The functioning of the human brain?including all the cognitive aspects such as logic, memory, sensation, and emotion?however complex and profound, involves at its most basic level a system of Boolean constructs using binary states, namely ?1? and ?0,? ?on? and ?off.? Such relatively ?simple? binary functioning is the basic neurological ?common denominator? (analogous to the theoretical ?super strings? of the grand unified theory applied as the ultimate ?common denominator? of all matter and energy).
In other words, whether you are experiencing physical pain, an emotional euphoria, or are merely filling out some government form at a vehicle licensing office, or whatever you are doing or experiencing, however complex or abstract, it is really nothing more than the functioning of binary ?1?s and ?0?s. Granted, the algorhythms and processes of the human brain are a wee bit more complex than that which are employed in this Microsoft Word software I am using at this moment, but both are, nonetheless, still manifestation of those binary ?1?s and ?0?s (just much more of them in your noggin). So the very existence of our consciousness is actually the product of an elaborate arrangement of such binary data, which in our brains is in the form of the ?on?/?off? states of our neurons, and in computers exists as . . . well, you get the idea. (Thus lending to the idea that ?the sum is greater than the whole of its parts.?)
The physical feature of your brain that has remained constant and in virtue of which you instantiate the same mental properties, is not the stuff of which it is made, but instead the causal relations that each part of the brain bears to the other.
Actually, the above process is happening to you right now, but instead of your neurons being systematically replaced by some synthetic silicon counterparts, the cells in your entire body are going through a continual process of replacement as needed so that every seven or so years, your physical body has actually been ?replaced? on a molecular-biological level. I?m not sure if this replacement process also applies to the brain neurons, but I would imagine that at least some molecular components in those neurons end up being replaced or rejuvenated in some way, as they are, in fact, cells.
Now, think of this: If I were to burn a copy of this Microsoft Word onto a CD (I?m not sure if Windows would allow such unauthorized copying, but let?s just say for the sake of argument that it can be done), destroy my computer, load it into another computer somewhere else, and run it, then it would, would it not, actually ?be? that program (Microsoft Word) existing somewhere else. Moreover, if I were to (hypothetically!) somehow copy all the ?data? existing in your brain neurons onto some physical intermediary device (a real bitchin? hard drive), kill you, cremate your body, reload that data into another human brain?or even some kind of advanced computer system?then would you ?exist? again somewhere else? Would I have resurrected you? And then, at least relative to your situation, would I then become ?God??
(I apologize if anyone has read this post before having their morning coffee. You need those neurons to be firing efficiently for these thought experiments!)
?SAHS