I know I'm a living system because I am constantly rediscovering myself through my daily actions and reorganizing myself according to what I learn. The process of continually rediscovering myself is an act of autopoietic organization. One way of looking at this process is that my constant remodeling of myself allows me to be the producer and the product. This example also proves I am a living being. Just the fact that all my actions have an impact on my internal world as well as my external world are reflected in how I present myself on a daily basis. My flection of myself is proof that I am a living system.
I am very glad that technology is continuously advancing, allowing us to measure if a brain damaged person has more consciousness then what we were previously aware. Sometimes our discoveries bring more questions rather than resolve a question. I believe the main issue with this technology is the ethical problems. Who is to say what is the brain response from the brain dead person may be instinctual, instead of consciousness. even more terrifying is the thought of that person has been kept alive for 5 years having no communication externally.If his or hers consciousness still remained, who much would be left. It is a fact that the human body is a very resourceful, like if you don't use your cells, you lose the function of those cells. The biggest question of all is, when is the "proper" time to determine the consciousness is active. Is it 3months, 6months, or 2 years. I think there is no good answers to any of these very reasonable inquiries. My hope for this technology that if we could use it to help the person to communicate, this technology could also improve the quality of life for people who have paralysis.
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