The Brain and Consciousness

A few semesters ago, I wrote a paper for my psychology class to support the argument of how the brain and consciousness are two separate entities. During that time, I believed that the conscious experience is distinct from inanimate matter and that it is plausible that some time in the future, science will be able to discover the workings of the brain that generates the sensations but not the experience of those sensations. In my argument, I delved into the subject or reincarnation and "electrography" to prove that people have souls and it is not the end for us after death. The work of Dr. Ian Stevenson in his journal "Birthmarks and Birth Defects Corresponding to Wounds on Decreased Persons" describes thousand of cases of children who spontaneously remember a past life. He verified the facts of the deceased person, which tallied with the child's memory. He was also able to match and verify the birthmarks, birth defects, wounds and scars of the deceased with those found on the children he investigated using medical records. At that time, a new and fascinating technology called "Electrography" or "Corona Discharge Photography" which is a form of photogram made with electricity strengthened my believe that the conscious experience is distinct from inanimate matter. The Gas-Discharge Visualization (GDV) photographs taken by Dr. Konstantin Korotkov using "electrography" shows astonishing images of the human spirit leaving the body. However, as science advance, so is my understanding and believe that our consciousness arises from the neural processes in the brain.

Reincarnation is normally understood as the transmigration of a soul to another body after death. Dr. Ian Stevenson's research findings may be considered profound implication of the separation of the mind from the body to those who want to believe in dualism. Many people may agree that the cases that he described offer the best evidence of reincarnation. My only concern in this study is that if evidence of reincarnation can be collected and studied by Dr. Ian Stevenson, it must be proven once again by science to show consistency. Without consistent evidence, the idea of reincarnation is questionable.

Contrary to the belief that organisms die in an instant, on July 2013, a new study led by David Gems from the Institute of Health Aging at University College London revealed how death in living organisms, spreads like a wave from cell to cell until the whole 'person' is dead. In the study, worms were used in their analysis, which possess mechanisms that are similar to those that are active in mammals. He explained: "We've identified a chemical pathway of self-destruction that propagates cell death in worms, which we see as this glowing blue fluorescence traveling through the body. It's like a blue grim reaper, tracking death as it spreads throughout the organism until all life is extinguished." This study have led me to accept the fact that the GDV Photography can no longer be used as evidence for the existence of a soul thus, making my argument of soul photography invalid.

Another losing argument is Descarte's dictum, "I think, therefore I am". Recently, scientists are able to discover more genes, brains structures and other physical correlates to feelings like empathy, happiness and disgust. Scientists are discovering physical bases for the feelings from which moral sense emerges not only just in humans, but in other animals as well. I believe that this is evidence that moral reasoning or ability to distinguish between right and wrong is the product of evolution. Moreover, there is no credible scientific challenge to the theory of evolution as an explanation for the diversity and complexity of life on earth.

In time, science will erase our doubts of consciousness as a result of the physical manifestation of the brain. I believe that science offers a more rational and better explanation of the brain and our consciousness and we are just a product of evolution.