The Passing of Knowledge

[MalReynolds]

We all have brains, even if we don't seem to use them all the time. We all have bodies that live and breathe, even if we're lazy bums. We all watch TV, or read books or swim and run. We all learn.

But, that's the thing. We all learn. We all absorb knowledge into our bloodstream, our system and our brains. Bear with me, it's about to get a little odd.

All concious thought occurs in the brain and all knowledge is stored in the brain. The law of the convervation of mass states that matter cannot be created or destroyed... So everything in our brain that makes us us, our knowledge and our personalities are stored herein, the brain.

When we die, the knowledge does not just exit the brain in a fluid motion out the ear, it remains in the brain until the brain biodegrades. Then the knowledge we have is passed into the dirt, along with the rest of the nutrients that our bodies provide... The nutrients make the soil rich in protiens and other vital elemants to ensure the survival of life outside of our own...

But our thoughts, personality and knowledge with our brain seep into the dirt as well. All around where you are buried, there are remnants of you, not just inside the coffin. In the dirt around you.

Soon, a worm comes along and eats the dirt around your coffin. It is rich with protiens and you. Your thoughts. The worm takes the food in, absorbs the protiens, and absorbs your thoughts, although not conciously.

The worm breaches the ground and is picked up by a bird. The bird eats the worm, and digests the information that you have left behind. It flys, and graces the land with it's natural fertilizer. The grass grows with your knowledge.

A cow eats the grass, and absorbs your thoughts. The cow is then led into a slaughterhouse, where it is killed and made into all kinds of beef products. Some of which are sent to a pregnant mother who is eating for two. She eats the cow, digests this food, and then passes some nutrients and free thought onto her child.

This child now has some of the knowledge you did.

I think this affects us today, but I will get into it more depending on the reaction to this initial post. I've considered this a lot, and it also... Explains things, like people with similar personalities, people with... Other problems, etc etc.

Just think about it.

You, the originator of knowlege, die. You decompose. A worm eats your dirt. It gets eaten by bird, bird shits your knowledge. A cow eats your knowledge, and it is passed on to a mother and her unborn child.

Just don't knock this yet.

Mal

[emptiness]

interesting theory....isn't it energy not matter....or maybe two laws are the same

[Afrobean]

That's a fine theory, except that I know knowlege and memories to not be actual matter. It's just information stored in your brain. You might as well suggest that if one ingests a hard drive then they will at least subconciously know of the previous contents of said drive. It's just not possible.

Also:

interesting theory....isn't it energy not matter....or maybe two laws are the same

Both matter and energy cannot be desroyed or created, but they can change forms. For example, ice can melt (matter change) and kinetic energy can be transferred to thermal energy(energy change).

[emptiness]

k just wondering...

[dancingmaniac3]

Thats a very fine theory indeed....Although i have to say my favorite part was "bird shits your knowledge.." haha that made me laugh. Anyway..

Im gonna have to agree with Bean...your knowledge and information is just stored into your brain...it isn't in any form to where some random object can "eat it" or shit it or whatever and learn what you have learned. If that were so, natural cloning wouldn't be as difficult as it is. Also i think that when your brain 'biodegrades' all of your thoughts and known knowledge is destroyed as well. Yet that brings you to the point of "matter is not created or destroyed." If your knowledge and known information CAN be destroyed, then it indeed is not matter... This is a really interesting theory you have Mal...Maybe you should bring it up with a scientist. Kudos to you.

[MalReynolds]

Hmm... If knowledge is just stored in the brain, then what about self-discovery? Conclusions that we come to on our own and then the application of said conclusions? It seems like more than just stored data in a gray CPU, simply because we think and are capable of such things. Thinking of the brain as some kind of utilitarian unit that is only there to store information.

Mal

PS: I've never ingested a hard-drive. I don't think that's digestion friendly.

[deposition]

Is this a joke?

I know you don't think by eating someone's brain you gain their knowledge...

[MalReynolds]

Well, not exactly. You need to read the first post again. It's the nutrients in the soil that eventually make their way to a fetus. I mean, eating brains is just crazy. They don't make you smarter, but they could predict capacity for knowledge and certain aspects of personality.

Mal

[dancingmaniac3]

I hate to say it Mal, but you stumped me. I seriously don't know, and you have a great theory...I agree with you in certain aspects, but i also highly disagree. The whole food chain of knowledge thing you have going on seems a little unrealistic, but you never know. You obviously ate alot of meat from the cow that ate the grass that the bird shit on cause you have an intelligent mind.

[MalReynolds]

Well, here, it gets a tic complicated... Genetics have a rather large hand in the shaping of the body and mind, although these protiens surely add to it as well.

So, several worms eat the earth that is rich in your knowledge. But the worm keeps some, the bird keeps some, the cow keeps some, and the mother doesn't get the maximum of you out of the dirt. She gets the maximum of someone else. There's 30% you, and 70% Andy Kaufman. Or, if you're still the dominant part, you're just the dominant part by a smidge. 10% you, 9,8,7,6,5,5,4,3,2% other people or some such. That would mean you're the dominant personality, but the capacity for knowledge from your protiens would be smaller, thus creating a less intelligent form of you, I suppose.

I dunno, that part might be a tad complicated. But, if there are equal shares of certain personalities and knowledge retainers, who is to say that it doesn't create a chemical imbalance that makes the recipient mentally unstable due to the equal shares of mind and personality?

Once again, just thinking out loud.

Mal

[NightSonnett]

I can see where you're coming from. I don't believe I've ever thought about this, but I've thought of things like it. For example, our bodies leave remnants, as you say, in the soil around us. Could this possibly be an explanation for ghosts? Or spirits that are witnessed? I know that ghosts are a completely different topic, but it relates a bit to what you brought up.

I'm not sure if I want to believe that our thoughts are matter, but it's something to ponder upon.

People have changed a lot in the past thousands of years...Perhaps you're right.

[MalReynolds]

The idea of ghosts is just the spiritual remnants of a person, no what is flesh and broken down.

Mal

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by MalReynolds

The idea of ghosts is just the spiritual remnants of a person, no what is flesh and broken down.

Mal

I think they were saying that maybe the spirit resides in the decaying flesh. That's the only way I could imagine if spirits exist. There wouldn't be one definite spirit from a person, but each person would have a spirit energy to them that would encompass all of their being.

[MalReynolds]

I always thought of the spirit of a person in a metaphysical manner, something that could not be traced, but something that could impact... Although, I do like the new way of looking at it.

Mal

[Austaph]

Mal, you definitely have a creative mind, but I think you're overlooking one simple fact: when we digest proteins, we destroy them. Many of the unstable fatty acids in the brain oxidize as our brain rots, anyway. The most profound thing that could happen from eating a brain would be the ingestion of consciousness-altering neurochemicals. Even then, what our stomach's acids don't destroy can't cross the blood-brain-barrier. If altering a genetic predisposition were as easy as you suggest, species would flux at such a fast rate that we could never keep up with the taxonomy. Afrobean also has a good point about knowledge being an immaterial substance. The neuroscientist Joseph Le Doux put it best when he said "You are your synapses." Knowledge itself is pretty unsteady ground to tread on. Since the time of Socrates (c. 500 BCE) - one of his most famous quotes being "I neither know nor think I know" - philosophy has yet to actually account for the existence of knowledge (Re: Heraclitus and Parmenides). If you're into metaphysics, you might want to check out Immanuel Kant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant). He was basically the be-all-to-end-all of metaphysicians; an archetype, if you will. Philosophy graduates actually brag about having read his works - even without understanding them - as he has written some of the very most difficult of philosophical treatise. He was an absolutely brilliant man.

[MalReynolds]

I think it's safe to say:

I just got shut down.

Mal

[Varia]

No! You can still go on pretending you are right! Just like all these other assholes.

[MalReynolds]

Nah, it was a dumb idea anyway, just came from over-active imagination... Although, I am surprised that so many FFR members are experts on the human brain and the way that it functions. Oh well.

You should have talked to me earlier, before I had given the ghost to Goodwill.

Mal

[Austaph]

Originally Posted by MalReynolds

I think it's safe to say:

I just got shut down.

No, don't shut down! Give yourself a bit more credit than that. Within the postulate that DNA and cellular protein are a house for knowledge, your theory was extremely rational. I used to think the exact same thing, though I can't recall exactly when I realized it was bogus. I think it was just one of those things that I shit out of my brain and forgot about, only to learn otherwise way further down the line. I've seen more of my own theories die than I care to remember. It's disillusioning, but essential to growth. At any rate, your post was legible, intelligent, and well-grounded; it's all just a matter of fact. I'm happy to see there's someone here who has at least an understanding of English, and the ability to use it.

An over-active imagination is a good thing. Einstein himself said that much of his theories on physics were the result of imagination and abstract thinking. Sometimes we need to cross the borders of rationality in order to come to a heightened sense of the activity of the world. The key is to harbor a healthy sense of skepticism. That's not to say we should toss everything aside which we can't explain, but rather that we should question everything. When coming up with a theory, put it to the grind. Dissect it down to the very last letter; keeping what works, abandoning what doesn't. Things like this are good, too. Right or wrong, it doesn't matter. What is important is that (and I hope I've at least helped) we come to a greater understanding.

If our minds were to always function within the boundries of reason, we could never discover anything new. We would be slaves to ourselves, only able to work within what is certain. It's what's uncertain that we should focus on, for the possibility that one day we may come to master what was once completely unknown. Perhaps there are enormous benefits to eating brain tissue that biology hasn't tackled yet; or maybe it has - I don't know. What I do know is that mono and polyunsaturated fats are extremely good for us, and when ingested regularly, can curb depression, lethargy, and promote digestive and cognitive health. I'm not sure, but I think the brain is mostly fat... I was only told. Anyway, I hope I see more posts from you in the future. Don't get discouraged: keep journeying.

[TheAppleEater]

A line from Around the World in 80 Days, it might not be exact,"We live in a golden age. Everything that can be discovered, has been discovered."

The bad guy said that and he ended up losing.

Anyway I really like that theory, wrong or right, it was fun to read!

I dont think i have anything to add to it though, its way over my head.

Logan