Reference: Postulate Mechanics
Life
Life
Life is what we see when things move and grow in smart and orderly ways. A rock just sits there, but a plant grows toward the sun, and an animal can run around. This special kind of changing and moving is what we call life. A living thing is made of tiny parts that work together in a very clever way, and it can even make more of itself, like parents having children.
Evolution
Over a very, very long time, life has changed and become more complex. It started with things that were not alive, like minerals, and then tiny living cells appeared. These cells turned into simple living things, then into plants, then animals, and finally humans. As life changes, bodies become more complicated, and what they can do becomes more advanced.
Genetic entity
Think of the “genetic entity” like the body’s built‑in instruction book. It tells the body how to grow, what color eyes to have, and how to keep the heart beating. This “book” is written in the DNA inside your cells and is passed along from parents to children. It is very smart, but it cannot easily rewrite its own instructions once they are there.
Life organism
A living thing, like a person or an animal, is called a life organism. It has a body made of substance, like flesh and bone, that we can see and touch. The things this body can do, like thinking, remembering, and feeling, are what we call the mind. The power that makes all this movement and activity possible is sometimes called the spirit. Humans are one kind of life organism, and in this view they are at the top of the long chain of evolution.
Self‑animation
Living things can move and act on their own. Even tiny things like viruses and cells can change and move by themselves. Very small changes inside them can cause big movements on the outside. Because the needed changes are so tiny, this chapter says they can be guided by thoughts, as if there is a connection between thinking and moving in the body. This is called a thought‑motion connection for living things.
Beingness
“Beingness” is like your special “you‑ness” as a living thing. It is all the changes and growth through time that have built your body, mind, and spirit into one whole system. Your beingness is the way your whole life shows up right now.
Death
Death and birth are normal parts of how life changes over time. When something dies, the body stops working completely, and its body, mind, and spirit system breaks apart. The feeling of “I am me” goes away first, and the other senses fade soon after. The DNA instructions can continue through children, but in this view there is no never‑ending soul that lives on as a separate person forever.
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The Self
Self
The “self” here means something very deep: it is like the core of everything that exists. It is made of three ideas: there is real “stuff” (substance), there is awareness, and there is a tendency toward being one and connected. The self is pure awareness that notices what is real and works to fix confusion so things fit together better.
Identity
The self gets an identity when it starts to connect certain feelings and experiences with “this is me”. After that, the self cannot easily tell itself apart from that identity. A person can have many identities—like “student,” “friend,” “child,” or “player”—and might not realize when one or another is in charge. These identities can fade away as the person understands more and all the different experiences fit together more clearly.
Individuality
Individuality is the feeling that you are unique and not exactly like anyone else. Both the deep self and the identities it takes on can feel individual. So being an individual and having identities can go together; they do not cancel each other out.
Ego
The ego is what happens when someone turns inward too much and focuses mainly on “me, me, me”. The more a person is stuck inside this tight feeling of “just me,” the more they may think and act in ways that do not make sense or are unfair. When this self‑focus gets very rigid and stuck, it can even become mentally unhealthy or “insane” in this view.
Individual
An individual is a human being who feels like there is one main “center” inside that guides their thoughts and actions. This person also feels separate from others and believes they are a unique being.
Viewpoint
A viewpoint is like the “camera angle” from which a person looks at the world and at themselves. It is closely tied to individuality, because your viewpoint includes where you feel you are in space and what you think about yourself. A viewpoint can get stuck, like always seeing yourself as “the victim” or “the boss,” but you can also loosen it and choose to see things differently.
Self‑determination
Self‑determination is the ability to decide things for yourself without being pushed around by others. It means you make choices based on your own viewpoint and understanding, not just because someone else tells you to.
Free will
Free will is your power to choose and decide on your own. In this chapter, free will means you can make your own “postulates,” or decisions and ideas, but they still have to follow the rules of how the universe works. It does not mean you can just snap your fingers and ignore all natural laws or do absolutely anything you want without limits.
Spirit
The word “spirit” first meant things like breath or wind. It is the idea of a force that brings life, energy, and strength to living things. Spirit can mean the part of a person that includes their mind, feelings, and will, which is not the same as the physical body. People also use “spirit” to talk about non‑physical beings like ghosts, gods, or fairies.
Soul
The “soul” is another word for the invisible part that seems to give life to a person. Some philosophers use it to mean the mind, and many religions say the soul is the part that can live on after the body dies and go to heaven or hell. In this chapter, the soul is described as an idea people use to talk about this non‑physical life part, but earlier it also said there is no eternal soul that stays as the same “I” forever.
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