at the smallest levels it is these elements that are interacting with each other and making sure we are alive, but who is telling them what to do….or rather what.

What Is Our Software?

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You could say that well, the brain tells everything what to do and that is correct but how does the brain is like the CPU of the human body just like a computer has a microprocessor. It’s the hardware part of us. What’s the software that guides our brain to do all that it does?

Well, in trying to answer this question, my thoughts wandered off to the various explanations that we have. 

If we take the religious route, the answer is soul. We are all aware of the concept of soul which leaves our bodies upon our death. So, it is probable that it could be the ‘software’ to our hardware and when it leaves, our bodies become meaningless. I mean, if we are someday capable of building an exact replica of the human body, would it come to life? At what point in the build process does it come to life anyway?

Consciousness, I thought was another explanation of the software. Nobody knows where our consciousness resides on our bodies. We are certain that it’s not a physical aspect of our body (obviously), so, this might be the software part that runs everything in our bodies effortlessly. 

What if both things were the one and the same and we just call the same ‘software’ by different names. Whatever it is, I am convinced that there is some form of non-physical element to our existence which we haven’t been able to explain yet. Promising researches are being conducted and many experts and scientists in this field expect a breakthrough ‘soon’ but who’s to say for sure. 

What do you think? Will we ever discover what keeps us and other living organisms on the planet ticking?