This book presents a discussion of the many facets of human consciousness and cognitive abilities from the standpoint of physics, neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, computer science (including artificial intelligence), and theology. In particular, we argue that the human mind (unlike animal consciousness) cannot be fully explained only by physical phenomena and cannot be understood as arising merely from algorithmic processing carried out by the neural networks of the brain but requires a spiritual soul.
To solve the dilemma of dualism (that is, how can the spiritual soul influence the physical brain?), we provide a theory based on quantum mechanics of how the spiritual world can influence the physical world. This theory can explain how God can influence the physical world in order to accomplish his will (that is, Divine providence) without violating the laws of nature. The theory can also explain how, through God’s mediation, the human soul can influence the physical systems of the brain without violating the laws of nature. The theory thus bridges the apparent chasm between the spiritual world and the physical world (the so-called “causal closure” of the physical world) and postulates that the soul and the brain are tightly integrated in their function, in keeping with the Judeo-Christian belief that “spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature” (Catechism of the Catholic Church).
The book concludes with a discussion of the purpose and meaning of human existence and how quantum mechanics is relevant to the theological doctrine of grace by showing how God can influence the moral decision-making that takes place in the frontal lobe of the brain without violating the laws of nature. This also helps to explain how Thomas Aquinas’ “intrinsically efficacious” grace, by which he explains the biblical doctrine of predestination, does not conflict with the doctrine of human free will.
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Dr. Terrence Lagerlund has been a neurologist in the Division of Epilepsy at Mayo Clinic for 35 years, treating patients with epilepsy and interpreting their electroencephalograms. He also lectures to residents and fellows on electroencephalography including basic principles of electricity and neurophysiology. He has published papers and authored book chapters on electroencephalography and epilepsy, particularly regarding quantitative analysis of electroencephalograms. Prior to becoming a neurologist, he obtained a Ph.D. in physics and worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Science (doing research at Brookhaven National Laboratory and CERN) and as a term physicist at Fermilab.
Virginia Lee Bliss brings the perspective of a traveler, teacher and biologist, to her published works. Her experience of living in Scotland and Poland appears in her books, as do her years of teaching college biology. She lives on a lake in Central Massachusetts, where she’s inspired by the history and beauty of New England.
Jennifer Ristine is a consecrated woman of Regnum Christi, which is a Society of Apostolic Life in the Catholic Church. She consecrated her life to God in 1997 and has been engaged in faith and spiritual formation primarily through teaching, writing, conferences, retreats and spiritual direction. She has been a contributor for RC Spirituality, epriest, and an instructor for the online Spiritual Director Certificate course at Divine Mercy University in Virginia. She is the author of Mary Magdalene: Insights from Ancient Magdala and Nine Days with Mary Magdalene. She served for 12 years as a teacher of pedagogy, theology and spirituality classes at Mater Ecclesiae College, and served from 2014-2018 as the Director of the Magdalena Institute and the Visitors’ Center Coordinator in Magdala, the ancient hometown of Mary Magdalene, a first century Jewish site and Christian pilgrim center. She has obtained degrees in Special Education from Western Illinois University, Pastoral and Religious studies from Regina Apostolorum in Rome, a Masters degree in Theology from Catholic Distance University in Virginia, a Masters in Ignatian Spirituality from the Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid, Spain and has studies in the Masters in the Mystics from CITeS and the Catholic University in Avila, Spain.
Fr Richard O Connor, D.D., is an Irish priest, ordained in 1976, who worked in the diocese of Kerry for many years. He was also head of philosophy in All Hallows Seminary in Dublin from 1981-1983 and has been a professor of theology at the Angelicum University in Rome from 2008 to the present.
Eric Gilhooly was born on August 12, 1986, in Syracuse, New York. He entered the minor seminary in 1999. His major seminary formation took him to Ireland, Connecticut, and Rome. He studied in the Pontifical Athenum