For many years there was a scientific institute in Moscow where the brains of the great communist- leaders, scientists, artists – were preserved and analysed. The hope was that the secret of these great personalities would be found within the tissue of the brain. Yet even though the brain is an incredible piece of machinery, nothing of intellect, creativity, or character can be found inside it, and so the scientists search for the distinctions of greatness proved futile. If you had some rubber gloves, a sharp scalpel and a willing subject, think for a moment about exactly what part of the body you'd dissect in search for the essence of who they are. The eye, heart, brain and lungs are all vitally important yet they don't house our personality nor the things that truly set us apart as unique individuals. Is it possible that inside each one of us there is something entirely invisible and impossible to touch or feel, that at the same time is completely real, obvious and unquestionable ? Some may call it a soul, others a spirit and others still, life itself yet the common thread is we are more than just physical bodies, that much is sure.
Life is such a wonderful mystery. I don't know if you've ever stopped and pondered what life actually is. We know when life stops and starts but where exactly is this life contained within us and how can be be explained? We understand that if one of our vital organs stops or we run out of blood - that life stops. But these organs and the blood that supply them do not equal life itself. We are more than just the cells that make up our body. We are more than our ability to think and feel, run and jump, laugh and cry. We have this stuff inside us that separates from the animals and links us firmly back to God.
What if the life inside us was evidence of God himself? - The breath of God, the essence of God, the power of God? What if we were actually more connected to Him than we'd ever dared to believe, and nothing we could ever do could possibly change that. It is from Him that all life flows and though Him that all life is sustained and if it weren't for Him we would simply cease to exist. Life is spiritual. We are inextricably linked to the God who created us.
To those who are convinced that unless you can see it, feel it, touch it - it's just not real, what do you do with the thought that the essence of who we are as people cannot be pinned down to scientific rational? To maintain the idea of secular humanism by saying that I will only believe what I can see with my eyes and prove with my science text book, is a very narrow place to live that seems incredibly difficult to sustain.
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hello Jaemin and every one else that reads the blogs.
ReplyDeleteJaemin if personality is spiritual, why do people suffer from dementia, alzheimers, mental illness, or acquired brain injuries?
All of these diseases affect personality. So do chemicals lie alchol and amphetamines.
Ok, so the commies didnt find personality with a scalpel, thats because a scalpel is the wrong instrument. Our brains are chemical - note i didnt say "just chemical". Our personality is dependent upon our brain.
Now the chemistry of the brain we are only begining to understand. And God nows what quantum mechanics has effect upon our brains, so we dont now much. What we do now is that certain chemical molecules can help our brains and minds with anti depressants and anti psychotics or even anti epilileptics. To be certain our neuro chemistry is precious and a wonderous thing.
To say that personality is entirely spiritual is a regression back to the bad old days of demonology.
By the way, I am not a church hater
ReplyDeletethe church has done some great things for me like fed me, clothed me and sheltered me. I'm not about to bite the hand that fed me all those years ago.
I just think, like you, about life and I have come up with diferent answers.
Just because a body process is chemical does not mean it is not special or wonderful!
Hi Stuart,
ReplyDeleteNice to have your input again! Your thinking is always challenging, & I believe it is important to face up to hard questions - I, for one, want an intellectually honest faith. If it isn't honest, well it isn't really faith, is it?
I don't think anyone has a complete answer to the questions you've posed. Neuroscience has not advanced far enough (as you noted in your post) to have "all the answers" - if they exist! I think also that our culture & traditions have evolved a rigid religious paradigm that is sometimes quite inadequate to describe the realities of life - scientific and otherwise.
Yes, searching for personality with a scalpel is bad science. & Modern neuroscience has discovered some amazing things. However, I think the point Jaemon was making - that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, is still valid.
I'm not a biologist - or even a scientist, so I can only offer some thoughtful tidbits to chew.
Our perceptions and behaviour are mediated by the structures and chemical interactions in our brains. That much, we know. So changes in either will affect perception and behaviour. What is less clear, is the role that cognition plays in all this. Is it a product of structure and chemistry, or does it actually drive their formation and activity, to some degree? I also wonder (& this is more philosophy than science, I guess) how our will (which I think is more than *just* cognition - my personal take) & things like morality - the "whys" of our behaviour affect this whole "system" - are they just part of it, or do they actually govern what is going on, to a degree?
I stumbled across something in another blog a while back that relates to all this - & which I found quite fascinating. A philosopher of science named Phillip Clayton posted some thoughts about where biological research is heading, and how that might relate to the whole "God thing".
According to Clayton, the most "happening" area in the biological sciences today is in the area of systems biology. What is different about the systems model is that, unlike the old foundationalist model that we still read about in school texts, there is no supposed "first cause" for biological phenomena; instead, systems are seen to interact - so that each part of a biological system interacts with each other part, causing reciprocal change. He gives the example of brain chemistry - where thoughts are no longer seen as epiphenomena arising out of physical/chemical/electrical processes, but actually interact with, and have an effect on those processes. Makes sense to me.
I think this kind of approach to biology has come out of the fact that in spite of what we know - the whole is still greater than all of the parts put together. Perhaps this kind of systems approach will develop to the point where it can describe, mathematically how 2 + 2 can equal so much more than four, biologically speaking. I don't know, though - I'm a bit like Jaemon, in that I think that requires quite a leap of faith!
If your're interested, the whole systems biology discussion can be found here: http://www.emergentvillage.com/weblog/the-call-of-emergence (If you scroll down the comments page you'll see some people getting all excited about the death of absolute truth, some fundamentalist Christians getting offended by all that, & a 2cent post by me :) nb - he uses it as a bit of an analogy for what is happening in what is being called the "Emerging Church", by some. Not sure how exciting you will find that part...
Sorry this post is so long (I'm a bit of a "word-head"!!)
Grace, peace!
Kerry
Thanks for the comment Kerry.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy Jaemins posts and appreciate being able to think about things.
This system biology is exciting thats for sure. There are processes at a quantum level that may lead to some of this phenomena.
Like I say, I could never say "just" chemical "just" physical or "just" biological, these are profound sciences and they dont deserve a diminutive.
I can see what you mean if you think "some things just dont add up"or there are mising factors to the equation.
"There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy, horatio" To paraphrase the Bard.
:) hats off to the Bard - I think we can all agree with that one!!
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