@Walley
Wow!
I thought my views with regards to the meaning of life were complicated (yeah, I know it's 42, but still..), but you surely have even a more complicated view...
Anyway, since this is something I was thinking about while waiting for yet-another-compilation, I guess there's no harm in sharing.
IMO, there is a distinct difference between the awareness/consciousness/mind and the brain are pretty much different (i.e. it might be possible at some point to sustain our consciousness without having our brain). However, one thought that arises here - is whether the brain is necessary to keep our consciousness (i.e. no brain=no consciousness = final death = whatever
) or whether the brain is only needed to help our consciousness (read our true selves) receive the input from the world around us (whether consciousness belongs to this world or not is another debate). Hence the fact that we have a so-called subconsciousness, which may be referred to as simply our brain acting without accessing our consciousness.
One way I like to think about it all is with the example of AIs. Lets think of the brain as a powerfull computer with CPU/GPU (or in our case MovementPU, LanguagePU, SensesPU, Basic_functionsPU, etcPU), with RAM (our short-term memory), SSD/HDD (long-term memory), etc. With this all, we a have a basic OS, which runs the hardware, plus the I/O devices (i.e. that is all your body parts), but it functions on a pretty low-level state. Then, atop of that, we have our consciousness - which simply overrides necessary functions of the original OS API, and provides us with the high-level functionality. And there we have our subconsciousness - i.e. the original OS performing something, whilst not being overriden by the high-level consciousness. This can be used to explain behaviour which occurs with the consumptions of drugs, alcohol, etc., which means that certain functions simply stop being overriden by the high-level app, thus making the individual acting "weird".
Abviously, such a setup might likely require to have some backup mechanics, which might either be "one off" (i.e. just before the brain gets destroyed, the info can be sent off to some "backup server"), or it might be constant (i.e. having some wireless connection to the central server (or the abovementioned "realm of infinite consciousness"), thus explaining such phenomenas, as "thoughts reading" or ability to predict future or ability to feel what some other person is doing, etc.)
Anyway, I could go on and on, as it is a very interesting topic and gives you a relief from constant programming/designing/modelling/whatever_else. Also, if we'll get to some conclusion here, I got an idea for the next one - how did we end up on this planet? (some tips: try studying ancient civilizations, there are lots of things we could learn from them
8)
