Evolution of Consciousness (mystic, Buddhism, incarnation, experience, Buddhism)

[angellous_evangellous]

Robtex has often questioned us about the evolution of the soul.

In light of his question, I have a counter-question:

Can natural selection really account for the evolution of human consciousness?

Do we really need it to survive? Millions of organisms suvive without it, and the gift that humans have is hardly comparable to any other animals.

[MysticSang'ha]

Good question. And there is a purely Tibetan answer to all this.



Consciousness evolves as a being becomes closer to realization/liberation. There are millions of organisms that exist with us, and despite the fact that they do not possess the abilities as we do to reach liberation, they do have a consciousness. It is embarrassingly obvious that a human being can achieve buddha-hood before an amoeba can, and yet amoebas have shown to avoid obstacles and possible threats to their existence if they can. They therefore have shown a level of awareness, albeit a very low level of awareness. Tibetan Buddhism maintains that we have all been amoebas at one time before those physcial incarnations dissolved, and we experienced rebirth in higher realms of existence.



So, yes, natural selection does account for the evolution of the "soul." (We Buddhists prefer to call it "consciousness" or even "mind" when the latter word is understood to mean more than cognitive, intellectual functioning. ) As the physical reality has transformed and evolved, so has the possiblities for beings to attain buddha-hood with our "tools" for reasoning, anticipating, and for empathy.





Peace,
Mystic

[Ormiston]

Originally Posted by angellous_evangellous

Robtex has often questioned us about the evolution of the soul.

In light of his question, I have a counter-question:

Can natural selection really account for the evolution of human consciousness?

Do we really need it to survive? Millions of organisms suvive without it, and the gift that humans have is hardly comparable to any other animals.

I would say that it is a necessary and vital component to survival among humans. So, not necessary prior to humans and not necessary if you live away from humans, but vital if you are a human and live among other humans. Also, isn't it fair to say that domesticated animals have a more evolved consciousness (less "wild") and that this must have to do with being exposed to our environment? Evolution doesn't have to only occur in the woods.

[d.]

Originally Posted by angellous_evangellous

Can natural selection really account for the evolution of human consciousness?

Do we really need it to survive?

probably, since we're not exactly nature's greatest predators without using tools and weapons. but evolution doesn't mean that only traits we need survive, rather traits that we manage with. like the appendix.

and remember man has been living out of the woods in this thing we, for lack of a better word, call 'civilization' for quite a while now. take my short-sightedness, for example. i can't see my hand clearly if i hold it in front of my face. in the wilds, i'd be dead in ten minutes. but in northern sweden in a cozy apartment? no. i might even have kids and live to be 70.

[Maxist]

Oh yes, so you are saying that no other organisms have souls? That in itself is a travesty, let alone your oriinal question.

[finalfrogo]

Well, humans aren't the only ones without sentience. The smarter an organism is, the better chance it has for survival. As our physical advantages decreased, our mental capacity compensated. I think it fits into natural selection.

[Atheist_Dave]

I think our consciousness is nessecary for survival, in a world of immensely powerful predators, we need it. Being very weak animals we wouldn't survive very long without the ability to create tools and strategize. Also, we are very poor physically in certain situations, for example: Go into the see with an open blister, a shark will smell you from a mile away, feel your vibrations in the water, home in and kill you (but not eat you, we seem to taste nasty to them). There are thousands of things we are very bad at, this is why conciousness evolved, it helped us find a way round our utter physical patheticness

[Jayhawker Soule]

Originally Posted by angellous_evangellous

In light of his question, I have a counter-question: Can natural selection really account for the evolution of human consciousness? Do we really need it to survive?

Natural selection does not account for the presence of those attributes which persist but, rather, for the elimination of those which do not. Evolution is not a ladder but a sieve.

[angellous_evangellous]

Thanks. For some of us it is easy to forget very basic things...

[Seyorni]

Originally Posted by finalfrogo

Well, humans aren't the only ones without sentience. The smarter an organism is, the better chance it has for survival. As our physical advantages decreased, our mental capacity compensated. I think it fits into natural selection.

We humans are very smart. We've only been here a short time and are currently in danger of wiping ourselves off the planet, and taking the whole current ecology with us.

Crocodiles are not very smart, yet they've been thriving since before the first dinosaur was conceived.

I think your premise is flawed. Survival does not correlate with intelligence.