Robert Tulip wrote: This is the sense in which we say science is one of the great achievements of the human spirit.

I wouldn't have thought of that, but I'll certainly buy it.

DWill wrote: We don't even begin to truly comprehend what is physical.

Do you see what I was attempting to say here? I mean that there is more going on in physical systems such as our bodies than we can possibly be aware of, and that from a basic understanding level we are pretty far off as well. There is no justification for the 'merely physical' denigration. We are approaching the unity of the spiritual and physical when considering an organ such as the brain.

our observation about animals 'living their bodies' relates to our previous conversation about instinct, and how reason separates humans from instinct. The irony is that it is only through conscious reasoning (ie spirituality) that we know how many haemoglobin molecules there are.

Good one, RT.