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Subject: Re: Here's a thought... ( 5 of 27 )
Posted by Si

> but I always understood that nothing in the universe is ever created or destroyed - it just simply changes form.

The first law of thermodynamics: Energy is conserved i.e. can only be converted to a different form.

Thermodynamic systems that depend on a particular type of energy being delivered in a particular way though, can be destroyed if that energy source is interupted. When the brain is starved of oxygen carrying blood, neurons are no longer able to metabolyse the reactions required by their little "check incoming synapse activity and fire" programs and brain activity falls off.

If the 'mind' is an emergent property of a suitably complex map of neural activity then it will just evaporate. It is not converted because there's nothing to convert, it is only an emergent property of a system.
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