In a jovial conversation with my 13 year old regarding my confidence that very soon he would show due diligence in the completion and mastery of his family responsibilities (anyone else still feel their toes curl at the thought of the word chores?) he commented that it would be much easier to please me if I were a virtual mom. "You'd look cute on the screen and I could hit pause." Butter me up...make me laugh...DO YOUR CHORES!!
Aaaaah!!!!!! So my parental evolution is on pause. As Milton Berle quipped, "If evolution really works then how come mothers only have two hands?"
As a parent there are many moments I would love to pause, rewind, play again and again. Given the opportunity I'd delete a few things as well....the word chores immediately comes to mind. We do instinctively replay events and experiences. An internal rewrite allows our behavior to be more accurately informed. Those 100 billion neurons give or take a few billion, creating more connections than stars in the sky, giving us the illusion of seamless continuity. Here begins my trip down the quintessential slippery slope. Consciousness, self.....am I really just a virtual mom? Are we all simply a prototype for the "selves" science will create in the future? If consciousness is purely material then this is certainly a possibility. Pause, rewind, play..... I began by stating my desire for this ability, now I'm spooked!
If it were just me I could probably follow the materialistic argument of many neuroscientists and philosophers. But I'm a parent. I may be just a sack of parts but my kids are miracles. They definitely have free will....much to my delight and horror! It brings to mind the astronaut who upon witnessing the depths of space reported not finding God..... watching my children grow how can I not see beyond the material? Who could miss their conscious, their soul? In reserving his view of space to the material I believe Yuri Gagarin told us more of his limitations than perhaps he would want us to know.
Thus begins my blogging journey. I am not an expert on anything...just interested in everything!!! I am now off to see how much I can read about consciousness in an hour. Even Virtuallllmoms need to regenerate. Here are a few interesting articles if you choose to join me.....
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