What we are (Consciousness)
What are we? Are we muscles? bones? veins? blood? Are we our brain? Are we our left foot? Are we the skin that encapsules all this?
Our body contains 37 Trillion cells and produces 300 Billion cells per day (!!!). Each cell that we have in our bodies has a specific function, for example a cell in the fat toe of my left foot knows it has to pump some blood and be ready for an emergency in case I get a cut on my toe. And I’ll have a different cell in my brain being responsible to help the sinapses between neurons.
Each one of these cells know exactly what they have to do, each one has a different function, each one of them has it’s own consciousness.
If you look closely, each one of these cells is made up of atoms. As you know atoms are made up of neutrons, protons at their core and electrons orbiting around in circles. If you compare the size of the atom with the (tiny) size of it’s matter (the neutron, proton, electron)… you will see that we are more emptiness, than we are matter.
Following this reasoning, we can say we are a sum of emptiness, we are a sum of consciousness.
So what are we? What really defines us? Is it our physical body? Is it the way people see us? Are we defined by our physical abilities or disabilities?
So what are we? What really defines us?
If I cut off my arm right now, and placed it on a table next to me, what would be your image of me? Would you see me as a disabled person?
Or imagine I had an accident and I appeared here using a wheel chair. Would you judge me as being a disabled person?
For those of you who are close to me, for those of you who know me, I would continue being “me”. You would be looking through my physical body, feeling, understanding my essence, regardless of my physical body.
This is however very different in the society we live in when people meet persons with a disability for the first time.
[… continues in Chapter 6 “Disability”]
“What we are (Consciousness)” is an extract (Chapter 5) of Joe Santos’ speech “Deficiência — Diferença”, spoken on 10 May 2016 at Futuridade II, Centro Comunitário Gafanha do Carmo at Centro Cultural de Ílhavo.
Joe Santos is a Co-Founder of Vencer Autismo and dedicates his life to the cause of Autism and supporting Social projects for the love of seeing positive change in the world.
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