My Personal Theory on an Afterlife
In the normal stages of death the heart stops beating and respiration ceases. Without a supply of oxygen, the body’s various organs stop functioning and start to die. The brain, also starved of oxygen, begins to shut down. Death occurs when the brain ceases to register any activity. All straight forward stuff. So the difference between being alive and being dead is activity in the brain. We are our brain. Get that in your brain now. The irony is apparent there… What is the very essence of us - what makes me myself and you yourself - is our brain. So what is it? The human brain is a collection of cells that for the typical adult weighs about 3 lbs. It contains 100 billion neurons. The neurons form connections to each other called synapses. These synapses produce chemicals called neurotransmitters. There are 1,000,000,000,000,000 synapses in the brain. A neuron is activated and the synapses connect to another neuron via a neurotransmitter through its synapses. Every thought you have, every movement you take, every memory you possess, is nothing more than a particular sequence of synapses. This is what we are, a collection of neurons sparking off a chain reaction to other neurons. When the brain is no longer activating neurons, we cease to exist. The rest of our body serves no other purpose than to keep the brain alive and to reproduce, then, when you consider the fact that
Do we have to learn to think scientifically in order to find the truth?
Chantel Pomerville IB TOK / Bath Block 7 Prescribed Essay Do we have to learn to think scientifically in order to find the truth? Truth is hard to define. To one, truth could be that the sun will rise tomorrow. But to a scientific mind, the truth may be that the earth will continue to revolve around the sun tomorrow, with the sun remaining stationary. Which one is the truth? Both individuals present a valid argument, which is a justified true belief. This leads to the argument of whether or not there are universal truths, or a certain method of thinking that needs be applied to find truth. The scientific method is a means of verifying claims and proving them true. There are also three 'Truth Tests' that can be applied to an idea to test its validity. But how do these tests work when there is no physical evidence? What does one do when testing belief and faith as truth? When science is taught at school, children as told that there is one method that is used to validate hypotheses. This process involves finding a problem, gathering information, creating a hypothesis, making observations, testing the hypothesis and producing conclusions. This is a road map for students to follow, and creates a 'standard' way of procedures. But in reality, this method does not work in every situation, and cannot be counted as the only way to finding truth. Scientists use a
Assess Hume's reasons for rejecting miracles
Assess Hume's reasons for rejecting miracles (45) One of the main philosophers in the debate about miracles is David Hume. I will start this essay with a basic summary of Hume's argument. Hume's argument is not that miracles cannot happen, but that, given the amount of evidence that has established and confirmed a law of nature, there can never be sufficient evidence to prove that a law of nature has been violated. He believes that miracles have no rational background. Hume was an empiricist, in other words, he believed that all knowledge is based on evidence that we gain through our senses. He argues that if a miracle goes against a law of nature, then it represents a single piece of evidence that goes against all the rest. So, for example, if we let go of a heavy object, it falls to the ground. That observation, repeated many times, confirms our understanding of the law of gravity. If then, an account is heard of the heavy object floating upwards of its own accord, you can ask yourself, which is the more likely: that the report is mistaken or that it actually happened. However, Hume talks of laws of nature as if set in stone implying that Natural Law can never be shown to be false. The possibility for laws of nature to be false must be left open. Hume claims that, if we balance on one hand the improbability of miracles occurring and on the other hand the evidence that
What is a miracle?
Religious Studies Philosophy What is a miracle? In order to assess the existence and determine the boundaries of miracles, first, it is necessary to ascertain a recognised definition of a miracle and what purpose they serve. The traditional perspective of miracles is that they must have three fundamental characteristics, being that the event termed a 'miracle' breaks the laws of nature, it has purpose and significance and has the potentiality of a religious explication, as agreed widely between many scholars. However, there are many difficulties in defining a miracle in such limited terms. This is due to the fact that, as with many other issues, both philosophers and theologians are divided when bringing about not only the existence of miracles into question, but also a definition of what a miracle really is and whether or not they are simply coincidences. The 16th century Philosopher, David Hume, is one of the most recognised scholars who have questioned the occurrence of miracles. Although he never publicly declared himself an atheist, Hume was extremely sceptical of miracles. In his most appreciated work, 'An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding', Hume disputed that it would always be impossible to tell if a miracle has taken place and that they are the most least likely of things to occur. He defined a miracle as "a transgression of a law of nature by a particular
What is a miracle ?
What is a miracle ? People use the word miracle in many different ways. Was the mission to the moon a miracle or technology, is the birth of a baby a miracle, would cloning a person be a miracle? The dictionary defines the word miracle as being 'something that cannot be explained by rational means'. However there are many things that we can explain today (space flight, television, the movement of the planets etc...) that could not have been explained 50, 100 or 200 years ago and there may be things that we cannot explain today that will be explained in 50, 100 or 200 years. So are miracles things which we consider 'impossible' such as a person who has been brain dead for 24 hours suddenly getting up or if your cat started doing the housework! In the bible miracles are seen as something else they are seen as signs of the power of God. The Jews believed in miracles, they believe that God delivered them out of slavery in Egypt by parting the Red Sea (exodus 14). There are also many miracle stories in the teachings of the prophets in Elijah and Elisha. Also in the bible there are many stories of the miracles of Jesus. The people who Jesus lived with had no problem in believing in miracles. They would have believed that there are forces of good and evil that could help or harm them. Many other people also claimed that they could do miracles, the important thing in the miracles
What is meant by the term miracle?
Miracles What is meant by the term miracle? 'Miracle- wonder, marvel, phenomenon, prodigy' (CollinsGem Thesaurus New Edition) 'Wonderful, good, something that happens believes to have supernatural or divine cause.' (Oxford School Dictionary) 'Out of the ordinary appears to be impossible.' (Nick Lowry) 'Something people want but don't always happen.' (Alex Kirk) 'Something strange which is not supposed to happen.' (Patrick Brown) 'An act of God.' (Matthew Lowrie) 'Faith in action.' (Alex Kirk) 'Supernatural event.' (Sam Lovell) 'A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature; and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined.' (David Hume) To me, a miracle is an act of God. The act could happen to anyone and is unusually helpful, superficial and supernatural. Most of the time the receiver realizes that a miracle has occurred and is very thankful. I believe miracle to be a divine occurrence. For some people a very short or long time may required. There are many kinds of miracles, depending on one's needs, desire or expectation. E.g. . Being cured from cancer, regaining sight or good health; 2. Winning the lottery. A miracle may mean differently to people. It is not a matter of disagreement but of