Science
in Christian PerspectiveScience
in Christian Perspective
Only a Machine, or Also a Living Soul?
WALTER C. JOHNSON
132 Pine Street Hanover, Massachusetts 02339
From: JASA 22 (December 1970): 137-141.
Is a man only a complex machine or is he also a living soul created in the image of God? Upon the answer to this question depends our estimate of the value of each individual personality, our attitude to ethics, morality and religion, and our views regarding the possibility of life after death. Can the uniqueness of the human personality be explained wholly by the laws of physics and chemistry or is there also a spiritual dimension? The human body in a sense is a complex machine and examples of feed-back mechanisms in human physiology, the concept of the brain as a bio-computer and modern views on the biological basis of memory are cited in support of this idea. The effects of disease of or trauma to the brain and the effects of electrical stimulation to areas of the brain upon the personality are also considered. Finally, the philosophy of materialistic monism and the dualistic concepts of psycho-physical parallelism and interaction, are discussed as possible explanations for the nature of man, the last view being accepted by the author who attempts to demonstrate that it is compatible with the Biblical concepts of the nature of man and life after death.
Is man only a complex machine as many would have us believe or is he something
more? Is he also a living soul created in the image of God? This is one of the
most important questions which face humanity today; upon its answer depends our
estimate of the worth and value of each individual human personality,
our attitude
to ethics, morality and religion, and our views about the destiny of
man: annihilation
of the person
ality at death or the hope of a life beyond the grave.
Can the whole of human life and personality be reduced to the laws of physics
and chemistry or are these laws alone inadequate to explain the uniqueness of
man?
The Human Body is a Complex Machine
Certainly the human body is a
complex machine,
but more wonderful and intricate than any man-made machine. Self-regulating or
feed-hack mechanisms, exemplified in the field of mechanical
engineering by such
devices as governors for regulation of the speed of engines, and
thermostats for
control of temperature, are important components of the different physiological
systems of the human body.
A relatively simple illustration in the human organism is the method by which
the hypothalamus controls the secretion of the thyroid hormone (thyroxine) and
hence the level of metabolism in the body via the anterior lobe of
the pituitary
gland. The hypothalamus is believed to secrete a thyrotropin-releasing factor
into the vascular system of the pituitary gland which stimulates that organ to
increase the output of its thyrotropic hormone. The latter in turn stimulates
the thyroid gland to increase its output of thyroxine. The resulting increased
level of thyroxine in the bloodstream, including the blood flowing to
the hypothalamus,
increases the metabolism of that structure; as a result, the
hypothalamic stimulation
of the pituitary gland is decreased, causing a fall in the production
of thyrotropic
hormone and consequently a decrease in the secretion of thyroxine. Conversely,
decreased thyroxine levels in the bloodstream lead to the opposite effects.
The heat-regulating system of the body, whose thermostat is the hypothalamus,
also operates by means of a feed-back system, which causes the body temperature
to remain relatively constant despite fluctuations in the temperature
of the environment.
An increase in the temperature of the blood passing through the
hypothalamus will
cause that part of the brain to initiate those physiological
mechanisms designed
to cause a fall in body temperature and vice-versa. The brain itself with its
billions of nerve cells or neurones has been likened to a very
elaborate and complicated
electronic computer mechanism with the individual neurones analogous to vacuum
tubes or transistors such as have been used in electronic computers.
As an electronic computer requires a unit for the storage of
information to function
properly, so in the human central nervous system there is a biological memory
storage unit, Dr. Wilder Penfield of Montreal, the world-famous neuro-surgeon
has written widely in the fields of neurology, neurophysiology, and
neurosurgery
and has performed much work on temporal lobe epilepsy, including
operative removal
of diseased areas of the temporal lobes of the brain. In some of
these cases Dr.
Penfield has found that stimulation of certain areas of this part of the brain
with electrodes has caused the patient to recall vivid memories of
childhood days,
almost as though the electrical stimulation was like the switching on of a tape
recorder. When the electricity was turned off, the memories abruptly
disappeared.
As far as the physical basis of memory is concerned it is widely believed that
when learning takes place, temporary memory is consolidated into
permanent memory
which is available for subsequent recall. This "engram" or physical
trace of memory is encoded in a macromolecule such as ribonucleic acid (RNA) or
protein. In other words memory appears to be stored in a chemical
filing system,
RNA being an important component of this system. An alternative theory suggests
that memories are diffused throughout the brain and depend on the
setting of innumerable
switches. Certain proteins manufactured by the nerve cells act
as switches at the synaptic junctions between nerve cells, thus
determining along
which particular neuronal pathways impulses flow in processing a
particular piece
of learned information.
Any kind of damage to the central nervous system, whether due to trauma, infections, tumors, degenerative diseases, or intoxication with various chemical poisons, can produce marked alterations in the personality.
Central Nervous System
Furthermore, we know that any kind of damage to the machinery of the
central nervous
system whether it be due to trauma, infections, tumors, degenerative diseases
or intoxication with various chemical poisons, can produce marked alterations
in the personality of the individual concerned. For instance, a
normal child who
sustains a head-injury, develops encephalitis following one of the infectious
fevers such as measles, or contracts a severe form of meningitis, may be left
with permanent brain damage manifested by hyperexcitability,
restlessness, anxiety,
distractibility, impulsive hostile and aggressive behaviour and even
delinquency.
Many psychiatrists are now of the opinion that biochemical abnormalities in the
central nervous system are important causative factors in the
production of certain
forms of emotional illness, particularly the major psychoses such as
manic depressive
illness and schizophrenia. For instance, the depressive phase of
manic-depressive
illness in which the patient is depressed and miserable, slowed down
and retarded
mentally and physically, often experiencing feelings of worthlessness,
self-reproach
and guilt (sometimes to such an extent that the sufferer feels that he or she
has committed the unpardonable sin), and sometimes exhibiting
suicidal tendencies,
is believed to be associated with a diminished concentration of catecholamines,
such as norepinephrine, in the region of synapses in certain parts of
the central
nervous system. On the other hand the manic phase of this illness in which the
patient is overactive, elated, and showing pressure of speech and
flights of ideas,
is believed to be associated with excessive concentrations of these substances
in the brain.
Conversely emotional factors such as anxiety, repressed hostility,
and unresolved
guilt can be important factors in the production of physical symptoms and even
of definite diseases such as bronchial asthma, gastric and duodenal
ulcers, oeurodermatitis
and a wide range of other conditions which make up the field of psychosomatic
medicine.
It is also an established fact that interference with the machinery
of the brain,
either by drugs, electricity or psychosurgery can cause alterations in behavior
and personality. For instance, anti-depressant drugs can relieve the symptoms
of depression and produce an elevation in a patient's mood by influencing the
level of catecholamines in the brain. Hallucinogenic drugs such as
lysergic acid
diethylamide (LSD 25) and mescaline produce striking changes in
personality, such
as an alteration in the individual's appreciation of time, feelings
of depersonalization,
and the experiencing of
hallucinations.
Psychiatry
Perhaps even more dramatic is the work of Dr. José Delgado, professor of
physiology in the department of psychiatry at Yale University whose
research with
animals and recent studies with psychiatric patients may have significant and
far reaching implications for psychiatry in the future, By means of
radio signals
sent out from a transmitter, he has influenced the behavior of animals, whose
brains he has implanted with fine electrodes at specific sites; the
radio signals
from the transmitter are received by small solid state radio receivers carried
by the subjects. The receivers change the radio signals into the
desired electrical
stimuli which they send down the implanted electrodes. For instance, an angry
charging hull has been stopped by stimulating a point in the basal ganglia of
the animal, and stimulation of the red nucleus in the midbrains of monkeys have
caused them to rise from a sitting position and walk around.
Stimulation of another
part of the mid-brain of a monkey has evoked aggressive behavior
directed towards
the self.
This method of Dr. Delgado was applied for the first time clinically
in the early
part of 1968 to four patients suffering from severe psychomotor
epilepsy associated
with such symptoms as severe episodes of rage, automatisms, and
assaultive behavior,
with a view to the accurate identification of sites of abnormal intracerebral
electrical activity as a guide to the planning of subsequent surgical
treatment.
Electrodes were introduced into the hippocampus and anterior medial amygdala of
each patient and a small radio receiver weighing only 70 g. was
strapped to each
patient's head bandage. In one patient a single stimulus applied to
the left amygdala
relieved his emotional tension and assaultive behavior for two days
but stimulations
of the right amygdala in another patient elicited paroxysms of rage.
Radio stimulation
of other areas of the hippocampus and amygdala in these subjects produced other
effects such as elation, pleasant sensations, and thoughtful concentration.
According to materialistic monism, mind is just a product of biochemical and electrical changes in the central nervous system, and the personality is nothing more than the interplay of these biological forces with environmental forces.
Materialistic Monism
In the light of these scientific discoveries is man nothing more than a
complicated
biological machine? Many philosophers and scientists, holding the
theory of materialistic
monism would answer in the affirmative. The monistic philosophy postulates that
mind and spirit are merely functions of the central nervous system, just like
the secretion of bile is a function of the liver and the circulation
of the blood
is a function of the heart and blood vessels. In other words, according to the
teaching of materialistic monism, mind is
just a product of biochemical and electrical changes in the central
nervous system,
and the personality of an individual is nothing more than the
interplay of these
biological forces on the one hand with environmental forces on the
other. If one
carries this philosophy to its logical extreme it leaves no room for
the concepts
of free will, moral values, and survival of the personality after death. To the
monist, therefore, disintegration and death of the nervous system
inevitably means
the fading and extinction of the mind and personality. Nevertheless this theory
fails to answer several important questions. It cannot explain how electrical
and chemical activity in the brain can be translated into consciousness, self
awareness, and the experience of different emotions. It seems that here is an
impossible gulf which science cannot bridge. The phenomena of
conscience and the
moral and religious nature of man cannot be explained by this theory, nor can
the changed lives of countless individuals who have been brought into a radical
transforming relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, not all philosophers and scientists working in this
field subscribe
to the monistic philosophy of the nature of man. "The real
trouble comes",
states Lord Adrian, "from the feeling that there may be an important part
of the picture which can never be fitted in however long we work at it."
Professor W. E. LeGros-Clark concludes that neither the anatomist nor
the physiologist
is "able to even suggest how the physico-chemical phenomena
associated with
the passage of nevous impulses from one part of the brain to another
can be translated
into mental experience". Dr. Wilder Penfield says
"something else finds
its dwelling place between the sensory complex and the motor
mechanism, that there
is a switchboard operator as well as a switchboard." He further
states, "The
dualist believes that there is in each individual something additional to the
body and its living energy. He may call it a conscious spirit which
is the active
accompaniment of
brain activity . He may also believe that this spirit
continues its existence after the death of the body. . These concepts
of the spirit,
and of God, are the things a scientist may believe." In his 1963 Eddington
lecture, Sir John Eccles, well-known neurophysiologist, is quoted as
having said
that the possibility of a future existence cannot be denied on
scientific grounds.
Philosophically the theory of materialistic monism makes utter
nonsense, because
if all our thinking and our philosophical theories are merely the
result of biochemical
and electrical changes in the cells of our brains, then materialistic monism is
a mere whim of brain physiology. Its claim to be considered seriously
as objective
is invalid. In this way this philosophy undermines all objective measurements
and standards of truth, including the truth or error of the monistic philosophy
itself.
Psychophysical Parallelism and Interaction
The alternative theories of the nature of man which are dualistic in emphasis
and which postulate a nonmaterial component to the personality of man, in the
form of mind or spirit, are the theories of psychophysical
parallelism and interaction.
The theory of psychophysical parallelism postulates that body and mind are two
separate entities operating in harmony with each other but not affecting each
other intimately, much like two railroad trains running at the same
speed along
The theory of interaction teaches that body on one hand, and mind or spirit on the other, are separate and distinct phenomena, but yet are intimately and intricately interrelated, affecting each other closely.
parallel railroad tracks and passing along the same points along the route at
exactly the same time. This theory does not appeal to the author either from a
philosophical or a scientific point of view, because if body and mind
cannot affect
each other intimately, one would have to postulate a whole series of
supernatural
events when these two entities appear to act together.
The theory of interaction teaches that body on one hand, mind or spirit on the
other, are separate and distinct phenomena, but yet are intimately
and intricately
inter-related, thus affecting each other very closely. The body, and
particularly
the central nervous system, is the vehicle through which the spirit
of man expresses
itself, the latter being the ultimate psychic reality. This theory in
the author's
opinion is wholly compatible with the established facts and findings of science
on the one hand and with the doctrines of Scripture on the other. To facilitate
our understanding of this theory, the relationship between the spirit and the
body of man can he compared to the relationship between a pianist and
his instrument,
the interaction of the two producing the melody, which in our analogy
represents
all the attributes of personality and mind. If we pursue this analogy further
it becomes obvious that a discordant and jarring melody may he
produced by a defect
in the piano or by a faulty technique on the part of the pianist.
Similarly, flaws
and defects in the personality and disorders of the mind my be due to physical
disease, especially disease of the central nervous system, or to
spiritual causes,
particularly to a wrong relationship with Cod or to a combination of both. Just
as the player striking the keys of his instrument produces the
melody, similarly
the interaction of body and spirit produces a third and different entity: mind.
Thus this theory of dualistic interaction does not necessarily
conflict with the
widely accepted theological model of man as a tripartite being
consisting of body,
mind, and spirit.
As far as the problem of free will is concerned, it is interesting to reflect
on the fact that the human brain contains billions of electronic
circuits, remotely
comparable in both structure and function to the electronic circuits
of calculating
machines and computers, though infinitely more complex, vastly more intricate,
and yet wonderfully condensed in space. The average human brain
weighs only about
1400 g. but a man-made electronic brain of something approaching
comparable complexity
would be so large as to require a budding the size of a large house to contain
it. Such a structure as the human brain with its countless billions
of electronic
circuits is an ideal physical instrument upon which an entity of the nature of
the human spirit could operate and upon which the function of the
free will could
be imposed.
Biblical Teaching
According to the Bible there is a dualism of the body and spirit: "I pray
Cod your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ". (I Thessalonians 5:23; see also II Corinthians
5:1-10). Indeed the Lord Jesus Christ himself taught such a dichotomy (Matthew
10:28).
Furthermore we are taught in the Bible that Cod created man in His own image,
formed man of the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life and man became a living soul. (Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:27)
Thus the Word
of Cod conveys to us the conception that man is a body animated by spirit, the
combination of these two entities being necessary for the formation
of a complete
living personality. In other words the Bible stresses the idea that man forms
a psychophysical unity in contrast to the views of Creek philosophy according
to which man was regarded as an incarcerated soul, his body merely
being a hindrance
and encumbrance to the free life of the spirit. In the new testament the Creek
word psuche expresses the idea of the total living personality,
whereas the word
pneuma denotes the spirit of man. Indeed the body is regarded as a
necessary vehicle
through which the spirit of mail can express itself.
The Bible also teaches the doctrine of the resurrection of the body,
rather than
the mere survival after death of a disembodied spirit. In the resurrection, the
spirit of the believer will be clothed in a spiritual body which will
be incorruptible
and eternal, and through which this immortal spirit will be able to
express itself
throughout the endless ages of eternity: a body like the glorious resurrection
body of our Lord Jesus Christ, free from mortal frailty and unimpeded
by the limitations
of space and time (I Corinthians 15, Philippians 3:10, II Corinthians 5:1-10).
'The dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed, for
this corruptible
must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on
immortality" (I Corinthians
18:51-52). "But we know that when I-Ic shall appear we shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is." (I John 3:2).
We can be confident that there are no facts of modern science,
nothing in psychology
or psychiatry, that can deny or refute the fact of the personal resurrection of
the individual Christian believer, and therefore we who have put our trust in
the crucified and risen Saviour can rejoice in the confidence that one day we
shall see Him face to face and dwell with Him forever.
REFERENCES
Man Memory and Machines, An Introduction to Cybernetics
by Corinne Jacker, Macmillan Company, New York (1964), Chapters 1 and 2
Textbook of Medical Physiology by Arthur C. Cuyton, M.D. W. B. Saunders Company
(1961) Chapter 75, pp. 10201021
Textbook of Medical Physiology by Arthur C. Guytnn, M.D. W. 8. Saunders Company
(1961) Chapter 71, pp. 958-960
Roche Report-Frontiers of Clinical Psychiatry, May 1, 1967 "Mind
as a Tissue"
Conference explores physical bases of behavior.
The Psychiatric Disorders of Childhood by Charles R. Shaw M.D.
Appleton Century-Crofts
New York (1966) Chapter 8
Depression; Clinical, Experimental and Theoretical Aspects by Aaron
T. Beck, M.D.
Hoeber Medical Division Harper and Row Publishers New York (1967) Chapter 16,
pp. 244-245
Roche Report-Frontiers of Hospital Psychiatry April 1, 1969 Electronic pacing
of behavior: brain research, treatment tool.
Christianity Today Volume XIII, Number 15, April 25, 1969 p. 12 "Biology
and the Christian Faith" by B. L. Smith
Speech and Brain Mechanisms by Wilder Penfield and Lamar Roberts,
Princeton University
Press, Princeton, N.J. (1959) Chapter 1, p. 9
Christian Medical Society Journal, Winter 1962. "Theories of
Body-Mind Relationship" by Walter C. Johnson, M.D.