Return to CreateDebate.comjaded • Join this debate community

Joe_Cavalry All Day Every Day


Debate Info

17
41
True. Wait..., what? No!!!
Debate Score:58
Arguments:68
Total Votes:59
More Stats

Argument Ratio

side graph
 
 True. (14)
 
 Wait..., what? No!!! (41)

Debate Creator

joecavalry(40163) pic



The problem with evolution (part 2)

 

There are 2 components to life.

 

1.  The physical body.

2.  That thing we call the self.

 

Evolution only explains the physical body.  Evolution does not explain sentience.

True.

Side Score: 17
VS.

Wait..., what? No!!!

Side Score: 41

Why would a bunch of elements in the periodic table come together to form DNA? DNA is what drives the chemical reactions necessary by living organisms. Did the elements want to survive? Did the chemical reactions which to survive? What does survival mean to those things?

Side: True.
Cartman(18192) Disputed
1 point

Science doesn't answer why. It tells you how. Natural processes don't have a why.

Side: Wait..., what? No!!!

Right. Nor does it go all the way back. That has always been the sticking point with me.

Side: Wait..., what? No!!!
Grugore(856) Disputed
1 point

But they haven't been able to explain how it happened. All they have are guesses and made up stories.

Side: True.
daver(1771) Disputed
1 point

You are hinting at a creator.

Such a concept instantly summons the exact same question. WHY would a creator do all that.

Side: Wait..., what? No!!!

Not in the sense of a God. But definitely some sentient being(s).

Side: Wait..., what? No!!!
1 point

sentience seems to have many definitions. some define it as the ability to perceive (with senses?). some as the ability 'to feel pain' (emotional? as a sense?). others as the ambiguous 'to feel'.

you seem to be using sentience in place of consciousness, yet another definition.

there are ideas that you, or your consciousness is your body, your brain, or a sequence of information. i would agree with the latter, but would say that this information, this tendency to make certain choices and follow certain patterns is created by the brain as it 'learns'. i therefore believe that the creation of the brain is the creation of the personality.

the brain exists as a control centre which takes stimuli and reacts accordingly in ways that have in previous circumstances worked for its survival. in my simplified version, the unique way in which a brain reacts to stimuli is consciousness.

evolution can be used to explain the creation of the brain and as far as i am concerned, therefore the creation of the self.

Side: Wait..., what? No!!!

So do you imagine that the internet may someday become sentient?

Side: Wait..., what? No!!!
1 point

What's holding it back? Oh, right, people like you. ;)

Side: Wait..., what? No!!!
1 point

You are distinguishing between self and body. What is your reason that the self is not part of the body?

Side: Wait..., what? No!!!
Grugore(856) Clarified
2 points

If you lose an arm or a leg, do you lose any consciousness? One could say that the brain contains your conscious self. One could also claim that the brain is merely the vehicle that your consciousness uses to interact with reality.

Side: True.
flewk(1193) Clarified
1 point

So what happens to the self when there are mental disorders or brain injuries? I assume they interfere with the self's ability to interact with reality. What about psychopathy, is that the self losing control? What about comas or locked-in syndrome, is the self just trapped inside the body?

When does the self leave the body? Only upon death? Brain-death? How would this view affect DNR? What about emergency resuscitation in general?

Side: True.

I find it hard to believe that elements in the periodic table got together by chance to create RNA, then DNA, then single cell organism, then a multi cell organism, then the cells specialized and created organs and finally became sentient.

I can see them getting together into a cycle of chemical reactions but that's about it. For example, the cycle of evaporation, condensation and precipitation.

But hey, that's just me ;)

Side: Wait..., what? No!!!
flewk(1193) Clarified
1 point

So... are you saying the body is part of the self then?

Side: True.
1 point

The greatest thing about science is that it works even without you finding it easy to believe. Plus, of your list of things most of them didn't just happen by chance. All of those things make it easier to survive.

I wish it was just you.

Side: Wait..., what? No!!!
1 point

I wrote this about God and it says some stuff about Consciousness, or Chetana:

Depends on your definition of God. If you think of God as Western religions define him, then no God doesn't exist. There is no person type thing that created the world in 7 days or whatever and will send you to Hell if you displease him.

My definition of God, being Hindu, is greatly different. God isn't a him or a her but an omnipresent force that has existed before time. It didn't create the world, and doesn't decide anything about the world. It exists inside of everything; me, you, Gandhi, Hitler, a tree, a rock, space, etc.

Scientists call it consciousness. Scientists know consciousness exists, so you can say my definition of god is wrong. You may argue that rocks don't have consciousness, but once you read the link you will have a new outlook on consciousness.

I know my definition of God isn't what many of you are thinking of,but if you look deeply God in all of the theistic religions is just a manifestation of consciousness. In Hinduism there aren't "many Gods" there is one God that is the consciousness in every thing on Earth.

Supporting Evidence: conciousness (www.nytimes.com)
Side: Wait..., what? No!!!

Thank you for the link.

Side: Wait..., what? No!!!