Learn about the challenging scientific theories about the existence of the soul

Throughout our history as humans we have asked ourselves in numerous ways if the soul exists. This is a question that has led to great discussions and which different disciplines have tried to answer on different occasions.

Next, we will take a tour of the scientific paradigm, tradition and the challenges that are currently occurring. In addition, we will emphasize Robert Lanza’s fascinating theory about biocentrism.

Our path will go beyond the spiritual. Because, over the years, different religious traditions have confirmed the existence of the soul. But what is the position of science? How is this question addressed today? We talk about it below.

What is the soul?

The soul is an immaterial entity that can be separated from our bodies. Therefore, the idea about the existence of the soul entails in itself the dualism of substance, that is, the existence of two substances: one material and the other immaterial, non-physical.

In the soul, according to those who believe in its existence, all our mental activity takes place: It is where emotions, decisions, sensations, memories, personality, reasoning reside. Now, isn’t all this housed in the brain? Hasn’t neuroscience shown that this organ is the foundation of all our mental processes?

Today, people who advocate the existence of the soul do not deny that the brain influences the soul. However, they maintain, the soul can carry out its own processes without any help from the brain. Furthermore, this entity can be separated from the brain. So when we die, the soul “floats away” and its existence ensures that our mental life continues uninterrupted (Johnson, 2013).

Does the soul exist? Beliefs about it

The idea of ​​the existence of the soul It is associated with the beliefs that we can count on about continuity after death. This idea of ​​soul is linked to the conviction of a future life; In addition, it is also believed that the soul is a guide through which we think and feel and that it is differentiated from the body.

Certainly, the conception of the soul will vary depending on the context, the religion and the discipline that addresses it. Over several years, it has been religions, because they are connected to the spiritual dimension, that have been responsible for explaining its existence.

Associated or not with the spiritual, the idea of ​​the soul can be inferred arguing that evidence of its existence are the mysteries associated with birth, death, different states of consciousness, memory and imagination. In this way, it is suggested that the soul is like a kind of vital force or impulse.

Scientific paradigm and the existence of the soul

According to the philosopher and historian of science Thomas Kuhn, a scientific paradigm is the set of realizations of this type that are universally recognized. In addition to generating models of solutions and problems in the scientific community, paradigms are subject to criticism.

The current scientific paradigm does not usually recognize the spiritual dimension. Rather, it points out that there is no need for a soul and explains life to us through equations, the activity of carbon, the activity of proteins, etc.

Now, while religion gives the answer to the existence of the soul from the spiritual point of view, associating it with the transcendent and incorporeal; science, if it conceives it, associates it with the material. That is, he understands it as a synonym for the mind, from the poetic vision, or, he reduces it to the concept of cognition and consciousness.

Challenging current scientific theories

Although neuroscience has made progress in understanding the functioning of our nervous system, it has not yet illuminated with sufficient intensity some corners of the dimension of the human being, especially those that are related to transcendent phenomena.

In this sense, new theories have emerged that seek to fill these gaps and challenge the scientific paradigm on which research is based. An example of this is biocentrism, which is emphasizing answering questions about human nature: does the soul exist? Is there something beyond time?

This theory, proposed by Robert Lanza, considers that life and biology are essential to being, reality and the cosmos and affirms that consciousness creates the universe and not the other way around. In this new vision, life goes beyond atoms and particles.

Thus, we can see that for other levels of scientific knowledge, space and time are tools of the mind and are associated with its existence. This defies classical intuition and suggests that a part of us could be immortal and exist beyond time.

Research to prove the existence of the soul

More and more medical researchers are interested in the immortality of the souland the literature on the subject reached its peak with the publication of the neurosurgeon Eben Alexander entitled: The Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey to Life After Death.

In this book, The neurosurgeon tells of his supposed experience in the afterlife during the time he was in a coma. In this way, to end the uncertainty around the existence of the soul, the John Templeton Foundation will fund a series of research into near-death experiences.

This is what has been called the Immortality Project. Among the researchers, Sam Parnia, director of resuscitation research at New York University, stands out. will try to determine if near-death experiences are real. That is, differentiate whether its causes are physical or, on the contrary, parapsychological or metaphysical.

For this, Sam Parnia will analyze the brain activity of patients who suffer cardiac arrest. In this way, he will try to determine if the neural connections are capable of causing a subjective experience, seeing oneself outside the body and in the third person while doctors try to revive him.

To conclude, science’s position on the existence of the soul is not yet definitive. There are still no conclusive answers from those disciplines that cling to the scientific paradigm. For the moment, we have to wait and continue developing studies that, mediated by technological advances, help us shed some light on the mysteries of our human nature.

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