The Sun is a source of energy. The fusion of its atoms releases photons (energy). The Sun itself is atoms (mass), like you said, not energy.

but energy is electrons in movement. take electricety for example. electrons just moving around like hell. and electrons have a mass (9.109 3826(16) × 10–31 kg) so by that energy has a mass too.

What are all the forms of energy we know of anyway? theres fission, fusion, electrons, fire and other chemical reactions, also i guess you could call velocity energy too rite? any others?

Hmm lets see. There is kinetic, potential, thermal, electrical, chemical, nuclear, and mass energy..

kinetic, potential, mass and gravitational are all forms of velocity energy - ie, they are realised through movement. in a sense, so is thermal/heat, since that energy is also realised in the movement of atoms but the primary source of that energy comes from somthing else.

Yes, but all forms of energy REQUIRE matter in order in exist. The wavelenghts of light are somewhat of an exception, but that's because light is simulataneously both matter and energy at the same time, so it more or less can effect itself. If it can exist totally without matter, than it is matter.



No, but I am saying that I know what energy itself is. I don't have to know what every form of insect in the world is to know that a cat isn't one.

Find any example of any kind of functional device or form, nature or artificial, however simplistic, that consists of energy with no matter. I can guarantee that there isn't one, because it isn't possible, but go ahead and try to prove me wrong.



And how, pray tell, does a soul qualify as energy? Can you measure it? Can you quantify it? Can you identify it's source or what it effects? If you believe in the soul, as I do, then you should know that it doesn't fit at all any definition of matter or energy. Therefore, it must be neither, but something else entirely.

Frankly no one knows what the soul is. It may just be another word that we give our own conciusness. So that it may live on after we die, in one form or another.

Well, it is a fact that humans use only about 3-5% of their brain's potential. I suppose having a hightened usage of our brains may bring something truly spectacular. Although I doubt it will result in ascension.




The soul is metaphorical(more like religious, but i may be wrong) term for the conciousness of the human mind.


All matter is energy and energy is liberated mattar. Converting mass into energy is how an atom bomb works. Hydrogen bombs are different since they dont use the same concept as atom bombs, they work via converting mattar into another lighter mass thus releasing huge ammounts of destructive force. In fact, about 20 million(or more) hydrogen bombs explode in our very own sun every single second.



I'm not sure about this, but we have an megnetic field around the earth that cancels out radiation.



You forgot electrostatic energy.

No, it's not a fact. It's a myth. We actually use nearly 100%. Google myth and brain. You'll find hundreds of legitimate science sites debunking this.



Yes we do. That magnetics field is generated by the earth's Magnetic core, which is matter. Without that core, said magnetic field would not exist. You've just helped prove my point.

Ok, technically, yes, all matter is energy, according to Einstein's famous equation, E=MC^2, where E is energy and M is mass. However, in practical terms, energy refers to photons (light), as the "energy" in mass is mostly uncontrollable at our current technological level.

Electrons, a particle found in atoms that has mass, are the most common carrier of energy that we use. The electrons themselves are not the energy we use.

Chemical energy: take trinitrotoluene for example (chemistry test: anyone know what this is?). This relatively complex molecule has an enormous amount of chemical bonds between its atoms. Chemical bonds are formed by electrons in a high energy state, essentially meaning they are carrying a lot of photons. When trinitrotoluene reacts, all these bonds break, the electrons release all their photons temporarily. Now many of these photons will be reabsorbed by the atoms as they reform into smaller molecules, but the net effect is a release of energy.

Thermal energy: photons traveling at a wavelength corresponding to infrared light, which is commonly known as heat.

Kinetic energy: All matter generates a magnetic field, the strength of which gets stronger as two object come together. Think like a spring, the more you compress it, the harder it pushes against you. Moving matter carries a certain amount of energy. Lets say you drop a ball. It is moving towards the ground, and it hits the ground, but in reality, it never touches the ground, the magnetic fields that the ball and the ground generates (which, remember, get stronger when they are closer) are strong enough to repel each other. The energy that the moving ball had moves in the form of photons from the magnetic field of the ball to the magnetic field of the ground. Assuming that the ball bounces, this is because the energy in the ground has moved back into the ball, along the same magnetic fields. Again, photons in action.

Electrical energy: In metal, the electrons just kind of float around in a "sea". Each electron has its own, minuscule magnetic field, causing them to repel one another. So electrical energy is essentially small scale kinetic energy: one electron is pushed towards another, and when they are close enough their photons move along their magnetic fields, and that electron "hits" the next one, and so on.

Nuclear energy: This is energy in the nucleus. It's a little more complex, but basically, there are photons that are trapped inside the nucleus by "strong nuclear forces" (yes, I believe that is the technical term). When the atom undergoes fission or fusion, the strong nuclear forces are broken, and the photons escape.

Hope this was informative.

[quote]No, but I am saying that I know what energy itself is. I don't have to know what every form of insect in the world is to know that a cat isn't one.

so now your saying you know all breeds of cats in the universe?

My point is that you are making asumptions about the universe based on what you know about such a tiny fraction of it (Earth). You cannot tell me there are no cat/insect hybrids anywhare in the universe any more than you can tell me what amazing and unknown forms of energy could be out there.

I'll trade my first couple of hundred centuries in purgatory, against the bet that the "rules" of energy, light, speed, travel yaddi yadda will heve been rewritten. Even a hundred years or so ago, you would be considered at best excentric, and more likely put away as irredeemably crazy, if you serously believed walking on the moon was possible.

As for a remote buggy waddling over the surface of Mars - thats it, no discussion, the friendly men in their white coats would pick you up for an extended holiday in a very dingy 5 story red brick building - albeit utilities were all inclusive   

As for Fusion - well you probably might have got away with that, as many would probably have nodded sagely not wanting to show ignorance   

Regards
Zy

Actually i do not personally believe this to be true. We just cannot detect how a human being uses 50-100% of his brain.

The main reason i believe this is because nature typically does not have a habit of providing anything more or less than what we need to survive, so why give us 95% of brain tissue we don't need? hahaha, 3-5% is almost laughable when i look at it from that perspective.

Tim Rice once wrote in his play.

"To conquer death, you only have to die."

But in my opinion if ascension is possible, I don't think so. Well.. Not stargate version of ascension. We'll ascend somehow. We've done it before from walking monkeys to walking, talking, somewhat less hairy monkeys.

I believe that there is life out there, maybe somewhat sentient, but I wouldn't be too surprised if we end up going out there and we find ourself the only sentient beings. Look at our planet and the diversity we have here, how come we're the only one that's "intelligent."

We humans evolved intelligence because it was needed just like a wolf-like animals evolved fins and became dolphins or dinosaurs evolved feathers and became birds. How come lions never evolved intelligence to become better hunters? It's because they were fine the way they were. I believe our species has been on the borderline of extinction so many times that intelligence evolved from fear of a dangerous world.

Such an animal would no longer fit the definition of either cat or insect. It would have to be classified as something completely different.

The fact is, that anything that behaves as matter is classified as matter, and anything that behaves like energy is classified as energy. If it behaves in the way it needs to in order to make ascension possible it no longer fits the definition of energy. Therefore, it isn't energy. And in order to be like that, it would have to fit the definition of matter and would have to be succeptible to physical decay and damage. Now you're describing a regular body made out of matter and harnessing energy. Again, I don't have to know what every form of energy in the universe is, because if in order to make such a thing possible, it would not, by definition, be energy at all.-

Stargate or other sci-fi ascension is impossible. Period. At least as far as actual energy is concerned.

Ugly bags of mostly water ...

I do not know if there are forms of energy in the universe that defy classification - nor do you!

classify this one then


light

This is a slight tangent - what about the possibility of the technological singularity? (google it, if you're not already familiar). It's kind of crazy - but at the same time kind of seductive. Maybe because I'm a sci-fi nerd and a hopeless romantic.

Basically, the idea is that artificial computing power has been growing slightly faster than exponentially for the last 50 years. If it continues at that pace, at some point in the next 25-50 years, computers will be smarter than humans. At that point, they can take over the development of better computers, shortening the time it takes for them to improve further... and resulting in a quick spiral to infinity.

Combined with the idea that people can be made into cyborgs... replace your neurons, one at a time, with a robotic equivalent... will you know the difference? Will you still be you? Once it's done, you've shed your meatbag body for a machine, which is smarter, faster, and immortal. What then?

we already have cyborgs

people with

glasses

hearing aids

pace makers

artifical limbs

artifical eyes.

granted that these are very low tech cyborg

but a cyborg is a being that has supplemented his/her abilities with mechinical or electronic techs.

Scientifically and physically possible, although I doubt it actually can be done.



That one's highly debated, but it's usually considered to be both matter and energy at the same time, since it contains all the characteristics of both.



If they defy classification, they aren't energy. Energy is simply a term used for phenomena that fits a certain definition. Energy isn't in a sense something real, it's just a term we use to refer to anything that fits certain characterstics. Anything that does not fit is not energy. It may be somewhat similar, but it is something different. Again, it isn't necessary for me to know every form of energy, since I know the characteristics that the term refers to.

Even light fits all the definitions of energy, it just happens to do the same thing for matter as well.

NICE! but i think by the time a machine is as smart as a human, you would have come full circle and find your machine was merely human!!



Terms of classification are not calved in stone you know... they can change as scientific knowledge and understanding grows.

true but according to the above it is either one or the other.

funny thing about light is it's velocity. Velocity for most stuff in the universe is relative to somthing else but not light. so if you traveled at the speed of light and then shone a torch out front, the light would simply pool up in the torch would it not?

Ascension – do I think it’s possible?
Eternal life – do I think it’s possible?
People, cars, animals, pebbles, etc suddenly rising to the sky – do I think it’s possible?
The Yeti, Don Quixote, James Bond, Asterix knocking on my door – do I think it’s possible?

Depends what you mean by “possible”. As an intellectual concept, all of the above (and more) are possible – nothing prevents the human mind from wandering and inventing. As a description or prediction of the (or a) real future – most definitely no.
If you think otherwise, start doing the first steps (taking your own points): spread out beyond the stars (you may wish to spread out TO the stars first), accelerate evolution to the speed required (“fast enough”), heighten your mind in capability and make your body more supreme. I wish you good luck!
But if you simply wish to shed your body and become pure energy, that can easily be achieved, even today.

Please excuse my sarcasm, I don’t intend to offend someone personally. But I’d much rather people would focus on today’s problems, make their world, their own lives and those of their friends more enjoyable. But keep on dreaming – dreaming alone doesn’t hurt anyone!