How spirits work: Part 5

The Concept of Mind describes a philosophy of Gilbert Ryle that repudiates Descartes' idea of dualism in which the mind is separate from the body. In other words, thoughts are on a spiritual plane.

Ryle says that thought is inherent in the brain or intellect and is not separate. To him reasoning is simply a physical action. In other words, mental processes are merely intelligent acts. Basically, his idea is that we're just thinking machines and thoughts are mental exercises. This idea makes a soul unnecessary. Of course, I don't accept this idea.

So, the question is: what are thoughts and how does the soul play a role in thinking. Well, it's not suppressing that philosophers and scientists consider thoughts to be simply the action of brain neurons. After all, the brain is a very complicated organ and is the seat of our thought processes as evidenced from the electric activity revealed by encephalograms. This electric activity is the result of synaptic transmissions, which are completed by means of chemical neurotransmitters. Each neuron is connected to up to 10,000 other neurons and our brains have 100 billion neurons. Scientists that specialize on the brain propose that information processing is carried out by these neuron-neuron connections. However, so far they are not sure just how this information processing works.

A lot of the brain functions are taken up with sensory perception, arousal, motor control, homeostasis and motivation. Learning and memory also involve these neuron connections. What this suggests is that the brain is the center of what makes us what we are. The brain is the repository of our memories and desires. It is the seat of our personality.

All brain functioning generates electric activity that can be detected and associated with specific thoughts and actions. This could be the link to the soul if the soul possesses or is composed of some exotic energy based on quantum physics principles. One could propose the idea that the soul plays a role in these brain activities through a quantum energy field. Perhaps the soul behaves as a quantum computer, not only processing information but also storing it.

A quantum computer uses qubit states instead of bits. A bit can only have two stares, one and zero. However, a qubit can represent zero, one or any quantum superposition of these two states. A qubit could be a particle with two spin states: up and down. A normal computer with n bits can have only one of the 2 to the n power states at a time. A quantum computer with n qubits can be in any superposition of 2 to n power states simultaneously. That makes a quantum computer much more powerful than a normal computer.

Let's assume that these qubits could create exotic energy fields that can interact with brain waves. That could be the way that the soul interacts with the brain. The soul computer, or the quantum brain of the soul, could store memories and thoughts, making it the receptacle of our personality. So, when the body dies, the memories and thoughts are still in the soul's quantum brain.

One of the consequences of this idea would be that people suffering with autism because of brain dysfunction could have a soul that is free of this malady. Perhaps people with Down's syndrome and other disabilities have soul brains that don't suffer from those diseases. Even serious brain damage would have no effect on the soul brain.

The soul is not subjected to the ravages of entropy and cannot be damaged or die. It stays the same just like God, never aging or suffering any disease or damage. This could be how we go on forever after death, with our memories and thoughts intact.

Thanks for reading.