Being Human in Faith, Art, and Science

The idea here is that our bodies are material and our animate life is spiritual, but our body has a soul, and our soul has a body.

Sometimes I'll go "Ouch" when my car hits the curb. That experience leads me to speculate that our use of tools is, in some way, an extension of one's body. And that the stuff we attach to our bodies are in some way much more a part of us than the mere accidents (latin, accidens) that they seem.

For the whole article, follow this link.
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/128/2

or click here

Tool Use Is Just a Trick of the Mind

By Michael Balter
ScienceNOW Daily News
28 January 2008

Don't take that hammer for granted. Using tools may seem like second nature, but only a few animals can master the coordination and mental sophistication required. So how did primates learn to use tools in the first place? A new study in monkeys suggests that the brain's trick is to treat tools as just another body part.
Primates, with their four flexible fingers and opposable thumbs, have a highly evolved ability to grasp and manipulate objects. Previous research has shown that many of these actions are controlled by an area of the brain called F5. As the hand opens and closes to grasp an object, neurons in area F5 fire in a predictable sequence. In the parlance of neuroscientists, the neurons are "coded" to control the hand movements. When a primate learns to use a tool, its brain must code neurons not only to move the hand but also to make the tool manipulate an object, a much more cognitively complex task....

The twenty-fifth day of December.
In the five thousand one hundred and ninety-ninth year of the creation of the world from the time when God in the beginning created the heavens and the earth;
the two thousand nine hundred and fifty-seventh year after the flood; the two thousand and fifteenth year from the birth of Abraham;
the one thousand five hundred and tenth year from Moses and the going forth of the people of Israel from Egypt;
the one thousand and thirty-second year from David's being anointed king;
in the sixty-fifth week according to the prophecy of Daniel;
in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad;
the seven hundred and fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome;
the forty-second year of the reign of Octavian Augustus;
the whole world being at peace in the sixth age of the world,
Jesus Christ the eternal God and Son of the eternal Father,
desiring to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming,
being conceived by the Holy Spirit,
and nine months having passed since his conception,
was born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary,
being made flesh.

Proclamation of the Birth of Christ.
From the Roman Martyrology for Christmas Mass.

Hello Friends.
After a year's absence, I find that the powers that be no longer have my Blog by this name anywhere to be found. I am back, though.

If you happen to have a saved copy of any of the old blogs, I would much appreciate getting a copy.
Thanks.

Many thanks to the legendary Leon Russell with his classic country album, Hank Wilson's Back. The album is available at Amazon and other fine retailers. No, I don't get a commission. I just thought that this album cover picture represented this blog pretty well.

BCM