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Notes on the Principle of Dualism applied to the
study of the Human Mind
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The currently accepted paradigm in orthodox medicine and in academic circles, regarding the mind, is that the human mind is just an epiphenomena of the brain, this is like saying that the mind does not really exist or that it is not real. This is called the reductionist paradigm since it reduces the human mind to the biological brain, trying to explain the causes of all mental experiences from the point of view of its neurological correlates; that is, from the only point of view of the physiological processes and ultimately from a purely physical or chemical description. However, critics of the reductionist paradigm argue that trying to explain the human mind from the brain perspective alone would be like trying to explain television images from the perspective of the electronic circuits in a TV set (ignoring the information contained in the --invisible-- electromagnetic waves), or like trying to describe a computer by just looking at the hardware and ignoring the software. Today a new paradigm is emerging where it is clear that the human mind cannot be reduced to the biological body, implying that the self (with its memory and personality) cannot simply be reduced to the brain. In this paradigm the mind and the body are seen as two different causes that work together (in a feedback loop) to create the mental experience. In Philosophy this is called Dualism since it requires two different but equally important causes for the phenomena to occur. This discussion is important, even critical, for the concept of survival of consciousness. The implication from the first paradigm is that when the brain dies there is no consciousness; in the reductionist worldview there is no room for the afterlife. However, the second paradigm in which the mind is an independent cause, allows the possibility of mental experiences outside the biological body and conciousness after death. The purpose of this page is to show the problems that the current reductionist paradigm faces when dealing with some mental phenomena, and as an alternative, present the concept of Dualism and how it resolves the conundrums of the human mind. The discussion will focus on Psychology and Physiology. Physics, Quantum Theory and Genetics, will be discussed in other sections. Also, paranormal evidence, like Reincarnation and Mediumship, which supports the irreducibility of the human mind and survival of conciousness, will be discussed in their corresponding sections on this website. Reductionism: Determinism and Causality in one direction only, from lower to upper levels. The reductionist paradigm applied to the human mind, in essence, says that physical laws determine (are the cause of) chemistry, chemistry determines biology, biology determines psychology, and psychology determines sociology. So, within this paradigm, human beings are like biological robots that behave according to some programs hardwired in their brains; basically meat computers. Perhaps there is a chance that those programs and algorithms may evolve by natural selection, but that's all. No independent mind or conciousness, and of course no concept of soul or spirit. The same paradigm is predominant in other areas of scientific knowledge. Behaviorism in Psychology and The Central Dogma in Molecular Biology are examples of the pervasiveness of these ideas in our current scientific thinking. But the paradigm may be shifting soon. New empirical phenomena is challenging the old paradigm. From the prevalent tendency to organization observed in nature in spite of the apparent chaos (see current developments in Chaos Theory), to genetic information flowing in unexpected directions affecting the protein synthesis process in cells (see current developments in Genetics and Epigenetics). And even some less known facts in Physics that question the assumed capacity of fundamental physical laws to calculate physical properties at macroscopic and higher organization levels; much less predict life or conciousness. Perhaps the best approach so far to overcome these problems is found in the ideas around Emergentism. Emergentism accepts the fact that in nature there is a fundamental tendency to organization, and that naturals laws appear (and disappear) depending on the organization level. Emergentism is promising, but it has limitations, too. To mention one, there is no clear concept of what defines a level of organization and how it relates to attributes like energy, form, and information. Historically, the reductionist paradigm became the dominant scientific worldview after the famous mathematician and astronomer Pierre-Simon Laplace, based on the previous success of Isaac Newton with the physical and mathematical description of classic mechanics, proposed a mechanistic and deterministic worldview where the whole universe would be pre-determined given the initial conditions of position and momentum of all the particles involved. In Philosophy this worldview is called Mechanistic Determinism. Obviously, in this worldview there was no room for human free will or anything of that sort. This worldview remained in Physics until Quantum Mechanics finally swept it away by introducing concepts like Uncertainty, Dual Behavior (Waves and Particles), Non Locality, Probability, Wave Function, Objective Reduction of the Wave Function, Measurement Problem, and so on. Dualism: Causality in both directions, ascending and descending. The Principle of Dualism states, in essence, that the Mind (or Psyches or Consciousness) is a real entity that exists at the highest level of the human organization hierarchy and it has an effect in its biology and all the way down to the physical level. These descending (up-down) causal effects complement the previously described process of ascending (down-up) causality. Duality implies that causal factors act in both direction through the different organizational levels of nature, complementing each other, and forming a unity that can be described as a control loop with feedback (or biofeedback) where information flows in both directions of the organization hierarchy. The Principle of Dualism has immediate applications in Physiology, explaining some mental phenomena that so far has not been explained by the orthodox medical theory:
Some scientists have already started addressing the above questions. Here are some examples worth noting: Sir John Eccles, Nobel Prize of Medicine in
1963. Author of the book How the Self Controls its Brain,
he was the first proponent of the Theory of Dualism in Physiology to be able
to explain the complexities of the mind-body relationships. He developed the
theory though decades of collaboration with Sir Karl Popper, the famous
philosopher of science. Dr. Roger
Sperry, Nobel Prize of Medicine in
1991. His contribution to the new paradigm consisted on the ideas around the
concept of Retroactivism; which in essence states that there is a mind-body
feedback loop within a monistic paradigm. Dr. Karl Pribram, Professor at Stanford
University. He made a significant contribution to neurophysiology by
introducing the Holographic Theory of cerebral function and memory, as opposed
to the description based on Neural Networks. Memory exists in the Holographic
Field. The brain is then the connection to this Holographic Field. The Holographic Principle is an idea initially developed in Physics
by several important theoretical physicists, including David Bohm and Leonard
Susskind (see current developments in Superstring Theory), which in essence
states that the universe behaves as an holographic field in space and time (in
four or more dimensions depending on the specific theory) where each point
contains information of all events from anywhere in space and time. This is an
intrinsic characteristic of Holograms in Physics where "the whole is
manifested in each part". Curiously, this scientific principle sounds very
similar to the concept of Akashic Records from the Hindu tradition, which
it is said to contain all information, past, present, and future. To avoid confusions,
please note that the Holographic Principle and Holography as a photographic
technique are two different things, although related by the definition of
Hologram. Dr. Rupert Sheldrake,
an important biologist considered a leader of post-Darwinian evolution theory,
author of A New Science of Life, The Sense of Being Starred At, and
other important books, has developed the Theory of Morphogenetic Fields to
explain the organization and development of biological forms and its
relationship to conciousness. Recently Dr. Sheldrake completed a set of
experiments on Phone Telepathy which, according to Sheldrake, could be
explained as Morphic Resonance; a resonance effect in the morphogenetic
fields.
Dr. Charles Tart, internationally known for his
works on the nature of Conciousness and Transpersonal Psychology. Dr. Tart has
prepared an excellent presentation about Dualism as a scientific theory and
how it can be tested empirically. http://www.paradigm-sys.com/display/ctt_articles1.cfm Dr. Bernard Grad,
Professor of Biology at McGill
University, Canada, has conducted experiments today considered
classics, on the healing effects of "laying hands" on laboratory animals. The Principle of Dualism can be extended to Biology, Ecology, and generally to life on Earth. An example where this approach may help shed some new light is the so called Gaia Hypothesis. Dr. James Lovelock,
was the first scientist to propose the Gaia Hypothesis in 1969. The
Gaia Hypothesis in essence states that our planet Earth behaves as a super
organism which manipulates the climate to make conditions on Earth more
favorable to life. A good example of how this works can be seen in the mathematical model
called Daisyworld, which simulates Earth as cybernetic system with feedback.
The system allows a better a understanding of how complex interrelationships
among species can affect the evolution of life on Earth. The Gaia Hypothesis can be related to another principle of theoretical
Physics today called Anthropic Principle; which states that the
universe is "fined tuned" to facilitate life on Earth given the specific
values of a set of approximately twenty universal constants that determine the
main physical characteristics of the universe as we know it. Historical Note: Dualism in Philosophy was originally proposed by Rene Descartes
in the XVII century as part of his Metaphysical works around the so-called
Mind-Body problem. Although,
it should be noted that Descartes' approach to Dualistic Interactionism is somewhat different to how
Dualism is
understood nowadays. Today the ideas around the new non-Cartesian dualism combined with the current development in Quantum Mechanics are shedding a new light on our understanding of the mind-body problem. For more information on the New Dualism please visit: http://www.newdualism.org/.
Paradigms in Science: Philosopher of
science Thomas Kuhn gave this word its contemporary meaning when he adopted it
to refer to the set of practices (assumed working principles and other
accepted beliefs within the scientific community) that define a scientific
discipline during a particular period of time. In his book The Structure of
Scientific Revolutions Kuhn defines a scientific paradigm as a set of
"what's" and "how's" of the currently accepted scientific process, and
explains that in "normal science" paradigms tend to remain unchallenged until
enough empirical evidence is accumulated to question a given paradigm. This
process of paradigm changing or shifting is the essence of Scientific
Revolutions, which are political processes within the scientific community
with significant cultural implications in the society at large. Dear reader, we hope you find these notes informative, and perhaps intellectually stimulating. If you made it to this point, it should be because you found something interesting here. Keep up the enthusiasm. We wish you all the best in your search for wisdom and in your personal life, too.
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This site was last updated 01/12/08
