Cell Memories (Identity)

by dhw, Friday, October 11, 2013, 14:40 (4060 days ago) @ David Turell

Dhw: I came across this article a couple of days ago on the Internet, but now I can't find the reference. I'm reproducing it in its entirety, but what interest me particularly are the stories at the end. It turns out there are lots of these incidents happening now. They raise huge questions over the nature of identity, which we are looking at again under "Emergence". -DAVID: The actual link:
http://perdurabo10.tripod.com/id470.html-How the cells communicate using my theory:
"The mind and body communicate with each other through chemicals known as peptides," she said. "These peptides are found in the brain as well as in the stomach, muscles and all of our major organs. I believe that memory can be accessed anywhere in the peptide/receptor network. For instance, a memory associated with food may be linked to the pancreas or liver, and such associations can be transplanted from one person to another."-Thank you for finding the link. As usual you are more interested in HOW cells communicate than in WHAT they communicate. The stories in this article*** (see below) tell us that memories, experiences and characteristics are contained within the cells, and when the cells are moved into another person, they can change that person's identity. In other words, our cells ARE us. Your belief in an afterlife requires the survival of identity after the death of the cells. But if these are the actual containers of identity, and can even change a person's character by independently communicating with one another, it becomes difficult if not impossible to conceive how the identity itself can survive their death. Your response under "Emergence" was "Simply at a quantum level, in the other level of our reality." I don't understand what this means. If the stories are to be believed (and why shouldn't they be?), memories and characteristics are stored in the cells. So do they "escape" from the dead cells, in some form of non-material energy? This would mean that the identity which emerges from the cells, even when we are alive, is non-material (= substance dualism). Is this what you believe?	-*** 
In one amazing story, an eight-year-old girl who received the heart of a murdered 10-year-old, began having nightmares in which she relived the crime. Her dreams helped police solve the murder.
 
In another story, a shy, reserved woman has vivid dreams about the donor, even though she never met this person. She also develops a more assertive personality. A third heart recipient strangely picks up his donor's musical taste.