An image related to soul
Soul
Soul, or spirit, is not a new idea. It has been suggested, mentioned and imagined for a prolonged period of time. While recent advancements in sciences have led to a tentative conclusion that brains, instead of souls, are the basis of human psyche, many people still believe in soul.
As of now, it is safe to view brain as the only source of human mind. However, there are several scientific discoveries that cast doubt onto this view. In this post, I am going to discuss why soul may exist.
A Food For Thought
Imagine you have 100 people around you. Unfortunately, all these people can’t speak any language because they have spent all their life hunting and gathering. And you too, are the same. That’s because you are somewhere tens of thousands of years before CE.
Would you be able to communicate with all these people and create a civilization that will eventually develop writing system and academia? If that seems improbable, there is an alternate hypothesis.
It may be that, in the past, human beings had access to transcendental beings that were distributing profound knowledge of the world. Is it a coincidence that Buddha and Christ came around 2000 to 3000 years ago?
How the humankind has managed to complete the daunting task of building a civilization, we do not know for sure. Scientists say that through evolution, present day human beings appeared and developed societies, which eventually became civilizations. However, no one can be certain. No one has seen it.
I was once regarded all prophecies and discussions of soul remnants of unscientific, false ancient superstitions. However, are they?
Hydrocephalus
Some people do well in life despite having structural deformities of the brain. The most notable example is an instance of a man who, due to hydrocephalus, had a huge deficiency of brain mass yet managed to lead a normal life. Even though the man’s IQ was slightly lower than normal at 75, the man was leading a perfectly normal life. The case was reported to the journal The Lancet, and the link is here.
Of course, the case does not completely debunk the hypothesis regarding brain as a source of cognition, because it is possible that the brain may exist in many different forms and the man mentioned above just had a brain that’s shaped differently. However, the observation that a human being can do well without much of brain sheds doubt on whether brain really is a central player in making consciousness possible.
Hard Problem Of Consciousness
Popularized by David Chalmer, the concept of the hard problem of consciousness is another attack to brain-centered theory of consciousness.
Imagine the sour taste of an apple. Can you express the taste as you experience it in words? No. While we can say that it has a sour taste, we can’t translate the sourness as we experience it into words. That’s why human beings have invented the word “ineffable”, meaning cannot be expressed with words.
If so, how can we systematically analyze the phenomena as we experience it? Is it even possible? We now well about how brain cells transmit signals. We have discovered neurotransmitters and action potential. However, is it possible to explain our experiences with the words of neuroscience only? Could it be that there’s something more to it?
Why Am I I?
An additional food for thought. Why are you you and why am I I? The Earth is currently inhabited by over 8 billion people. If so, why didn’t I get born into an individual different from myself and why didn’t you get born into an individual different from yourself? Could it be that there’s some queue of souls waiting to be installed into newborns?
Near Death Experience
People with near death experiences often provide strikingly similar accounts of what they have seen. They state that they realized that they are some entities existentially superior to human beings. They realized that they were a transcendental being with access to more profound secrets of our cosmos.
What Is Science?
While science is a great way of studying the world, it is far from being the ultimate truth. The core of science is scientific method, which includes the process of observing nature and using that observation to construct a general theory of physical events.
Therefore, while science is a great methodology, it has limitations. First, it cannot say anything about phenomena that are outside of human capacity to observe. Secondly, scientific method only works on observations that can be replicated. Since events such as near death experiences cannot be controlled or replicated, they cannot be either supported or negated by sciences.
In conclusion, just because something can’t be explained scientifically, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.
Additional Reading Materials, If You Are Interested In Topics Related to Life Theory
Conclusion
The conclusion, summarized in a sentence, is rather boring. We, as of now, cannot know whether souls exist or not.
However, exploring the possibility of soul’s existence itself can be interesting. It is also important for everyone to note that while science is a decent methodology, it’s far from being perfect.
Thanks for reading.