Contents
Human software. The mind is like software. God endowed Adam with neshama, which transformed him into a human being.
Human software. God breathed neshama into Adam’s nostrils. This transformed dust into a human being.
Human software is similar, but certainly not precisely like computer software. God breathed neshama into Adam and activated his consciousness, mind, and body. Humans are privileged to have unlimited imagination and creativity; this is their origin.
(Origin of Humankind, chapter 5.4)
As we discuss the creation of humans, particularly Adam, in Genesis 2:7, we have seen several components. Firstly, God’s Holy Spirit is the Power used by Yahveh to create. Secondly, dust formed the body, including the man’s nostrils; this is the physical component of each human being. Then there is the neshama God breathed into Adam’s nostrils; this is the fundamental spirit-based component of humans, their consciousness; this is human awareness of their potential. It is their sensitivity to what they are. Their singularities, which I’ve resumed in chapter 10 of Audit of the Universe. These are the underlying basis of the mind; this is the fundamental difference of humankind from animalkind.
Coupled with the neshama comes the spirit in humans, the ruach; this is a second spiritual component that allows human beings to grow mentally. They can develop their abilities and talents; this is the mind-power that enables humans to learn and practice and move forward throughout their lives.
Today, we’re going to venture into the analogy of comparing the mind to computer software; this is risky, and I will lay down my rules for doing this. But first, why use the mind-software metaphor? Because humans have ruach AND animals have ruach. One could erroneously conclude that humans are animals, even if we often act that way. Hopefully, they wouldn’t conclude the inverse. But today, science and psychology are pulling out all stops to show how animals have human characteristics.
The ground rules are humans are not animals, and animals are not humans. There are some similarities, granted, but humans are humans, and animals are animals, and never the twain shall meet. To quote Rudyard Kipling, “Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” It is fundamental knowledge with Bible corroboration.
38 But God gives it a body as it has pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
Each species has its own flesh. Our tastebuds tell us that. We will see that, like flesh, like ruach/spirit. Each species has different flesh; each species has different ruach.
I’m laying down some rules because The Explanation is not the first to use the mind/software metaphor. Essayists and authors have been writing pro and con and everything in between on this subject for about 30 years. Some authors are anti-religious, with most believing that the mind is a part of the physical brain. In other words, there’s no spiritual, no non-material component.
Rule number one: The Bible tells us that two components of humans are both spiritual: neshama and ruach. Anyone can argue with the validity of the Bible narrative. The Explanation takes it at face value. If you’re reading this for the first time, go to the links and learn why. I’ve written plenty about each of these spiritual realities. In our analogy, both mind (consciousness & mind-power as a whole, neshama & ruach) AND software will be considered NON-material. In other words, we can consider them as NOT being an intrinsic part of a computer. The computer is hardware, and without software, it’s like the inert dust of Adam’s body AND brain before God breathed life into it.
Likewise, with animals! They have a body and brain PLUS, something that confers on each fauna species, its characteristics and within each species, individual characteristics. What makes some dogs droop their head and put their tail between their hind legs when scolded? They know they’ve done wrong and show it. How can a “dumb” (it’s in quotes) dog do that?
Remember, it’s an analogy. I’m using software as analogous to the spiritual human mind. Hardware, or a computer or another device, is analogous to the human brain. Similarly, we’ll use it for software and hardware for animal instinct (animals do not possess mind like humans) and animal brains.
Here’s the definition of software, all software. We shall see different types of software.
The mind is like software. It needs a creator, and it runs a device.
Various Biblical verses corroborate this concept; here are just two. Zechariah 12:1 says God formed (as Creator) the spirit in man (humans). James 2:26 says the body without the spirit is dead. If the spirit is absent, the device won’t run. God is the Creator of the human spirit and animal instinct. The human spirit runs the human brain just as animal instinct runs animal brains.
Now, we need to talk a little about how software works with computers and devices. I’m going to use the first sentences from Wikipedia.
- BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is non-volatile firmware used to perform hardware initialization during the booting process and to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs. The BIOS firmware comes pre-installed on a personal computer’s system board, and it is the first software to run when powered on.
- In electronic systems and computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for the device’s specific hardware. Firmware can either provide a standardized operating environment for the device’s more complex software (allowing more hardware-independence) or, for less complicated devices, act as the device’s complete operating system, performing all control, monitoring, and data manipulation functions. Typical examples of devices containing firmware are embedded systems, consumer appliances, computers, computer peripherals, and others. Almost all electronic devices beyond the simplest include some firmware.
- An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources and provides standard services for computer programs. You have at least one of the three on your computer, Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. Mobile phones have Android and IOS (Apple) and others.
- A computer program is a collection of instructions that performs a specific task when executed by a computer. A computer requires programs to function. The best known are Microsoft Office and Apple iWork, but there are several others. They include word processors, game programs, spreadsheets, database systems, graphics programs, and web browsers.
Animals
The first level of software (combining BIOS and firmware) is the most basic, and it is always pre-installed. Another way of putting this is embedded; this is software that is specific to one type and only one type of device. Firmware is everywhere, telephones, robots, appliances like microwaves, cookware, toys, pacemakers, security systems, televisions, and digital watches. It can get very sophisticated like for the International Space station or sending humans to Mars.
An unfortunate example of firmware is the Boeing 737 MAX. The Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) is a flight control law managed by the flight control computer. To simplify, the MCAS is firmware explicitly designed to handle the aircraft at slow speeds and its angle (up, down), or direction. Because this firmware is probably faulty, authorities grounded these planes, and the company will rewrite the software.
The unique characteristic of firmware is that each software is specific to one device. MCAS is only for the maneuverability of aircraft. Pacemaker firmware will not work in your television and vice versa.
That’s precisely the way animal instinct works. Instinct is specific to each animal, and it is not interchangeable. As each device has software specific to its hardware, so each animal has instinct specific to its brain as part of its body.
In Genesis 1, we saw God created fish, fowl, and animals. I Corinthians 15:38-39 says that there’s a different flesh for fish, fowl, and animals. Likewise, there’s different firmware, different instinct for each species and sub-species. God created this instinct; this is the specific firmware/ruach he embedded in each type of fish, fowl, and animal.
Biologists are amazed at the bodies and instincts of specific animals. Just like you and I are surprised at a vacuum robot that automatically goes across every inch of a floor picking up the dirt and then heading back to its home station. The firmware perfectly matches the animal or device it guides and animates. God created each instinct the same way programmers create each distinct firmware.
This instinct, similar to the firmware, cannot be modified. You might be able to enhance it a little by paying for an upgrade, but the ability and capacity of that firmware are limited to a specific device. Identical with instinct. Animals have a little leeway, You can train a lion, dolphin or chimp to do a few tricks, upgrade its instinct, so to speak. But, at a given point, you hit a brick wall, and the animal will not respond to any enhancement. Firmware has limited adaptability. Animals have ruach, they have a set embedded instinct, innate ability, designed for them to accomplish incredible feats, but beyond that, there is no or minimal variation.
Prehistoric Man-Beings
We need to take the time here to differentiate between prehistoric beings and humans. The Explanation cannot refer to them as prehistoric man. The Bible states that Adam was the first man, the first human. Adam and Eve are the parents of ALL humans.
The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
Genesis 3:20
And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
If this is correct, and The Explanation considers it correct, then EVERYTHING before Adam was NOT human. From a paleontological point of view, this is very important. From a Biblical point of view, this is not important. Not essential, because the Bible is the story of HUMANS, starting from Adam. Prehistoric beings, including erectus, habilis, neanderthal, and dinosaurs, ALL existed. But, BEFORE the creation of our world (starting with let there be light in Gen 1:3) and Adam and Eve (Gen 2.7 and onwards).
That’s why we have to be very careful with our use of paleontological terms. For instance, homo is Latin for human. And, as such, you and I are included in this group as homo sapiens (meaning wise) along with homo erectus, homo habilis, and all the other homos. According to the Bible, there are two problems with this classification. One, it is a misnomer to call prehistoric beings homo, humans. Two, Homo sapiens, ALONE, are in the genus Homo if we want to use that classification.
If Adam and his descendants are humans, then what was erectus, habilis, neanderthal, and all the other similar species? They were beings with more complex firmware. Just like animals (and humans), prehistoric beings possessed ruach, but more developed, as seen by their accomplishments. It is possible, but I have not studied this, that successive prehistoric beings had more and more developed ruach (firmware, software).
We have evidence that they could manufacture rudimentary tools, bury their dead, live in communities. As advanced and as impressive as these accomplishments may be, this is not what qualifies them as human (a little further on, we’ll see what indicates human). Watch the Ted Talk below to see that Genevieve von Petzinger, in her thorough study of cave art throughout Europe, found only 32 symbols. With that in mind, as intricate as it may be, can you present prehistoric cave art as human? It is undoubtedly more advanced than that which any animal species could accomplish. But, it is a very far cry from what defines humans.
In light of the Bible telling us Adam was the first (hu)man, I submit to you that all prehistoric beings were not human. They had specific body characteristics of humans, that is undeniable, but mentally, they were far, far short of the human mind. The Explanation is that they have more advanced ruach with firmware explicitly designed for them, giving them more capacity than animals. They were indeed on a level above their surroundings, but with only 32 symbols over thousands of years, they were incapable of going beyond their embedded firmware.
Human Beings
Now, we come to you and me. Not only do we have more than 32 symbols, but we have language(s) to make words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, books, series, and encyclopedias. Considering the subjects humans have researched, learned, and written about, it is safe to say humans are limitless in their mental capacities. I’m not saying humans can do anything and everything, but I am saying they’re unlimited in their imagination to do anything and everything.
What confers on human beings this limitless imagination?
Humans have a different Operating System than any other beings, including prehistoric beings, that have walked this planet. This human operating system was breathed into the nostrils of Adam by God in Genesis 2.7. It is the neshama. Never before and never since has any other type of physical being been endowed with neshama. Contrary to ruach, which endowed prehistoric beings and now, animals. That’s why it’s the neshama, and NOT the ruach, that is breathed into Adam’s nostrils as indicated in Genesis 2:7; this is a preeminently historic moment.
Adam is the first man, the precursor of the Second man, Jesus Christ Himself. Breathing neshama into Adam’s nostrils is a unique, awe-inspiring moment that initiated the Plan of God and the Story of Humankind.
The neshama, the human consciousness, confers on each human being born into this world, HUMAN SINGULARITIES. I outlined those fundamental singularities in chapter ten of Audit of the Universe: This is the operating system that God breathed into Adam.
Rule 2 regarding software. We must make a crucial distinction between computer software and human neshama. Computer software is mechanistic. (Read Andrei Sorin’s information, it is vital to understand the real limitations of computers.) It is limited to mechanically calculating possibilities and combinations based on data that has been input into that machine. You can stuff, even force-feed a computer with data. The device is ONLY capable of handling that data, which it can do very well, even better than humans. But the computer is LIMITED to that data INPUT by HUMANS.
On the contrary, humans have limitless imagination. Data input does not limit humans. I’m not talking about memory or capacity to retain and recall encyclopedic facts and figures; I’m talking about the human ability to add data to their ruach, their minds, of and by themselves. To innovate, find new solutions, invent, create. That is the prerogative of the human mind and only the human mind. That is the open-source operating system God breathed into Adam.
The firmware that endows all NON-human beings can only activate their possessor to the specific and distinct level of that software. That firmware cannot be inserted in any other device and cannot transmit its capacities to any other firmware/device. Each non-human species/being that possesses ruach is a unique species/being, and they cannot go beyond the instinct or capacity conferred on them via their ruach.
Humans are a different and unique species. They alone have neshama, analogous to an OPEN-SOURCE operating system characterized by imagination and creativity. Humans can write the computer code, the firmware, to send a human into space. They can install the code in a dedicated computer and use it to send Neil Armstrong to the moon. A computer, in a billion years, could never write the code; this is the difference between possessing neshama, open-source operating systems, and simple firmware-ruach.
For humans, it doesn’t stop with an open-source operating system. That’s just the starting point. That’s why I refer to it as consciousness. Just like a computer, an OS manages the computer itself and provides common services for the various computer programs that you upload to the machine. The most common applications are email, word processing, spreadsheets and databases, graphics, messaging.
But the breakdown is multitudinous, and there are thousands, even hundreds of thousands of computer applications on the market today. I have developed a specific one for the internet, a Bible Concordance that you can find at UnlockBibleMeaning.com. Human ruach can access, choose, and download any of these programs into their mind through learning and practice. Each human being can write, do math, draw, converse, and many other occupations.
A baby is born with consciousness, but it has no skills, no competencies, no capabilities. Yes, it has genetic nature passed on via its mother’s and father’s genealogy. As the baby grows, progressing through critical learning periods, the parents and the nurture upload programs to the neshama, the consciousness of the toddler. Those programs express themselves through the brain, sending signals to the rest of the body. There’s a program for learning sights and sounds, feeling mom’s skin and dad’s care (there are physical and mental programs).
Later there are applications of how to eat, walk, and speak. No two babies receive the same education, the same programs; this immediately begins to explain why each human being is an individual with their particular applications.
All human beings have neshama, consciousness, an open-source operating system PLUS ruach, their mind and mind-power to choose from, and activate countless learning, skill, social, art, profession, life, and other programs. The programs each of us upload into our minds join with each individual’s nature and our environmental nurture. Add mix and stir all these components together and you have a unique human being. This is what is referred to in this Bible verse when it relates, “…every (hu)man according to his several ability.” Each one of us has a personal mixture of different levels of different abilities.
14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
I can’t go into all the details here, but later in life, or rather, quite early in life, the child begins to upload its OWN programs (hence the need for parental control!). The youngster, teenager, young adult has likes and dislikes, talents, and aptitudes. Each, in function of their physical and mental makeup, will be drawn to particular experiences, studies, professions. There is a choice of hundreds of thousands, even millions of programs. Some humans will even create new programs. They’ll discover or create or invent something no-one has ever done before. That’s the open-source neshama with open-source programs producing unique individuals, which we all are. But some are more outstanding than others. Different abilities.
We can now go one step further with our Theory of Everything. Here a diagram with consciousness, mind, instinct, prehistoric beings, and human software. Again, reserved for modification and additional information. For instance, we need to add the brain and body.
The Theory of Everything now including consciousness, mind, instinct, prehistoric beings, and the role of human software.
In Genesis 2:7, God breathed neshama into Adam and formed the spirit in him, launching the story of humankind. Human imagination, creativity, behavior, and thoughts are open-source. We shall ever be amazed at what human beings can and will do. Both good and bad. The Explanation is narrating that story.
This blog post is an excerpt from chapter 5.4 of the book Origin of Humankind
Further Study
At UnlockBibleMeaning.com, using Strong’s Concordance, check 1 Corinthians 15:38, and the meaning of flesh (G4561). You’ll see that it refers to the meaty part of living beings. But, you’ll see from verses in Romans 8:6-7 that it also applies to the type of MIND humans possess. A kind of mind that is unique to humans. There is one flesh of humans; there is one flesh of animals. There is one brain of humans; there is one brain of animals. There is one mind of humans; there is one mind (instinct) of animals.
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