Who Do You Think You Are?
No, I'm not about to chastize you for anything! I'm just asking a question to stimulate your thinking process.
We often think about ourselves as a single entity with a brain and a will to control our own destinies. But consider for a moment what our bodies are really composed of.
All the cells that make up our bodies are actually living micro-organisms. Each of these individual organisms must perform a specific function in order to earn its keep. These organisms must eat, replicate, and die. They are living creatures!
Aside from the obvious cells that make up the tissues of our skin, muscles, hair, blood, organs, etc., there are millions of bacteria that live in our gut. These bacteria are able to communicate directly with our brains and tell us when to eat and even what to eat. The messages are subliminal in the form of cravings. Nevertheless, the message comes through loud and clear. Scientists often say that we have a second brain in our intestinal system. They say that if the intestinal system were removed from the body and given everything it needs to survive, it could continue to function without the need for the brain that resides in our heads. People that are considered brain-dead can still survive because the gut continues to function without the brain in our head.
One of the types of bacteria that live in our gut is called Candida. Candida is thought to be responsible for urinary infections and other health issues when it is over-abundant because it then leaves the gut and enters the bloodsteam where it doesn't belong. Candida loves sugars and is considered to be the primary reason for sugar addictions. In order to combat sugar addiction, one needs to restore balance to the types of bacteria that live in our gut. How to do that is not part of this discussion so I will leave it for now. I only mention this to indicate how much influence these forein creatures have on what we think is our free will.
Considering the fact that we rely on living organisms like bacteria to enable us to break down our food into something our bodies are able to use and the fact that these organisms are able to influence our thoughts and desires leads me to wonder just how independent we really are! Personally, I feel that we are simply a mass of living organisms clumped together into what we identify as 'our' body. This mass then does what it needs to do to satisfy the needs of each member of the colony. We are simply another piece of a larger puzzle of life on this planet.
So now you know who or what I think I am (just an integral small piece of a much larger life). Who do you think 'you' are? Please tell me below.
(I am unable to cite specific references because I wrote all of this without looking anything up. This is all just stuff that is rumbling around in my brain from videos and other sources I have consumed over time.)
I know who I am. I'm a chain of delicious Pizza.
Upvoted & Followed
LOL... Actually, pizza is made from living things and then consumed by living things, so yea. You really ARE part of the chain!
Yes yes an infinite chain! Happy Me too! I'm immortal!!!
If you pay 50 cents each per vote and get $1 back, then LOSE 25% to curation, don't you end up the loser and Bernie the winner?
I like to help the upvote service and myself :-)
I tried to do the math on it a while back, and it seems like a painfully slow way to build SP... but it's easy money for the upvote service.
From time to time, it's profitable.
Yup, That's my conclusion too. I have never used it. Hopefully never will.
Good question!
I think I'm mostly an arrangement of energy, like pretty much everything on this planet. At the moment, that arrangement takes the form currently known as "Denmarkguy." Sounds pretty cold and not very romantic, huh?
Actually, this is where it starts to get interesting... because when we get down on the scale or quarks and leptons, elements of quantum physics start to kick in. Suddenly the whole "we're all connected" idea enters the realm of reality. If enough tiny energy particles that once were "Denmarkguy" become part of a different energy pattern known as-- let's say "Fred"-- who is to say that Fred's "crazy idea" that he had a past life as a writer isn't merely a quantum memory imprinted on the bits and pieces that once were Denmarkguy, but now are Fred.
We can't measure this stuff now... but who's to say we won't be able to, in 500 years from now?
That's the sort of stuff that's bouncing around inside my head...
Oh yes! I love your response! I wish I could give you 1,000% up-vote for that reply. I never thought of it in quite that way before, but it actually makes sense. A lot of the ideas from biblical times are so far-fetched that it seems plausible that we have been inhabited by beings of superior knowledge. What we now believe to be reincarnation could very well be the memory imprints that you speak of! So if these 'superior' people told a human of the old days about quantum physics and memory imprints, the only part they would likely be able to comprehend would be that we came back reincarnated. Think about it: If you told someone back then that one day man would be able to fly all over the world, they would likely picture Icarus with his home-made wings rather than a metal airplane.
Thank-you so much for providing more stuff to jumble around in my own mind! This is what I love about this platform. Meeting of the minds!
This is truly an interesting post, and this is what I think often about life and bacteria. I think, bacteria is one of the biggest facts of this life on earth. Because of it, there is beauty in this world, and at the same time, bacteria is also responsible for the bad things such as a disease, for example. Your health is almost totally dependent on bacteria. I remember I was using anti-biotics when I was ill, and along with getting rid of the disease that I had, the antibiotics also made me ill even more when I was using them, because they killed all the good and the bad bacteria.
Thanks for the contribution to this topic, @monajam. It is true that antibiotics will destroy the good along with the bad bacteria. That is why we must re-populate our bodies with the good bacteria while and after taking antibiotics. It really is amazing how much our health depends on what we put into our bodies and the digestion process.
Well I'm a guy that admires the guy you have pictured in your post. I'm a guy that happily spends way too much time on Steemit and is grateful for the opportunity. I'm a guy that likes to take pictures and have fun. I'm a guy that wears my own kind of hat. Good post, followed.
Thank-you! Much appreciated.
I believe we are, at the core, what many people refer to as a "soul", or "consciousness", surrounded by the independent organisms.
I also believe we are each interconnected with all the other beings of the planet- much like all the independent organisms within us are solo working together toward the whole...
Thanks for the contribution!
It is interesting to see what others think about this sort of thing.
I agree :)
Let's see if @originalworks can verify that my work is original.
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great and informative post
i will follow your account to see how are you doing;) please follow me
An up-vote might help indicate that this isn't just some automated comment spam. This platform shows its appreciation with an up-vote.
It is comment spam... Automated or not, he's just begging for upvotes/followers.
Religions attempt the answer the questions;
Who am I?
Where did I come from/ how did I get here?
Why am I here?
Where do I go when I leave/die?
The answers that you give, or believe, shapes your worldview and thus how you live the life that you have and make your daily decisions. So a person's behavior, good or bad, and the decisions that they make, good or bad, are rooted in one way or another by how they have answered these questions for themselves. And an "I don't know and don't care" answer has certain default answers of its own.
I'm not going to even try to discuss the variables in these answers and what those answers mean to an individuals attitudes and motivations in life, because that would become a book very quickly. But I hope I provided some ideas for further deep thought like what you have started here.
By the way, which came first? The bacteria that lives in the intestines of mammals and needs them for it's survival, or the mammals that require the bacteria to digest their food and trigger certain signals in our brains?
And on the subject of memories. A memory is simply stored information correct? That particular information was generated by you and stored in your brain cells. But where did the information come from that directs those cells? Every cell has it's own blueprints and operating manuals, and all of it's mechanisms operate automatically like little robots. Tiny little robots with very intricate moving parts and processing plants that convert fuel into energy, power and work. Where in the world did all of that information come from and how could it get stored into such a tiny space?
I know, I know, I ask a lot of questions lol. I ask myself questions all of the time and then look for the answers! 🙂
All are excellent questions and observations. These are the things that define us, as you pointed out. Until we can learn to time-travel, it will be difficult to answer most points brought up here. For now, the best we can do is speculate on the evidence we have. Perhaps one day we may know the answers?