Who are we?

[Eltu]

Note: these are my personal opinions, nothing else. I would also like to add that I do not belong to any organized religion.

Earth.
Made up of so much life... sentient life... is this life a part of something larger? We cannot grasp this using our physical senses - but yet we feel, know that there IS something. What is this, that makes us aware who we truly are?

The cells of our bodies... they are lifeforms, but don't have any senses like we do - they cannot hear, think, they cannot see... yet, somehow our very cells have a memory of their own – they fill a purpose, every single part inside the cell does a specific task – yet lacks the physical senses to do so. The physical cell alone could not do what our cells actually do – they do something more, something beyond their physical capabilities. Why is this?

One by one, they could never have this ability - but all together, connected into forming one human being, they take part of this greater consciousness that is us. Our cells share our consciousness - and this gives every individual cell things that lies beyond its physical senses.

Us.
Many humans on Earth have a feeling there is something greater, something more - yet our physical senses tells us this is not the case. But we STILL have this feeling. We feel things that lies beyond our physical senses.

An explanation for this, would be that ALL life is a part of a greater consciousness - Earth. We are the very living organisms that is a part of Earth - just like our cells are the living organisms that makes us.

We can feel that there is something greater - because we are a PART of it.

In all times, since our very self-realization of our species, the human race have been seeking for the origin of our creation – how did it all start? Why did it start? Why is there life on Earth? What makes Earth special? A huge number of perfectly met conditions, such as distance to the sun, ozone layer, etc? This explains *how* Earth managed to hold life. But WHY?
We, ourselves, hold the answer – it lies within us, within the way we work. Why can our cells do things beyond what seems possible to explain with scientific knowledge? This question is the answer itself.

Our bodies are made up of billions of cells... each cell, a living organism in itself. Together they form a larger consciousness, a human being. We, in turn, are also living organisms - and like the cells... together, are we all a part of another, larger consciousness?

The cells of our body lack the physical senses to understand that they are a part of something larger. Are we the same? Do our physical senses prevent us from understanding the real state of the world, of our universe – because we are blinded by thinking that they are all we have?

Is there more?

Who are we?

Watching that video - and realizing the insane complexity of our existence fills me with awe, but also with a great sadness. All of this, happens BILLIONS of times right now, inside me, inside all of us... and I sit here and drink Coke and type on my computer? It feels like... life is so wonderful, like all life is meant for something - and we are wasting that away... Every single lifeform is a masterpiece, something to deeply respect and appreciate.

There is so much... and it feels like we should appreciate and respect this so much more.

[Mune]

I'm in tears.... It's so beautiful... I'll write a longer response later but... Oh my Eywa...

[Fosus]

We are nothing...
We're Living in a beautiful planet _in the middle of nowhere_.

I can't find a reason why.

[Devourment]

In short, we're highly intelligent mammals who like to think we have purpose other than reproduction.

[Aquaplant]

Originally Posted by Devourment

In short, we're highly intelligent mammals who like to think we have purpose other than reproduction.

Not to diminish the value of Eltu's post, but sadly this is all we are or will ever be. Still, if one is not depressed like me, one can find loads of stuff to do for no apparent reason. Because after all, there's no point in anything, so anything makes as much sense as the next thing, which is none.

[ZenitYerkes]

The whole shares similarities to its parts. Perhaps we're part of something greater: the biosphere. As the other spheres on Earth (atmosphere, hydrosphere,...) it acts balanced and as a whole.

Perhaps we as individuals or just part of our society, we don't notice this effect of connectedness. But...

We don't need tsahaylu or whatsoever to take part in our environment. We are already part of it; and we move and interact with our surroundings constantly. It's a chaotic movement, yet makes one of the most beautiful effects just like we see the weightless clouds forming or the imposing waves crushing against the rocks; with no order but in time to the most precious symphony ever made.

A symphony of a trillion colors, scents and feelings.

We're part of something greater. Something beautifully greater.

[Human No More]

Technically, individual cells from a larger organism don't count as a lifeform on their own.

If you're talking about a kind of Earth equivalent to Eywa, I'm not so sure. There's no observable/demonstrable connection between organisms.I guess such a relationship could exist on a more subtle level, but it's a lot more abstract than that (and not sentient), just based on living in the same world.
It would be a nice idea, but Devourment is right.

[Toshowlove]

WOW. Quite the post there Eltu!

I think you can tell where i'm going to go with this, just because you know me... BUT I shall begin:

As super trippy as it is to think of us as individuals on a large scale, and how easy it is to ask profound quesitons we must come back to reality! (Sooner or later though, you've gotta wake up). I agree, i too feel like i am part of something bigger, i can relate to people, have complex relationships with many people... it unites us. BUT-

We are indeed organisms, mammals so to speak... but we are all unique. We make differences to people, we have a wide range of constantly changing emotions that intermingle with those of people around us. We are complex and individual, every SINGLE one of us. we may be small and insignificant in the larger picture, but we REALLY aren't when it comes to the way we live our lives.

That's just my opinion anyways lol

[Eltu]

Thank you all for your replies. First off all, I really encourage you all to watch the video in the end of my original post - a "scientifically accurate" rendering of the human cell.

So, to answer your replies:

Originally Posted by Devourment

In short, we're highly intelligent mammals who like to think we have purpose other than reproduction.

So what makes us think this way, give us these feelings?

Originally Posted by ZenitYerkes

The whole shares similarities to its parts. Perhaps we're part of something greater: the biosphere. As the other spheres on Earth (atmosphere, hydrosphere,...) it acts balanced and as a whole.

Perhaps we as individuals or just part of our society, we don't notice this effect of connectedness. But...

We don't need tsahaylu or whatsoever to take part in our environment. We are already part of it; and we move and interact with our surroundings constantly. It's a chaotic movement, yet makes one of the most beautiful effects just like we see the weightless clouds forming or the imposing waves crushing against the rocks; with no order but in time to the most precious symphony ever made.

A symphony of a trillion colors, scents and feelings.

We're part of something greater. Something beautifully greater.

How I agree. It's interesting, since there is so much pointing towards this, and yet so many sees it as impossible without even considering it.

Originally Posted by Aquaplant

Not to diminish the value of Eltu's post, but sadly this is all we are or will ever be. Still, if one is not depressed like me, one can find loads of stuff to do for no apparent reason. Because after all, there's no point in anything, so anything makes as much sense as the next thing, which is none.

How do you know? You say there is no point in anything - but how can you know that? Look at the video in the bottom of my original post - and then say to me that there is no meaning in life. I am not saying that we have a predefined meaning - but I definitely think we can do great things in our lives.

Originally Posted by Human No More

Technically, individual cells from a larger organism don't count as a lifeform on their own.

If you're talking about a kind of Earth equivalent to Eywa, I'm not so sure. There's no observable/demonstrable connection between organisms.I guess such a relationship could exist on a more subtle level, but it's a lot more abstract than that (and not sentient), just based on living in the same world.
It would be a nice idea, but Devourment is right.

Technically, individual cells are very much alive.
As zenityerkes said - the connection is all around us. We may have lost much of the connection we used to have... but it is still, in a way, present. We interact with Earth all the time.

Originally Posted by Toshowlove

WOW. Quite the post there Eltu!

I think you can tell where i'm going to go with this, just because you know me... BUT I shall begin:

As super trippy as it is to think of us as individuals on a large scale, and how easy it is to ask profound quesitons we must come back to reality! (Sooner or later though, you've gotta wake up). I agree, i too feel like i am part of something bigger, i can relate to people, have complex relationships with many people... it unites us. BUT-

We are indeed organisms, mammals so to speak... but we are all unique. We make differences to people, we have a wide range of constantly changing emotions that intermingle with those of people around us. We are complex and individual, every SINGLE one of us. we may be small and insignificant in the larger picture, but we REALLY aren't when it comes to the way we live our lives.

That's just my opinion anyways lol

I really, really agree with you here. I think that we all are special, we are, as you say, not at all small and insignificant. I don't really need to develop my answer further because... well, you know that I agree with you


Lastly - watching that video - and realizing the insane complexity of our existence fills me with awe, but also with a great sadness. All of this, happens BILLIONS of times right now, inside me, inside all of us... and I sit here and drink Coke and type on my computer? It feels like... life is so wonderful, like all life is meant for something - and we are wasting that away... Every single lifeform is a masterpiece, something to deeply respect and appreciate.

There is so much... and it feels like we should appreciate and respect this so much more.

[Fosus]

Originally Posted by Eltu

There is so much... and it feels like we should appreciate and respect this so much more.

That's true. The realization of how versatile structure the human body is, how it protects itself from diseases, repairs broken bones, and manages to survive in horrible conditions, even just the simple fact that we're unconsciously turning around while asleep, so no part of our body would be left without blood is wonderful.
Everything happens automatically. Human body is a beautiful thing.

Makes me feel bad knowing how many people smoke, what their ignorant minds are making their bodies go through.

But again, no one can answer the Why's...

[Aquaplant]

Originally Posted by Eltu

How do you know? You say there is no point in anything - but how can you know that? Look at the video in the bottom of my original post - and then say to me that there is no meaning in life. I am not saying that we have a predefined meaning - but I definitely think we can do great things in our lives.

As intelligent and highly aware beings, we kind of require some sort of mysteries or greater purposes to our lives, because without those, one might end up just like me. That is why there have always been stories, legends and mysteries about our lives and the world surrounding us, because those gave us meaning, even if they were just made up things.

As I have stated many times, I've grown tired of things not being real, and thusly my view of the world is what it is. Sure I'd like to be proven wrong, but that usually only works on fields where things are more bit more tangible or measurable.

And for the record, complexity isn't really that big a deal when you consider the amount of time it has taken us to reach this level of complexity in the first place. It's only that our brains can't quite comprehend the scale of time, and that is why we feel it to be so magnificent.

[Devourment]

Originally Posted by Eltu

So what makes us think this way, give us these feelings?

We're so smart that we can have complex feelings most non-humans don't possess. Insects and amoeba's don't feel remorse or pity or sadness or even fear, they just rely upon their self-preservation instincts, as they don't have complex thought processes. Animals with much more complex brains, such as cats, dolphins, and us humans are saddened when bad and happy when good things happen. To a spider, if it's eggsack is destroyed, it's brain just moves on to the next priority over protecting its young. If a human or one of the other intelligent animals I mentioned loses young, they can enter serious states of depression. Dolphins have actually been observed to commit suicide over the loss of young*.

We have these feelings because we've developed to the point where we think past our basic instincts and grow attached to things and have dreams beyond eating and reproducing.

*Dolphins have to manually breathe, they don't just do it subconsciously like how we do, so they just stop breathing, pass out, and drown. This has been observed in dolphins caught in the wild and forced into captivity, as well as in the wild when a baby dies.

[Fkeu'itan]

Really, truly beautiful post Eltu. I really do feel you.

As far as I am concerned, what you said is absolutely correct. I feel we are part of some larger system, but rather than having a physical representation within that system as cells do, we have a spirtual representation or an amount of energy that defines us. I somewhat agree with what Dev and HNM have said, this is indeed the most basic function we serve (as with any other being) but I believe we do have a higher purpose which is not limited to simply the human race, rather, it encompasses all life forms, each with their own energy and function within the universal system.

This raises another possibility.
If the cells make up the human body, all working together to form a working system, Perhaps, as youhave said, we (and in my opinion, all other life forms) are the cells to the Earth's body. Perhaps then, the world is a cell to the Solar system's body, the Solar system to the Galaxy, the Galaxy to the Universe and the Universe to something even more massive still...?

Striving to understand and fully appreciate the way this hugely complex system works - a quest that is extremely difficult to achieve - is enough to drive someone to insanity. But appreciating it in some small part is not impossible.

I don't claim to know the answer. I just sense everything has something past simple, measurable, physical form. Some may know it, some may feel it, some may not. the only thing you can do is just enjoy life, all the wonderful intricacies of it and exuberate as much positive energy to everything and everyone that you can... You will be serving your place.

Just another guy putting in his opinions.

[Eltu]

Very true, Fkeu'itan - and here's the thing:

If our cells gets abilities from the larger organism as a whole - us... abilities that lie beyond their physical senses...

Then what if the feeling so many people have that there is something greater... is something harnessed from us being a part of a larger being - Earth?

[Fkeu'itan]

Originally Posted by Eltu

Very true, Fkeu'itan - and here's the thing:

If our cells gets abilities from the larger organism as a whole - us... abilities that lie beyond their physical senses...

Then what if the feeling so many people have that there is something greater... is something harnessed from us being a part of a larger being - Earth?

Indeed.

This an interesting proposition. I would have to say that the energy that we are harnessing (or perhaps that is being harnessed from us) comes not from the Earth itself as a physical body, but instead from the life that it provides and supports - forming a global energy collective if you will.

I do not see this force as 'Eywa' - I do not believe it is a sentient force - but I do believe that it is there.

Again though, having said that, the scales of good and bad energy that we appear to give to our planet - the great supporter - are far, far out of balance and we are beginning to see the concequences of such selfish actions. Could this be the life-force of our planet fighting back, seeking to restore balance once again, just as Eywa did? Or is it merely a scientific reaction that is out of alignment?

So many questions, so few solid answers.

This is clearly a question I will have to contemplate much more thoroughly.