Do you 'matter'?

[the]

i am not my body.

A poster here posted this today, and it is irrelevant who did because that is not the point except that they are INFJ.

I do not believe that what he said was true, I believe that we are at least partially made up of our body and our mind - throw in soul or spirit if you like. My opinion is that we are our body and mind and the two are inseparable. You are "You" because of your body and mind being linked and to remove one would be to totally change "You".

It seems like a distinctly N thing to dissociate yourself from your body. Truly it is a distinctly INFJ thing to say it isnt the real you, even if you are gorgeous/handsome you'd reject your body. The mind/ soul is the only thing a stereotypical INFJ wants to lay claim to.

So my question is: Do you think that Ns would generally say the real me is made up of non-matter, while Ss would say that our real selves are made up of matter- plus some?


( I cant find the survey buttons so that will have to wait)

 

[JGirl]

i'm going to cop to being the person you quoted, mostly because i want to point out that the statement was made in an entirely different context than you are presenting it here.
i have no objections to you doing so, but would prefer that you make it known that this is the case.
anyway, carry on...

 

[barbad0s]

Oh haha your title is a play on wording

 

[jyrffw54]

We are a soul that inhabits a body and has a mind. We are essentially made of energy at the core of our beings.

I like the phrase "I am more than my body". I am the sum of mind, body,and soul.

 

[Jill Hives]

I exist in different states of "matter". Liquid, solid, and the occasional gas.

 

[the]

I exist in different states of "matter". Liquid, solid, and the occasional gas.

Mostly hot air.

ba dum Ching!

 

[the]

but would prefer that you make it known that this is the case.
anyway, carry on...

I refuse to make it known because it doesn't 'matter.'

 

[Flavus Aquila]

Aristotle said: 'I am not my soul.'

By this he meant that self-identity is not equated with the mind. Rather, Aristotle's opinion was that he was a composite of both body and soul.


So,
Am I matter? No
Am I my body? No
Am I spirit? No
Am I my mind? No

Am I a composite of matter and soul? Yes
Am I a composite of body and mind? Yes

 

[Jill Hives]

Mostly hot air.

ba dum Ching!

:O

 

[ThisIsWhoIAm]

Quantum physicists say that in the heart of matter (molecules atoms and all that jazz) are ideas, information.

So what if matter is actually spirit, and we just grasp it as something "solid and permanent" through our senses?

That way, INFJs are right either way ^^

 

[SealHammer]

We are a soul that inhabits a body and has a mind. We are essentially made of energy at the core of our beings.

I like the phrase "I am more than my body". I am the sum of mind, body,and soul.

People are just matter and energy - a constant cycle of one changing into the other and vice versa.
Thinking of it like that is nice because it's almost like a reminder that it's OK to change and you can do so and still retain your sense of self. You are not the person you were five minutes ago, but at the same time you are the person you've always been.

One view I tried to adhere to a bit when I was younger and still do to an extent is espoused by a line from the book Armor by John Steakley:

You are
What you do
When it counts

For a while I tried to justify my passive form of existence by saying that I could just save my energy and act only when it would be of consequence, and those actions of consequence would be the moments that redefine me, both in perception and in reality. Eventually I realized that was a stupid, awful idea when taken at face value, but it's still a nice thought and something I like to consider when I think about what makes me "me."

e:

So what if matter is actually spirit, and we just grasp it as something "solid and permanent" through our senses?

This got me thinking: I would totally sell my soul to the devil if I could thereafter physically tear peoples' souls from their being. There are a couple people I have in mind for that wish.

 

[sprinkles]

'I' am not.
I is an ever changing illusion. Individuated but not static.
I can never fully describe me, and even if I could, it would change instantly.
I change as I get older, so even if I say I am 37, I'm really older than that as soon as I say it - before I even have time to say it even.
I can say I am tired but that will change when I become rested. I can say I'm rested but that will change as I become tired. I can say that I like tacos but maybe just for today I don't feel like eating them.

'I' is a really useful approximation for communicating, but whatever I think myself to be at any given moment is really not the full story of what actually comprises me, down to the very smallest individual cells that grow and die and leave the body and are then replaced again. A person sheds about 30,000 skin cells per hour. The body is constantly rebuilding itself even on a physical level - in a few years it is literally not the same body you had previously.

So much for matter.

 

[Neuro]

I don't know if focusing their definition of self on physical matters is a typical S thing (and the opposite for Ns), but I can see how that could be a possibility. Interesting thought though, I'll make sure to ask some of my friends about it and see if/how their answers differ...

As I see it, my physical self do in no way define "me". I am not my body, although my body is a part of "me" as a whole. I am my thoughts, my actions, my desires, my ideas & etc. My body is just a tool for expressing them.

Although I don't feel any sort of belonging to the (nonexistant) culture I grew up in, as well as being white in a white-dominated society gives me the privelege of not having to feel alienated by racism or any of such type of remarks on the physical self. I can understand if someone feels a stronger identity to their body and heritage if it is also something that affects their life more.

 

[muir]

Quantum physicists say that in the heart of matter (molecules atoms and all that jazz) are ideas, information.

So what if matter is actually spirit, and we just grasp it as something "solid and permanent" through our senses?

That way, INFJs are right either way ^^

Yeah i think we're going to see a radical shift in how we perceive the nature of reality in the mainstream within our lifetimes

I think concerning the statement 'i am not my body' i think it could be interpreted as meaning that my body is merely a vessel. It is a vehicle, a biological computer through which i am experiencing this life experience; it's an information decoder

Concerning bodily weakenesses i think people can turn a weakeness into a strength by using it as a reservoir to draw energy from; the film Gattaca captures that well

[video=youtube;yRynilqRXwI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRynilqRXwI[/video]

The race doesn't usually go to the swiftest or the strongest but to the one who holds on the longest

 

[the]

Yeah i think we're going to see a radical shift in how we perceive the nature of reality in the mainstream within our lifetimes

I think concerning the statement 'i am not my body' i think it could be interpreted as meaning that my body is merely a vessel. It is a vehicle, a biological computer through which i am experiencing this life experience; it's an information decoder

Concerning bodily weakenesses i think people can turn a weakeness into a strength by using it as a reservoir to draw energy from; the film Gattaca captures that well

[video=youtube;yRynilqRXwI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRynilqRXwI[/video]

The race doesn't usually go to the swiftest or the strongest but to the one who holds on the longest

yes good point about your body being a vessel. I would say that my body is a part of me in that if I cut off an arm there is less of me. As opposed to how I perceive what you are saying in that if your arm is cut off you are still 100%you.

 

[muir]

yes good point about your body being a vessel. I would say that my body is a part of me in that if I cut off an arm there is less of me. As opposed to how I perceive what you are saying in that if your arm is cut off you are still 100%you.

Yes i do not identify with my body

That said i do require it for my journey through this existence and as such will try to avoid limb chopping scenarios

Decoding space and time in the brain: http://redicecreations.com/article.php?id=25442