The main problem I see with the idea of the soul (as a conscious entity that can survive the death of the physical body) is how this soul would interact with the physical body while eluding the observations of physicists and neuroscientists. If the soul interacted with the body via a very weak force, it might elude the observation of physicists and neuroscientists but its influence on the body would seem insignificant. If on the other hand the soul interacted with the body via a relatively strong force, it seems that this force should be detectable by physicists or neuroscientists.
Here is my possible solution to this problem.
The possible solution is that the soul would interact with the body via a relatively strong force that results in measurable changes in brain activity but due to the rather limited level of detail at which we can measure complicated brain processes (fMRI, EEG...) and due to myriads of external influences on the brain, it would be difficult to tell whether the measurable changes in brain activity are or are not entirely caused by known physical forces. At least if the soul's influence on the brain was normally within the usual variance of brain activity and behavior.
However, the brain consists of the same elementary particles that physicists observe with high precision (unlike in neuroimaging studies) in particle accelerators and there they have failed to detect a force other than the known physical forces. A relatively strong force should be detectable in particle accelerators. So if the soul influences the brain in a significant way, this influence would seem to be limited to the brain and maybe to some other complex physical objects where it would be difficult to differentiate this influence from the known physical forces. But why would the soul influence only brains or other complex objects?
It has occurred to me that the soul might interact with matter via a very weak force (that's why it has not been detected even in precise observations in particle accelerators), but it would be able to influence the brain in a significant way via resonance. Resonance is a familiar physical phenomenon in which a periodic external force or vibrating system drives another system to oscillate with greater amplitude at specific frequencies. Thus the effects of a weak force would be amplified, theoretically without limit if the driven system had no resistance. It is the same phenomenon where freely traveling electromagnetic waves cause vibrations in specially constructed electric circuits in a radio or a TV set. It might be that only certain highly complex structures like neural networks provide patterns that can resonate with the soul and so the otherwise weak interaction between soul and matter would be difficult to detect outside the brain. Perhaps the weak force connecting the soul and the body might even be the familiar gravitational force, which is a universal force (acting on everything that has energy) and is too weak to be measured in particle accelerators.
The interaction between the soul and the brain could also go the other way: via resonance, brain activity would influence the soul, and thus the soul would be able to receive information from the brain, including information that encodes perceptions of the sensory system of the physical body. After the death of the physical body, the soul could continue to exist and hold consciousness but would lose access to further information provided by brain activity.
Here is my possible solution to this problem.
The possible solution is that the soul would interact with the body via a relatively strong force that results in measurable changes in brain activity but due to the rather limited level of detail at which we can measure complicated brain processes (fMRI, EEG...) and due to myriads of external influences on the brain, it would be difficult to tell whether the measurable changes in brain activity are or are not entirely caused by known physical forces. At least if the soul's influence on the brain was normally within the usual variance of brain activity and behavior.
However, the brain consists of the same elementary particles that physicists observe with high precision (unlike in neuroimaging studies) in particle accelerators and there they have failed to detect a force other than the known physical forces. A relatively strong force should be detectable in particle accelerators. So if the soul influences the brain in a significant way, this influence would seem to be limited to the brain and maybe to some other complex physical objects where it would be difficult to differentiate this influence from the known physical forces. But why would the soul influence only brains or other complex objects?
It has occurred to me that the soul might interact with matter via a very weak force (that's why it has not been detected even in precise observations in particle accelerators), but it would be able to influence the brain in a significant way via resonance. Resonance is a familiar physical phenomenon in which a periodic external force or vibrating system drives another system to oscillate with greater amplitude at specific frequencies. Thus the effects of a weak force would be amplified, theoretically without limit if the driven system had no resistance. It is the same phenomenon where freely traveling electromagnetic waves cause vibrations in specially constructed electric circuits in a radio or a TV set. It might be that only certain highly complex structures like neural networks provide patterns that can resonate with the soul and so the otherwise weak interaction between soul and matter would be difficult to detect outside the brain. Perhaps the weak force connecting the soul and the body might even be the familiar gravitational force, which is a universal force (acting on everything that has energy) and is too weak to be measured in particle accelerators.
The interaction between the soul and the brain could also go the other way: via resonance, brain activity would influence the soul, and thus the soul would be able to receive information from the brain, including information that encodes perceptions of the sensory system of the physical body. After the death of the physical body, the soul could continue to exist and hold consciousness but would lose access to further information provided by brain activity.
via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2pp5oDM
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