The Body Temple: Minding the Brain

by Jack Hoehn | 30 October 2024 |

I remember the days of old.
I ponder all your great works
and think about what you have done.
I lift my hands to you in prayer.
I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain.
Come quickly, Lord, and answer me,
for my depression deepens.
(from Psalm 143)

Remembering, pondering, thinking about these words, this article, your feelings, the world, the universe, or the Lord are things that happen with what Bill Bryson has called,

“The most extraordinary thing in the universe [is]… inside your head. You could travel through every inch of outer space and very possibly nowhere find anything as marvelous and complex and high functioning as the three pounds of spongy mass between your ears”[1] the human brain.

Water, fat, protein, carbohydrate, and salts could sound like a recipe for ice cream, but to construct a brain that supports what is more than the brain—the mind, consciousness, or the soul—is the definition of wonder and complexity because it is the organ permitting wonder and complexity!

Speed and Control

The nervous system functions at the speed of electricity within nerves which could be nearly the same as the speed of light. But there are no electric sparks between the nerves. Instead, nervous activity at the synapses between nerves is moderated by controlling the electrical waves with chemical vesicles. Designing chemistry with neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, acetyl choline, epinephrine, GABA, glutamine, histamine, etc.) allows things to be slowed down from near the speed of light. This permits time for both contemplation and decision making, and for habits to be formed to either speed up or slow down different repetitive actions, thoughts, or emotions. Many things we thankfully don’t have to “think about” because we have been permitted to build up patterns that function without conscious effort.

Both the electrical and chemical activities of the brain require 65% of a baby’s total energy to grow them, which is why babies have to sleep so much—they don’t have much energy left to do much of anything else besides grow brain.[2] Once grown, the brain still is given 20 to 25% of your cardiac output but is a highly efficient computer. The way the brain works, however, is completely different from the way any computer works.

More Than a Computer

The brain processes information in scope and complexity that computer engineers can only dream of. Bryson claims that in 30 seconds a resting brain processes more information than the computers of the Hubble Space Telescope will process in 30 years. And that one cubic millimeter (a grain of sand) of human cortex stores 2,000 TB of information. That would be an amazing memory chip. Each human brain has enough information stored to digitize “the entire digital content of today’s world.”²

That computers calculating Artificial Intelligence algorithms will be able to have thoughts instead of mimicking them is a misunderstanding. Science fiction writer Peter Cawdron states it precisely.

“The whole notion of Artificial Intelligence is a misnomer. There’s no intelligence there at all. In fact, I’d argue there’s a complete lack of intelligence by AI and anyone using AI. The Cambridge Dictionary defines intelligence in this way. ‘Intelligence: the ability to learn, understand, and make judgments or have opinions that are based on reason’… but as soon as AI gets into obscure areas where genuine insights and rational thought are needed, it will fabricate well-meaning answers that can be completely bogus and misleading. And the reason is simple. There’s no understanding. There’s no reasoning.”

The fact is that you at this moment are aware of your thinking, that in some sense you are watching yourself read this article. You are not just intaking the above paragraph; you are also evaluating it, comparing it to your previous experiences, to other opinions, to your own experience. And then asking moral questions. Not only is that opinion correct, but is it moral, is it human, is it kind, is it godly, spiritual, lovely, is it beautiful? Can I sing it?Would I ever want to kiss the most clever AI-driven robot, as I want to kiss a real baby? Manipulation of data alone by the most powerful computers does not explain reason, judgment, or consciousness.

On the other hand, it is very useful to understand that reason and logic and spirituality are not enough to cure the chemical deficiencies of dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin that can cause the beautiful mind to be depressed to the point of suicide. Reason, logic, and prayer won’t cure a chemical deficiency in the brain. Chemistry is needed. Also, a brain can be poisoned by lead or irreversibly damaged in children by an un-supplemented strict vegan diet. So the brain is more than tissue, but not less than tissue.

Evolution’s Hardest Problem

According to current evolution theory, coarsely put, consciousness is “a randomly evolved illusion created by the brain to help the human animal hunt better… mind from mud, via natural selection acting on random mutation.”

This is certainly one of the weakest materialistic propositions. Scientists all see worthy, wonderful, amazing things in their focused fields of study. But the human brain is being used by every human, scientist or not, so this is an area of “science” accessible to everyone. To think, we do not need to be a specialist. All of us have different functions and activities but we all think.

Our brains may be made of meat, but we also know we have thoughts and feelings and sorrows not like muscles, bones, or teeth. We all experience realities that transcend the material world. Beauty, honesty, mathematics, music, rhythm, language, hate, love, anxiety, happiness all have material expressions, but those concepts are more than material. These kinds of things like consciousness itself are all above and beyond the material world. It should not come as a surprise to realize that consciousness is the hardest problem for materialists to face.

How can a non-conscious universe evolve consciousness? The most likely answer is it can’t. That “consciousness caused the progressive evolution of life” is much more likely than that “evolution caused consciousness.” I am suggesting that every creation with not only a brain, but also with a mind, with self awareness, with consciousness (once called a soul) is born in a pact with our universe–think about me, think about yourself, figure the mystery out.

[1] Bill Bryson, The Body—A Guide for Occupants, Anchor Books (2021), page 48.

[2] Bryson, page 49.

[3] The idea that “consciousness” is itself somehow just a basic fact of the universe that explains without needing to be explained, has been promoted by Galileo’s Error: Foundations for a New Science of Consciousness by Philip Goff. This “new science” appears to me to be just a recognition that without Mind nothing, including the evolution of the universe, is possible. But how is this really different from “in the beginning God?” That thinking rationally is “the original pact between the mind and the universe” is from Simone Weil.

This is #14 in a series on worship guided by science, with examples from the human body as a place to worship God on scientific grounds. #13 on the blood (A Most Magical Juice) is here. (The rest are listed here). Jack is also known as Dr. John Byron Hoehn, MD (LLU), CCFP (Canada), DTM&H (London), Member AAFP (USA). His BA was in Religion and German majors with a minor in Chemistry from Pacific Union College. He was a medical missionary and licensed minister of the SDA church for 13 years, a baptized member for 66 years, an ordained elder since age 20, a Sabbath School teacher for decades. And he once held public evangelism meetings in a tent!

Jack’s book Adventist Tomorrow—Fresh Ideas While Waiting for Jesus in its second edition continues to be the most popular book Adventist Today has published. You may not want to give up all your Adventist ideas, but aren’t there some needing to be updated or strengthened? Read the book and share it with someone whose ideas you respect–pastors, teachers, children, siblings, elders, missionaries, dear friends. Christmas and birthdays are coming?
Chapters include:  DNA–It’s Message, Creationism–We Can Work This Out, Creationism–What Does the Bible Really Say?, Intoxicants, Very Political–Influencing Culture, Open to the Openness of God, Honest with the Bible, Is Friday Night Holy? and many more.

Jack’s wife, Deanne, has a delightful new book, Loving You—I Went to Africa, about their 13 years as medical missionaries. Would make a great Christmas gift for anyone who likes animals, Africa, love, and life. Especially helpful to look at a heavy time in history through a woman’s eyes.
Readers say: “What a beautiful story. Completely drew me in and I read every word. The pacing, the way the events unfold feels like hearing a friend talking about an exotic life of service…”
“Great storytelling, great read, hard to put down.”
“I wanted to read all day and yet didn’t want the story to end. What a treasure.”

These books and others are available at SHOP in the menu at the top of the page in print and e-book formats. All sales go to support Adventist Today.]

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