Christian Thought: Christian Theology & Philosophy
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        • Collective Guilt/National Sin
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    • Determining the Truth of Christianity >
      • The Sinlessness and Perfection of God — Accusations against God >
        • Concerning Reward & Punishment >
          • Sweeping the Innocent Away with the Wicked/Many Suffer for the Sin of One >
            • The Innocent Punished for the Sins of the Wicked (to Punish the Wicked) >
              • Punishing the Children for the Father’s Sin
          • Harshness
          • Manipulation of Free Will (to the Person’s Damnation)
        • The Law of God Flawed >
          • Sins against Love (Revenge Seeking)
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            • Theology of the Sexes >
              • Women’s Gender Role >
                • Submission
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              • Unequal Opportunity/Deprivation of Rights
              • Polygamy
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        • Sins of People in the Bible (that Reflect Poorly on God)
      • Can We Take the Bible Seriously? >
        • The Creation of the Canon
        • False Prophecy/Broken Promises
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  • Philosophy
    • Spiritual & Physical//The Natural & Supernatural >
      • Mind & Body
      • Thinking & Doing >
        • Work
    • Metaphysics >
      • Reality
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      • The Problem of Relativity
      • The Problem of the Distribution of Goodies (Randomness) >
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    • Man >
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      • Sinful Nature >
        • Levels of the Will
      • Psychology >
        • The Conscious & Subconscious
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        • Death
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        • Men
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      • Good & Evil
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          • Sexuality >
            • Homosexuality

Mind & Body

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How can a mind, which is not physical, sense the physical? If I did not experience it, I would never believe it. Here, logic fails us.

Some concepts can be manifested in some senses but not others -- sight and hearing can be glorious (a glorious sight or glorious music), but the rest can't. Dirtyness can be seen and smelled, to a lesser extent touched and tasted, but not heard. Truth isn't manifested in any, yet is represented by light (sight). Beauty can be seen and heard, and to a lesser extent manifested in all the rest (though I'm not sure about touch). Love, only touch. What does all this mean?

Something to think about: the different types of senses within the senses – touch – form, heat, pain; sight – form, light, color.

What’s the point of secreting all these brain hormones? After all, this is all done “before the fact”. (At first I thought this was unbelievable, but one day I was suddenly scared, and it was only a split second later that I realized it was because of a loud and sudden noise. I reacted emotionally and physically first, before realizing why I reacted that way. And I thought it was really, really strange, but was finally able to fully believe the studies I had read. Try to realize this next time it happens to you.) To continue, the hormone is secreted because what you’re undergoing is good or bad – the hormone isn’t making you feel that way and doesn’t affect your judgment; rather, you perceive, then interpret whether this is good or bad (whether consciously or subconsciously), and then the hormone comes out. But what’s the point of that if you’ve already decided what you’re feeling? The only time it does matter is in an artificial setting, when you’re taking drugs that affect or control these hormones and neurotransmitters.

I was coughing involuntarily while finishing up a cold, and noticed that it was a powerful stomach exercise. I wanted to know if involuntary exercise (like through electrical stimulation) could actually build muscles. I couldn't really find anything on the internet, so I realized I could just stretch my stomach and see if it was sore, which would indicate a build up of lactic acid, and therefore, a real muscle workout. (Yes, my stomach was sore.) What's the point of all this? I hate exercising -- really, really hate it, but while coughing all the time is annoying, I realized that I don't hate it, though I am getting exercise. So I thought, "Why would the involvement of my will have anything to do with whether exercise is enjoyable (as it is to some people) or unbearable? After all, my body doesn't know the difference -- either way, it's exercise." So yes, what does it matter?
I also remember a friend once telling me that she had once undergone a seizure, and that it had made her so tired. So we know that she was getting a workout. However, as in my case, I don't think that it was psychologically "like pulling teeth".

Again, because of this cold, I had a hard time being productive and typing up this website. I was feeling really shitty. On one hand, my will absolutely wanted to continue -- I felt driven to finish up. On the other hand, because I was physically feeling so shitty, it affected my will and it took a lot of will power to keep going. Now understand that I didn't keep going because of the "original will of my soul"; I kept going because I didn't want to feel like an unproductive loser. I could also have rested by lying down in bed, but then I would have been bored to death. So either way, it was Scylla and Charybdis. Even though I chose to keep going, I really and truly didn't feel like it (I emphasize this to indicate that both wills were equally valid). So you see, two wills are displayed here, but it's very strange, because they were contrary to each other. Also, one was based in the soul, the other was influenced by my physical body, which was letting me down. (see also "different levels/parts of the will")

Attention & consciousness: Normally if you’re sleepy, you also can’t concentrate. That makes sense. So then why are attention and physical sleepiness sometimes correlated, and sometimes not? This happens to me sometimes at night, perhaps because I’m nocturnal. I’ll be reading, and I know I’m physically sleepy (my head is buzzing), though I don’t feel sleepy, and my powers of concentration aren’t affected at all. Very important note: I don’t necessarily think that I retain my powers of concentration because of the interest level I have of the reading material.
    Then there’s lesser degrees and other versions of this. For example, if you’re listening to a boring lecture or reading a boring book, you’ll get sleepy. The boringness is what subtracts from your attention. But it could also work the other way around – you may find a lecture interesting, but because you didn’t get enough sleep the previous night, you have difficulty concentrating. So on one hand it’s the “spiritual” side that’s affecting the physical, and in the second scenario, it’s the physical side that’s affecting the “spiritual”.
    In the example in the first paragraph, this is reversed. Despite not being physically able to concentrate, the “spiritual” interest is there, and so the spiritual will overcomes the physical demand to sleep.
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