The Mind is Not the Brain
Today we're going to examine two articles on a similar theme, if'n y'all don't mind. Although secularists hold to methodological and philosophical naturalism (briefly stated, no God, even if the logical conclusion and the evidence leads to God), they still search for non-material concepts like free will and the soul. By doing this, they're inadvertently admitting that their worldview is inconsistent. Now secular scientists are obtaining evidence that we are not just "meat machines", and the mind/soul/consciousness is still operational.
The brain has two hemispheres that work together, and are connected by a kind of conduit. Doctors and scientists have been puzzled when people with damaged brains have rerouted, and then used other areas that are not damaged. What if that conduit is severed?
See? Here's an introduction to the related article that I promised you. Cue the beginning of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb": "Hello, is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone home?"
Although 1955 was before my time, a classic Alfred Hitchcock Presents television story called "Breakdown" involves a man who was in a crash and people thought he was dead. He was alive, however, and trying very hard to communicate, almost to no avail. Patients with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) have been locked in and unable to communicate, and their loved ones wonder what's happening on the inside. One woman with ALS was connected to a computer and was able to have some motion and communication.
Taking it further, more communications experiments have been conducted with ALS patients, and the results are encouraging — especially when the patients answer questions.
The spirit or consciousness is not simply the electrical and chemical impulses in the brain. Recent studies are showing that the materialistic approach to science does not properly address this.
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| Credit: Pixabay / Pete Linforth |
Experiments with split-brain patients in Amsterdam lend support to the idea that one immaterial being operates the physical brain, even when damaged.To finish this first article, click on "One Spirit Can Operate a Split Brain". Then, there's a related article waiting for your return.
The University of Amsterdam UVA News posted an intriguing headline: “Split brain does not lead to split consciousness.” Split brain refers to a condition when the corpus callosum, the “pipeline” between the brain’s two hemispheres, has been severed. Classic experiments seemed to show that the left side of the brain could only perceive objects on the left side, and vice versa, leading researchers to conclude that each hemisphere generated its own conscious identity. UvA psychologist Yair Pinto has run new experiments to show that is not entirely true. The experiments are difficult because of the rarity of people having the condition. Pinto had two subjects to work with, allowing a certain level of confirmation of his findings.
See? Here's an introduction to the related article that I promised you. Cue the beginning of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb": "Hello, is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone home?"
Although 1955 was before my time, a classic Alfred Hitchcock Presents television story called "Breakdown" involves a man who was in a crash and people thought he was dead. He was alive, however, and trying very hard to communicate, almost to no avail. Patients with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) have been locked in and unable to communicate, and their loved ones wonder what's happening on the inside. One woman with ALS was connected to a computer and was able to have some motion and communication.
Taking it further, more communications experiments have been conducted with ALS patients, and the results are encouraging — especially when the patients answer questions.
Four ALS patients unable to move at all learned to communicate with their thoughts. Despite their condition, they all said they were happy.To read the rest, click on "The Mind Is Free When the Body Is Locked-In". Both of these articles indicate that the spirit is not just the brain, but the brain is used by the spirit. We were created in God's image. You have a spirit, and it will live on after you die. Do you know where that will be? You can be sure.
What’s a person thinking when they cannot move a muscle? It’s a tragic question asked by family members of patients with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a degenerative disease that gradually robs them of movement. The patient can become ‘completely locked in’ where cannot even move their eyes, and exist in this state for years. Is the ‘person’ still there? Is he or she in pain or miserable? We may now have the means to answer those questions, thanks to new techniques developed in Geneva, Switzerland. Researchers describe how they overcame a limitation with standard EEG techniques, which might respond to involuntary eye movements rather than thoughts. At The Conversation, Ana Matran-Fernandez describes the procedure:
The spirit or consciousness is not simply the electrical and chemical impulses in the brain. Recent studies are showing that the materialistic approach to science does not properly address this.