Explanatory power of evidence: Mays excerpt #25

The Mays write: The credibility of any theory or explanation of the survival of consciousness after physical death must include a presentation of how the theory fits in with other areas of science, philosophy, and human knowledge. How powerful is the theory in explaining other problems or conundrums in science and philosophy? What are the implications of the theory for other areas of science and for the whole of humanity?

A central tenet of the mind entity theory is that the essence of the human being is an autonomous nonmaterial conscious entity, a spiritual being, united with a physical body. This tenet is a radical departure from explanations of consciousness proposed by materialist scientists and philosophers—who are stuck on the “hard problem” of explaining subjective phenomenal experience. This tenet is also at odds with explanations of consciousness proposed by NDE theorists—as some form of “nonlocal,” “infinite,” or “cosmic” consciousness where the self loses its individual identity.

Nearly all scientists and philosophers have dismissed interactionist dualism out of hand because, they conclude, it is literally impossible to explain how nonmaterial entities can causally interact with the physical world.

We believe our mind entity theory answers these challenges with a plausible explanation and specific neurological mechanisms. We are confident that this theory can successfully be tested and confirmed and can provide more comprehensive and coherent neurological explanations of conscious experience than current neuroscience can do.

The mind entity theory, based on the existence of a nonmaterial conscious entity united with the brain, explains a number of problems in philosophy and neuroscience.

1. The hard problem of consciousness. How does neural activity in brain neurons turn into subjective phenomenal experience, for example, the vivid experience of the color red? In our view, the mind is the seat of consciousness, the seat of subjective experience. The mind is the subject in which phenomenal experience occurs. When one is in-body, all conscious experience occurs via brain electrical activity, that is, through the interaction of neural activity with the mind. Because human beings are conscious entities, sufficient neural activity in the brain naturally comes to awareness as subjective experience. There is no “hard problem” of consciousness because conscious awareness is the inherent property of minds.

2. The problem of encoding semantic memory. Semantic memories—of facts, word meanings, faces, etc.—are evidently “encoded” throughout the cortex. How do neural circuits across the cortex provide a mechanism for encoding and recalling semantic memories? In our view, when we learn a new word, the semantic memory is formed in the mind. When we read the word again, its meaning is recalled from the mind and activates a specific pattern of neural activity to bring the word’s concept to awareness. There is no semantic encoding in the neurons.

3. The problems of agency and free will. How does one have the sense of self-awareness and know that one is the agent of one’s own actions, feelings, and thoughts? Are our choices completely determined or are we free to choose among different courses of action? In our view, the sense of agency is one’s sense of being an autonomous mind entity. When I decide to move, my thought activates neural activity in my brain. I become aware of my decision and my body moves. As a self-aware mind entity, I know that I am the agent of my actions, feelings, and thoughts. I can choose freely and my intentions are fulfilled. Free will exists; I can’t always control the circumstances of my life but I can control how I respond to those circumstances.

4. The problem of inhalational anesthetics. How do biochemically inert anesthetics, like ether, work to suppress conscious awareness? In our proposed mechanism for mind-to-brain interaction, the mind alters neural “ion channels” to trigger electrical activity which enables one’s mental content to come to awareness. The presence of substances like ether in the brain temporarily blocks these ion channels so that the mind can no longer trigger electrical activity. One’s normal brain activity is suppressed and mental content can’t come to awareness. 

 

 

Robert G. Mays, BSc and Suzanne B. Mays, AA,  “There is no death: Near-death experience evidence for survival after permanent bodily death.” An essay written for the 2021 Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies addressing the question: “What Is The Best Available Evidence For The Survival Of Human Consciousness After Permanent Bodily Death?” Footnotes are omitted from these excerpts but are in the full text available from the Bigelow website at https://bigelowinstitute.org/contest_winners3.php.