After forever
I am honored to stand before this chamber once again, and wish to continue our ongoing discourse pertaining to the state of the mortal world. I have been attempting to frame an understanding of mortality through the lens of the human race. We have, to a limited extent, discussed matters of motivation and desire. At this point, I wish to investigate a narrowed view of mortal man; more to the point, to a human mind(as we have our own definitions of such things), what are the defining characteristics of mortality?
Naturally, the most superficial elements come to mind: a carbon based body consisting of water and other bio-chemicals, bone, flesh, and, of course, blood. The duality of the body's structure, simultaneously strong yet inescapably fragile, provides a frustrating paradox, of which some of us may still retain a fleeting memory. Moreover, the body, while a wonderfully complex mechanism in itself, is doomed to destruction. The never ending campaign required to sustain the physical body takes up a majority of the time and resources of a human life. This cannot, however, be the definitive mortal state.
The more interesting questions relating to the body revolve around those uses which are far less apparent. Even the simplest of human processes are hidden from the naked eye including digestion, respiration, circulation, immunization, and on and on. Those things we can see as purposes of the body revolve around the physical - transportation, utilization, occupation, recreation, competition, sexual reproduction, social interaction, verbal, spacial, and emotional communication, and so forth. And while what can be seen of the body's operation is what is observed by most humans repeatedly on a daily basis, it is those functions which cannot be seen, even more so than systematic functions mentioned previously, that begin to bring us into a clearer understanding of the human condition.
Perhaps more than anything else, more than any of the obvious physiological habits, the human body is truly more than the sum of its parts. More precisely, it is not the body itself that is paramount, but the role of a bridge that it so prominently plays. It is my hypothesis that the tissues, tendons, muscles, and bones that hold the body together are not merely practical necessities; that the blood and plasma that flows through the vast network of veins and arteries are more than corridors of nourishment, even the electricity passing through the nervous system is more than simple stimulation. I suggest that all of these systems work in tandem to maintain a bonding force for the role of the body as a shell for the supernatural - a soul cage of sorts.
To come to the root of our treatise on the nature of mortality, we must allow ourselves to look at them as more than shadows, more than livestock, more than animals. We must begin to carefully evaluate the relationship of the body, and its heart and brain, to the soul and spirit, and their connection to each other and significance in the extra-natural networks that make up existence. Of course, all of these conjectures are open to debate, interpretation, and argument, but this is why we have gathered in this place, and to support my position, I will present into evidence several case studies I have made over the course of my observations.
Naturally, the most superficial elements come to mind: a carbon based body consisting of water and other bio-chemicals, bone, flesh, and, of course, blood. The duality of the body's structure, simultaneously strong yet inescapably fragile, provides a frustrating paradox, of which some of us may still retain a fleeting memory. Moreover, the body, while a wonderfully complex mechanism in itself, is doomed to destruction. The never ending campaign required to sustain the physical body takes up a majority of the time and resources of a human life. This cannot, however, be the definitive mortal state.
The more interesting questions relating to the body revolve around those uses which are far less apparent. Even the simplest of human processes are hidden from the naked eye including digestion, respiration, circulation, immunization, and on and on. Those things we can see as purposes of the body revolve around the physical - transportation, utilization, occupation, recreation, competition, sexual reproduction, social interaction, verbal, spacial, and emotional communication, and so forth. And while what can be seen of the body's operation is what is observed by most humans repeatedly on a daily basis, it is those functions which cannot be seen, even more so than systematic functions mentioned previously, that begin to bring us into a clearer understanding of the human condition.
Perhaps more than anything else, more than any of the obvious physiological habits, the human body is truly more than the sum of its parts. More precisely, it is not the body itself that is paramount, but the role of a bridge that it so prominently plays. It is my hypothesis that the tissues, tendons, muscles, and bones that hold the body together are not merely practical necessities; that the blood and plasma that flows through the vast network of veins and arteries are more than corridors of nourishment, even the electricity passing through the nervous system is more than simple stimulation. I suggest that all of these systems work in tandem to maintain a bonding force for the role of the body as a shell for the supernatural - a soul cage of sorts.
To come to the root of our treatise on the nature of mortality, we must allow ourselves to look at them as more than shadows, more than livestock, more than animals. We must begin to carefully evaluate the relationship of the body, and its heart and brain, to the soul and spirit, and their connection to each other and significance in the extra-natural networks that make up existence. Of course, all of these conjectures are open to debate, interpretation, and argument, but this is why we have gathered in this place, and to support my position, I will present into evidence several case studies I have made over the course of my observations.
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