Do we really exist?

think about this:

-An atom has no intelligence, becasue it is just a collection of tiny tiny particles held together by magnetism.

-An atom does not need any food, drink, nutrition to keep living.

-An atom cannot die because matter cannot be created nor destroyed, and an atom is not "alive".

everyone can accept this.

now the confusing part. Every single one of us is made up of atoms, an yet we

-die
-need nutrition
-have intelligence

How does this work out???

.

Interesting question...I myself would suppose the existence of some imperceptible principle of life, be it called "spirit," "soul" or the "life principle." I find it even more interesting that within a few years every cell, and consequently every atom in our bodies, will be replaced by completely different ones. In other words, the physical body we have now will eventually become a completely different body, yet we still remain the "same" person. There must be "something else" which constitutes the phenomenon we call "life."

when you look at it this way, it would almost seem as if we have devolved, not the other way around. either way, our formation has purpose, decerning that purpose remains to be seen. perhaps when we "die" our bodies return to their original state, or become part of a greater whole in the universe (or some such nonesense, right? lol) thus allowing us to understand things on a greater level.

actually, the more i think about it, the more sense this makes. the only thing you have to get your head around is the fact that perhaps "you" have always been in the universe in some way.

When looked at from a purely scientific point of view atoms can't be destroyed but matter can change states. The human body dies but then decomposes and eventually is turned into dirt....witch is kind of ironic seeing as Christianity founds its basis of man coming into existence via dirt...

Billions of years ago, the atoms you are made up of were nothing more than space dist, remainants of a star long dead.

Then they met up with the other atoms that became our sun and the planets surrounding it. Other atoms in your body could have once belonged to a comet of asteroid from outside this system as well.

Eventually, our atoms will be space dust again... Dust to dust. But reason we as beings die, is because we are no more than a bunch of atoms currently working in chemical harmony, and like all chemical reactions, eventually, we stop.

As a subnote, atoms can be destroyed. Everything in this universe was at one time something else. Matter was energy, energy was matter, and so on throughout eternity.

yet still, what you are has been and always will be. atoms, dirt, energy, whatever. our physical self may be more lasting than our "spiritual self" ... just maybe. which is quite a switch from western world beliefs. its sort of comforting to me actually.

I have found that the more I study both sciences and religions, the more theories I come accross, the more this view of mine makes sense.

Anyone who hasn't tried imagining or meditating on the 4th dimension is missing out on an awesome sight!

It's all in my head though, of course!

ya, very intersesting thought wyote. I was made from a combination of my father and mother's sperm, and that sperm came from their fathes and mothers and so on... but we can on say that physically we may have always existed, thats it, not our conciousness etc, so technically not 'we' so to say.

and jimmy, I don't think the atoms themselves require various needs to survive, but rather to support the different systems that have emerged from different combinations

ok we live die need food and drink because all this acts are moving the atoms in us.... and all this making the atoms act like we want to... if we live so something have gave the order to the atoms to build us we need food and water to keep pulses and this pulses move the atoms... now when we die it's because the atoms are stop working they don't obey us or we don't obey them... got it

St. Jimmy I would suggest if you want the answer you may want to study or read into the science of 'evolutionary biology'. remember 'science' is just another department of philosophy.

You may already know this stuff but here is the idea:
a small number of atoms can be put together in various ways to generate an enourmous number of compounds. These compounds can be broken down and repeatedly rebuilt as different compounds: just like children's building blocks (ie. lego). The idea of how can atoms generate the functions of life is simply the following: atoms are inorganic substances. When these inorganic substances are put together into groups they form more complex organic substances. the build up of organic substances allows for life to function (cells>tissue> organs>systems to allow us to think, talk, eat move, dying,etc..). so when we die these organic substances are broken down again..and become less complex substances such as carbon and hydrogen. Life is just a recycling of atoms and complex bodies.

'Wizard Logic' you mentioned that our cells are continully being regenerated yet we stay the same person. yes this is correct. That is how the continuem of life operates. There is no something else that constitutes 'life'. This is why the theory of evolution is so convincing- that life evolves; it is everchanging and life arises from pre-existing life.

I love the fact that a conscienceness that doesn't even exist(Me), is sitting here, quite comfortably, finding out what other non-existant entities think about a universe we all don't really exist in.

While I don't beleive in a "spirit", I find it puzzling that even though everything we do is caused by millions of chemical reactions, we still have almost complete controll over which chemical reactions take place.

Perhaps the best way to explain this, is that every atom has a tiny, tiny bit of intelligence, and when put together, they can do very complex tasks.