The human brain is an enormous, mysterious organ. This deceptive characteristic of the brain is also reflected in the sense of self that humans entail. While what we look like is just a collection of atoms and molecules, the sheer probability of having consciousness, and that too, this advanced, triggers a belief that humans are much more than just flesh and bones.
And this is how the concept of soul is fostered. Religious texts and teachings frequently bring the soul into the discussion. What some see as the soul descending to consciousness helps us to become “us”. The soul is said to exist beyond the laws of life and death. It is recognized that our souls existed before us and will exist after us. However, this concept becomes weak when viewed through a scientific demonstration.
Sean M. Carroll, a physicist specializing in cosmology, gravity, and quantum mechanics, shared his reassurance about this endless journey of a soul through a post. on the blog. Sean has carefully analyzed the branches of this thought and asserted that life after death does not stop at the decomposition of the body, but also exists outside.
Questions about the sanctity of this belief revolve around the fundamental laws of physics that play their part in the interactions of atoms with their environment. Sean unravels the truth that for the afterlife to be true, the basic physical structure of atoms and electrons would have to be destroyed, and someone would have to build a new model. “To put it mildly, believing in life after death requires physics to go beyond the standard paradigm. More importantly, we need a way for this “new physics” to interact with the atoms we have.
Most people see the soul as a drop of energy. What Sean argues about is the interaction of this energy with the world that we witness and the building blocks of it that we do not see. Multiple equations such as the Dirac equation, Lorentz invariance, Hamiltonian system of Quantum Mechanics, Gauge Variance, etc., will be proven void, or the concept of the soul will lose trustful ground in attempts to justify the existence of life after death.
The discussion of such topics does tickle the thought process, but it also diverts us from the more reality-centric questions about human beings and the consciousness that belongs to them. How do you feel about the existence of an immaterial, immortal soul and life after death?