Are human beings part of the physical universe?

[Boojatta]

Perhaps some people may have various motivations for answering "no" to that question:

1. Pragmatics of English language usage: given that it's rude to speak of a particular person as being a "thing", some people may jump to the conclusion "no."

2. Naive religious view: some people can tolerate the idea that the universe doesn't literally revolve around the Earth and they might be able to tolerate the idea of being related to non-human primates, but insist that there is a completely undefined "spiritual realm" that is necessarily not an aspect of the physical universe.

3. Naive atheist view: some people have a philosophy that puts special emphasis on physics, chemistry, etc. They may be very reluctant to accept complicated aspects of human interactions as falling entirely within the realm of fact. If they were to accept that, then they would be taking the risk of having to admit that progress in understanding human interactions might lead to the development of an exact science of ethics.

[tridim]

1. Maybe I don't understand your post, but of course we are..

Every particle in the universe is part of the universe, and we're made up of the same particles that make up suns at the other edge of the universe.

[atomic-fly]

2. i agree

we are made of eternal matter/energy.
I'm old.

[Igel]

5. I suspect that the target is

a diverse group of people: people that believe we have an immortal soul, those that somehow seek transcendence of one sort or another, etc., etc.

(Personally ... when you die, you're dead. I miss his barb, but I also allow for resurrection, which would be God--not obligatorily part of the physical universe-- taking the person similarly out from under the constraints of the physical universe.)

[tridim]

6. M-Theory throws a bit of a wrench into the works..

With gravity shared between parallel universes and all that, but it doesn't change the fact that matter is matter, living or not.

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. Yes, and we are made of star stuff

Quite literally, as everything not made up of hydrogen was cooked in stellar furnaces. So ancient religions are correct in saying that everything around us was formed from the corpse of an ancient, vast being that died long ago. :hi:

[mudorio]

4. yes

[cosmik debris]

7. Not me

I'm part of a chronosynclastic infundibulum.

[Evoman]

8. Obviously not...if I was part of the physical universe, then bullets could kill me.

But, as it is, bullets go right through me.