It takes humans a while before they have any concept of themselves. This happens by gradually putting experiences together in the form of memories. Without memories, humans struggle to understand the consequences of their actions, because what is right or wrong is learned from experience. Much of our personality, then, is created by the physical process of our brains collecting information and storing it. Those who care for alzheimer sufferers talk of them becoming a different person - they often claim the person at the end of this particular illness is no longer the person they knew before the disease.
Where does this leave the concept of the spirit? What exactly is the spirit supposed to be? We can see what happens when the physical component which holds our life's knowledge breaks down - we don't know who we are, or who our friends and family are, or what we did in the past. Presumably, if you are a Christian or a Muslim, you believe your spirit will resemble your personality and you will arrive in the afterlife to be welcomed by those friends and family who got there before you.
If so, how will you recognise them and they you?
Because, if your spirit contains the memories, then any damage to the memory-containing area of the brain should have no effect, as the spirit will provide the information.
Are we supposed to believe the spirit inside an alzheimer sufferer's body is hiding away, to be released upon death, memories and personality restored?
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
The Spirit World
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7 comments:
I'd agree with you that memories appear to be stored in the brain. I have two living relatives and one who has already passed away who had Alzheimers (or some form of it), and I'd have no problem with agreeing memories seem to reside in the brain.
Personality is a little more tricky, I think. There is clearly a link between memories and personality, but it's a stretch to say that personality is the sum total of memories. You've got a son, and I bet you're experience is similar to mine - that at least part of the personality is something that is inborn, even as another part of it can be affected by memories, circumstances, etc. Your guess is (literally) as good as mine, or better, when it comes to where personality resides.
The larger issue of how it relates to the afterlife, is interesting. But as humans, we know so little about the brain, that any derivatives assertions about it are pretty weak, in my opinion. It's not like a computer, where we understand how the processor works, and memory, and we can understand and map every little bit of it. Understanding that there are electrons firing and knowing that there are certain areas of the brain that control or regulate certain functions is not the same as understanding it well enough to make the assertion that there is no spirit.
Hi Gummy
OK, putting aside the argument for the existence or not of a spirit, how about my other points - if an alzheimer sufferer cannot recognise their friends and family memembers, does this mean their spirit does not contain memories of such things? In which case, does this not make the spirit something of which has almost no connection to the life we lead here on Earth - which is very much reliant on our memories and experiences.
Also, can an Alzheimer sufferer remember who Jesus was/is? If not, why would God want this? What if someone loses the brain capacity to believe and follow Jesus/God? Do they go to Hell?
My own personal view, for what it's worth, is that the spirit is independent of the brain. We use our bodies while we are here, and - again, my own personal view - we are here in order for the spirit to learn lessons and develop. The body is a vehicle. Naturally I have no knowledge of what happens after we die, not having done that yet, but my feeling is that the spirit will retain the important stuff and discard the rest, rather like fishing, where you might net a mixed bag of fish, flotsam, marine mammals even, and keep only that which you need or want.
I've just started visiting Alzheimer's patients with my PAT therapy dog. I believe the person is 'in there' somewhere, and that belief seems to be borne out by the fact that some sufferers do have periods of lucidity. It's a terrible disease.
The Bible is not comprehensive when it comes to descriptions of our physical existence in the afterlife. I think that everyone will have memories of life on earth - both those in Heaven and those in Hell, but the how is beyond me. Of course, as I said before, I don't think we fully comprehend the how here on earth in our current bodies, either.
I'm sure there are more examples, but one that came to mind is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, found in Luke 16:19-31. Most times parables are mere stories to illustrate a larger point, and this might fit that case, but it seems to be specific enough that it is describing actual events. That's how I read it, and if so, it's clear that there is consciousness and memory in the afterlife. The man is asking about his own brothers, in this case.
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house — for I have five brothers — so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” (Luke 16:19-31, ESV)
Your other question about the Alzheimer patient is a great one. It's a real challenge to answer, and I'm not even certain if there is a consensus in Christianity about it. I'll ask around and see if I can get some sort of consensus view, and then I'll share what I think as well.
People seem to want to think of the human body as some kind of radio receiver, and the soul as the personality that is broadcast out of it. The example of human children raised by animals in the wild would tend to dispute that, unless you apply a layer like karma to the formula. No matter how you look at it, it quickly becomes a complicated system of "reasons" and excuses as one tries to justify this world view. It is far simpler to believe that what you see is what you get. There is no divisible ghost in the machine, there is no afterlife, there is no invisible magic super-being playing us like marionettes. Your brain has been conditioned to think this way. Ever walk in a room during a blackout, knowing that there is no electricity, and flip the light switch anyway? It's kind of like that. Most people can't think about "not soul" without thinking in terms of a soul. It's that deeply ingrained.
The argument seems to be that we have physical memories and spirit memories, just like we supposedly have physical bodies and spirit bodies.
Gummby, you seem to be of the opinion our memory and our personality are separate things. Yet, when we see the memory of a person 'damaged' people close to that person claim their personality goes along with the memory.
It seems that the destruction of the physical memory destroys the physical personality. There is some evidence the personality is genetic as well as built around memory, but again, that is physical.
There seems to be no room at all for a spirit.
Well, I never was able to get a consensus on my blog, so I don't have much to add. Except this: a God who can speak the universe into existence and is able to enter His own creation, die, and come back from the dead, won't have any trouble reconciling that which seems irreconcilable from our vantage point.
Someone gave me a question to pose to you, though. If what you say is true, and there is no spirit, and personality is tied to memories such that if memory is gone, so is personality, is there any reason you can think of for why we wouldn't go ahead and euthanize said individual? Particularly in a country where that person is just siphoning off funds from the NHS and more healthly and productive citizens.
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