PATTERNS OF MATTER
Every moment, every day, we are, in fact, replaced. Cell by cell our constitution is renewed as part of a normal biological process. The atom and molecules that compose our brains right now, are completely different than those that comprised them just a short time ago. The neurons in our brains which persist for a relatively long period of time, are not the neurons we had a mere month before.
So I am a completely different set of stuff than I was one month ago. But I still appear and feel remarkably, the same. My matter has changed, yet my pattern persists. Just as the water rushing past the rocks in a stream consists of completely new molecules each nano-second, it’s pattern persists for hours or years. And all we can ask is who are we? Are we matter? Or are we pattern?
You, I, we, us, neigh life itself and all the universe is in constant flux, shifting every moment, matter forever renewed, yet forever aging. We are patterns of matter and energy persisting through time. And if we could upload our patterns, and replicate our matter; Could we copy ourselves? And if we could copy ourselves, Would our copies be indistinguishable from our originals? Perhaps; but our copies would not be our originals. They would be replicas living a separate life, as a separate system, that was remarkably like our system. Our originals and replicas would be different bodies in different spaces encountering different events, engendering new chance. They would be us, yet we would not be not be them. Something is always the same, yet something is always different. Flux.
Heraclitus, 2500 years past, knew that the fundamental fact of nature is change. It is not being, but becoming that is the sole actuality and eternal destiny for all energy and things. Everything is, and is not simultaneously. All phenomenon are in a state of continuous transition from existence to nonexistence and back. As things are, nothing remains. He stated: 'you cannot step into the same river twice for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you '.
So what is life if reality is merely a succession of transitory states? No matter is permanent, and all things come into being and pass away through strife. This is the universal principal, according to Heraclitus: ...'it is the Thunderbolt that steers all things'. The power of transmutation is the logos of God, the cosmic double. And the world which is the same for all, no one of gods or men has made, but is now and ever shall be eternal change. Energy, not matter, is permanent. And energy is not a thing, but a process. It transforms one substance into another without ever becoming that substance itself.
What persists is pattern, which rests, by changing. Even though nature loves to hide, we remain patterns of matter, patterns of substance, and patterns of energy itself. The senses are poor witness as only wisdom can judge. Just as thought is common to all; mind is matter too. And as the one is made up of all things, all things issue from the one.
I believe you are correct about the constant state of flux within our bodies. They constantly change and over a long period of time they will eventually die, because of the breakdown of cells. However, our spirits and souls do not age and are eternal. They too go through change and what might be called a metamorphosis of sorts. In Christian terminology it's called a rebirth, which represents a spiritual change that takes place within. There is also a transformation which happens in our minds, that being from one of being primarily focused on material and sensual things, to being focused primarily on spiritual things, and upon God.
ReplyDeleteYes, very true. And just think that we are/contain within us the very seed of life that has been alive for zillions of years... possibly forever. If that initial life ever had died, we would not be here now. We are that life, each and evry one of us.
ReplyDeleteThanks TruthSeeker.
I really liked your post! It made me think of a research I did a few years ago on embryo cloning and genetic screening. I always find it amusing when people think that if we ever had clones they would be the same as us. It's all a matter of nature AND nurture, though. It's impossible to produce 2 identical living organisms.
ReplyDeleteDear Ten.Eleven.Oh'One
ReplyDelete(I like the way The interperetations of your numerical sequence might be vocalized).
Right on!
'tis better to laugh and be amused at the suspension of thought in these cases where a reasonable line of thought is blindly suspended. Identical Origins are not Identical Originals. Original Identities are not Origin Identities.
alor
BoneFarm