How much control do we really have?

[xcellerate]

The body is an amazing thing; however it's not just one entity. As we all should know its all kinds of creatures working together for a common good, a collective. You have very little control over what your body does; digesting food, none of your senses can be shut off voluntarily, if you try to stop breathing your body will knock you out and take control, if you cut yourself you have no control over the healing process, if you get sick you don't control the white blood cells. When you get down to it, all you really are--is navigation.
You control where the body goes, it's the only thing you have control over. Your body decides when all it's little systems of organisms need food and water, and they cause you discomfort until you finally give in and find them all food.
You’re also the protector of the systems. You’re at a bar one night and some guy starts making trouble, so you ask him to leave or you’ll call the police. The man then pulls a knife out of his pocket. Suddenly, your body orders up a huge dose of adrenaline to help you, help it. Adrenaline is a very cool substance, when your 'on it', things feel slowed down, and pain becomes almost nonexistent, you have increased mental activity, and increased blood flow to your muscles. Of course, all of this was done without your authorization.
It's weird to me how we have all these creatures working towards the common goal of our bodies self preservation and longevity, and how little interaction there is between the 'working class' and the 'upper class.' I'm clogging my veins with that hamburger I had for lunch yesterday, and the carbonation in that coke I just drank is doing no good, yet I can't get any health updates from my personal crew of physicians who work tirelessly day in and out with out even a thank you (except for maybe a salad).
All this stuff is obvious, it shouldn't come as a shock to anybody, but it’s just really weird to me when you think about it.
</obvious thought for the evening>

 

[DeusExMachina]

Well that all depends if you believe in Existentialism or Determinism. I myself don't know if either is right, perhaps we really aren't the masters of our own destinies.

 

[outpost]

I think of things like this all the time, its the reason why I have to go to summer school :/

Too much day dreaming

 

[TheSomeone]

Well that all depends if you believe in Existentialism or Determinism. I myself don't know if either is right, perhaps we really aren't the masters of our own destinies.

Way to read past the thread title.

 

[mindless_moder]

" I myself don't know if either is right, perhaps we really aren't the masters of our own destinies." what do you mean ? are you tlaking about free will ? in regards to our imune and digestive system ..no you cant control that maybe indirectly in some way . ie if you want to get sick and stay sick theres indirect ways of doing so .. may not be internal but your body cant stop you from doing that you have the "free will" of doing it. your bodily functions dont really govern all that much of your self other than self preservation. it would be really ilogical to have complete control over this ie: remembering to breath while playing soccer we just wouldnt function as efficiently.
it is an interesting thing to think about however. like for instance when people get a heart transplant the heart is treated as a foreign body , if we had control over our imune system we could have our bodies accept it without the expensive drugs.

 

[DeusExMachina]

I figured by body, he meant mind and motions as well...

 

[OCybrManO]

Yeah, I don't think he's talking about free will in regards to controlling bodily functions. I think he meant something more along the lines of having deterministic chemical reactions in our brain controlling all of our thoughts (potentially meaning the future only has one possible path) or having something extra that lets us choose our own destiny. Personally, I don't see any evidence of some sort of preternatural force that makes our choices unpredictable. That doesn't bother me in the slightest because there's no functional difference between making your own destiny and finding your predetermined destiny. Why? Well, in a system of one-way time flow with free will there's still no way to actually see more than one outcome. You'll never truly know what your actions could have brought about... just what did happen. In both cases, you can only follow one path. Even if life is predetermined you still have the illusion of choice because you don't know what your next action is going to be. So, from our perspective, there is no difference. Some people think it's depressing with they sit down and think about it. I don't see why. It's like being on a rollercoaster for the first time. You know it can only go down a set path and you know it has to end but if it's your first time through the ride everything is new and exciting. Enjoy it.

 

[TheSomeone]

I figured by body, he meant mind and motions as well...

And by white blood cells he meant inner demons, right?

Please.

 

[DeusExMachina]

And by white blood cells he meant inner demons, right?

Please.

What the hell? You act as if I offended him someone jesus. Its late, I'm tired, I skimmed through most of it, let it go.

 

[Kyorisu]

/Ownage Mode.

You as an entity control absolutley everything within your body. Merely becuase it doesn't happen via concious thought doesn't mean you don't control it. If your brain would only breathe when you thought about it, you wouldn't survive a night of sleep.

A virus invades your system. Your Phagocytes and Lymph cells begin attacking the intruding virus, which say causes measles. The virus seems to hold ground, so your brain bumps up the production of white blood cells.

/End Ownage Mode.

I'm a Biology student btw.

 

[Jintor]

If it comes to that, what is a mind? What is it that makes it so that we are intelligent, able to distinguish between a monkey and a marshmellow? Is it not a simple sieries... seiries... something... of electronic impulses that are really, really fast? Does that mean that we are nothing but electricity within a large fleshy pile of crap?

Without the brain, nothing else happens. The body rots.

But with the brain, the body grows.

You breathe. Do you control that? Yes, to a limited extent. But it is impossible to strangle yourself to death because you have fail-safes installed (metaphor, metaphor), i.e. blacking out after a while where you release your hands from your neck. So you can stop breathing for a while, but you have no decision about whether you can continue breathing - you can and you will. (unless, of course, you're drowning/being strangled/suffocated by someone else)

(I'm just thinking aloud If i'm wrong feel free to critisize and nuke me.)

 

[ríomhaire]

Also when you think about it more we don't even directly control the thing that we can do. Eg:
Tell yourself to press the t key on your keyboard that's infront of you and you do it, you don't conciously pull your arm and fingure muscles to the correct possitions, it's done for you. What's even more extradinary is your body can tell the difference between you wanting to do something and thinking about it. You can think about pressing the i key all day but your body won't do it until you decide it should.

 

[Murray_H]

/Ownage Mode.

You as an entity control absolutley everything within your body. Merely becuase it doesn't happen via concious thought doesn't mean you don't control it. If your brain would only breathe when you thought about it, you wouldn't survive a night of sleep.

A virus invades your system. Your Phagocytes and Lymph cells begin attacking the intruding virus, which say causes measles. The virus seems to hold ground, so your brain bumps up the production of white blood cells.

/End Ownage Mode.

I'm a Biology student btw.

Wow, [SARCASM]total ownage[/SARCASM]

But yes, the division between conscious and unconscious control has to be made very clear. While it seems that we have limited control over bodily functions (motor control being a main one), our brain is working like a badass to maintain a homeostatic environment for the body. So we are controlling our body, even though we aren't aware of it (as we 'own' our brains which do the work).

I'm trying to think of an analogy to describe it, but I can't :/

Hmm what about working in a coal mine, you come home covered in soot and it's visible you worked for your wage, but you also have shares in a company that are seeing you through into retirement. Maybe a bit abstract...

 

[Kyorisu]

Your brain is very much like a computer.

All day long it will constantly loop waiting for new information which is allways being received, and then route that information to the correct area for processing.

What's even more extradinary is your body can tell the difference between you wanting to do something and thinking about it. You can think about pressing the i key all day but your body won't do it until you decide it should.

To control movement, the brain has several parallel systems of muscle control. The motor system controls voluntary muscle movement, aided by feedback loops in the cerebellum and the basal ganglia. Nuclei in the brainstem control many involuntary muscle functions such as heartrate and breathing.

 

[SimonomiS]

No control? Like hell!

*tries to drown himself through sheer willpower*

*Fails miserably*

Someone get a cinder block and a camera, then we can make art...

 

[boystupid]

I think it is strange that all our thoughts are just a series of electrical impulses. I supose it is similar to a computer, like some one said if you think of the letter i there must be a series of signals or codes e.g: In computers Binary code.
As for control we do have some control over what we do, such as where we travel and what we eat, but there is also things that we do not have total control over, like when you type on the keyboard you don't have to think where every key is you just know, as your brain has a stored code for how your finders have to move to press the keys to spell out the words. ANd of corse there are things that we have no control (mental control that is) over such as breathing, the heart's operations and our imune system.

 

[ríomhaire]

ANd of corse there are things that we have no control (mental control that is) over such as breathing, the heart's operations and our imune system.

Thank God for that. If we could control our heartbeat drunk idiots would have 'who's heart can beat slowest' competions.

 

[outpost]

Thank God for that. If we could control our heartbeat drunk idiots would have 'who's heart can beat slowest' competions.

I'D WIN!! lolololololololol

 

[SimonomiS]

I'D WIN!! lolololololololol

No way, I'd pwn at having a slow heart. Its already broken.

 

[Steve]

As long as I still have control over my bathroom functions, I'm good.