Hi Dulino and all,
I don't know if you really want the physical answer, but here it is
anyway . . .
DULINO
> I am not an information theorist (if someone here is, please correct
me),
> but information (software) is essentially a form of energy. On a disk
or in
> memory it is a particular configuration of electrons - a magnetic
charge.
> On paper it is matter -- ink is spilled out in a form that we can
> recognize as meaningful information. In our brains it is a particular
> configuration of neural networks, some electrochemical reaction and a
> resulting flow of electrons. Matter itself is a form of energy
(E=mc^2) and
> vice versa. Please correct me if I am wrong -- I am not a physicist.
>
> Following this logic, mind is a form of energy/matter. By the law of
> conservation of matter and energy it must exist in one form or another
> _always_. Where do our thoughts go when we die ? Do they disappear ?
They
> can't -- because there is always a constant amount of matter and
energy in
> the universe. . . .
This is right up to a point, but there is an important difference
between energy and work.
If I have a bucket of water at the same temperature as the surroundings,
the "heat" energy in the water definitely exists, but I cannot do
anything with it. To do work, I have to be able to get heat to FLOW (in
which case I can run a heat engine).
Thus, if I have a bucket of hot water in a cold room, the system has
POTENTIAL to do work, but the heat flow causes the temperature
difference to disappear. Thus the potential is used up.
Essentially, this is just another way of stating the second law of
thermodynamics, i.e. spontaneous change corresponds to the dissipation
of potential, and the overall direction is ALWAYS towards dissipation.
The question Dulino raises about our thoughts fits into the general
theme. The "order" inherent in thoughts has a tendency to spontaneously
dissipate. However, life makes clever use of antiparallel coupling
between different processes, e.g. the dissipation of potential in the
oxidation of glucose can be linked to the CREATION of order. Once this
stops (on death), our thoughts do indeed die/dissipate with us.
Jonathan
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