A Science of Consciousness

Spirit or Soul is often defined as a vital, animating principle found in all living things. Professor Sir Roger Penrose, English mathematical physicist, and Dr. Stuart Hameroff, Professor of Anesthesiology, Director of Center of Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona shared a view claiming that Spirit or Soul lives in cellular structures called microtubules found in brain nerve cells or neurons. 

WHAT IS SOUL ?

I am pleased to share a story about ‘the quantum theory of consciousness’ that appears under this post. We need to know as to how the terms Soul and Consciousness are defined. What is Soul? Is it a material principle or is it an immaterial principle? What is Consciousness? Is it a mental function? Is it a psychological function? Is it a biological function? What is the relationship between Soul and Consciousness? Microtubules are cellular skeletal components found in all living cells of all living organisms other than bacteria, blue-green algae, and viruses. If microtubules are found inside brain cells or neurons, it is not a surprise. They tend to perform the same functions in all types of living cells called eukaryotes(cells with true nuclei). All cells of the human body are derived from a single, fertilized Egg Cell. We need to discuss this topic called Soul and consciousness in relationship with this Egg Cell. Does this Egg Cell display consciousness? If  Egg Cell is Conscious, does it have a Soul? In that context, we have to answer similar questions about Amoeba proteus, is it Conscious? and does it have a Soul?

I have been writing about consciousness and like these authors, I have been speaking about the role of Cytoplasm, the living substance found inside living cells. The microtubules are related to the plasma membrane/biological membrane, the outermost layer that separates the cell from its external environment. This membrane performs cognitive functions and it can process information and transmit information which the cell further uses to perform its various living functions. The cytoplasm exists in a constant condition of motion called ‘amoeboid motion or it displays a streaming motion. The cell structures called microtubules and microfilaments maintain this motion all the time.

Like all cells, brain cells or neurons experience cellular death. We can remove several brain cells or kill them using drugs or radiation while treating problems like brain cancer. The person still remains conscious and we clearly know the term ‘consciousness’ as used in Clinical Medicine refers to the ‘AROUSAL’ state.

Penrose and Hameroff make no distinction between the clinical definition of ‘consciousness’ and the function performed by microtubules. Their views about gravitational force and its impact upon information processing by the brain’s nerve cells have no theoretical basis. We send astronauts into outer space and they function without experiencing any significant gravitational pull or force while they literally float inside their spaceships. To collect information, to process information, to retrieve information, and to utilize information to perform a guided function, a living, material principle called Spirit or Soul is required as it has awareness or consciousness of the fact of its own existence. 

When Consciousness is viewed as the awareness of one’s own existence, the fact of Consciousness can be verified by observing the vital living function called Respiration or breathing. The cells, the building blocks of Life exhibit their Individual Consciousness which can be verified by observing the vital living function called Cellular Respiration. Consciousness is a physiological function associated with Living Molecules of Life. Consciousness demands a complex structural organization and functional integration of the activity of Biomolecules which are energy-dependent and actively seek matter and energy from an external source.

Simon Cyrene

SCIENTISTS OFFER QUANTUM THEORY OF SOUL’S EXISTENCE

Scientific proof: according to the Quantum Consciousness Theory, the soul lives within structures called microtubules that live inside brain cells.

A PAIR of world-renowned quantum scientists say they can prove the existence of the soul.

American Dr. Stuart Hameroff and British physicist Sir Roger Penrose developed a quantum theory of consciousness asserting that our souls are contained inside structures called microtubules which live within our brain cells.
Their idea stems from the notion of the brain as a biological computer, “with 100 billion neurons and their axonal firings and synaptic connections acting as information networks”.
Dr. Hameroff, Professor Emeritus at the Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychology and Director of the Centre of Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona, and Sir Roger have been working on the theory since 1996.
They argue that our experience of consciousness is the result of quantum gravity effects inside these microtubules – a process they call orchestrated objective reduction (Orch-OR). In a near-death experience, the microtubules lose their quantum state but the information within them is not destroyed. Or in layman’s terms, the soul does not die but returns to the universe.
Dr. Hameroff explained the theory at length in the Morgan Freeman-narrated documentary “Through the Wormhole”, which was recently aired in the US by the Science Channel.
The quantum soul theory is now trending worldwide, thanks to stories published this week by The Huffington Post and the Daily Mail, which have generated thousands of readers comments and social media shares.
“Let’s say the heart stops beating, the blood stops flowing, the microtubules lose their quantum state,” Dr. Hameroff said. “The quantum information within the microtubules is not destroyed, it can’t be destroyed, it just distributes and dissipates to the universe at large. “If the patient is resuscitated, revived, this quantum information can go back into the microtubules and the patient says ‘I had a near death experience’.” In the event of the patient’s death, it was “possible that this quantum information can exist outside the body indefinitely – as a soul”.
Dr. Hameroff believes new findings of the role quantum physics plays in biological processes, such as the navigation of birds, adds weight to the theory.