Matters of the Soul and Lizards With Feelings

Sitting here - at uni again - feeling very poor. - __ - However...

A lecturer of mine asked a really interesting question this morning.
We were discussing the concept of self from a sociological perspective ( ^ ^ happy)
So, what happens to a person when they are brain dead? Or, does a person in a coma have sense of self? Seems easy - everyone's asked and answered this question for many moons now.

But forgetting my Christian beliefs for a minute, or actually maybe taking them into account ... if our physical body or state of mind is just a shell for life, what happens to all those memories and i hate to use the word because the overuse of it makes it sound generic, a person's essense so to speak. Or, from an anime perspective, what really happens to the Sacred Jewel shard when it is taken out of the, now empty evil human or demon or whatever it was? I'm not offering an answer because I dont have one. This is just the ramblings and ponderings of my brain this morning.

The on-campus creepy goanna I've named Lagarto (Portugese for lizard) is waddling dangerously near to my bag (shoo shoo). Can't help wondering what his thinking, if animals can think at all (another one of my ponderings, thanks to a very shameful debate in class). Is he regretful or angry that he has almost no sight? That lots of silly Asian girls scream and run from a helpless (but yes creepy and big) animal. Lizards have feelings too you know - and no lecturor can argue against that. Although my realistic side tells me that its genetically impossible for animals to 'think' or communicate like humans do, my much bigger imaganitive side shuts up my realistic side. To me - there is every possiblity in the world that an animal could think, and have a language, no matter what science or logic says. So thereeee *pokes tounge*

Anywho Im off to do lots of fun assignment work with my friends. And yes - for once - I'm serious.