Nature of Consciousness

One of the fiercest debates in science today: the nature of consciousness. In 1991, Pam Reynolds was found to have an aneurism on her brain stem. Faced with a ticking time bomb, she opted for an experimental operation called a "cardiac standstill." The surgeons put her under anesthesia, taped her eyes shut and put molded speakers in her ears that emitted loud clicks about as loud as a jet plane taking off. When her brain no longer responded to those clicks, the surgeons lowered her body temperature to 60 degrees and drained the blood out of her head, like draining oil from the engine of a car. The aneurism sac collapsed for lack of blood. The surgeons then drilled into her skull, snipped the aneurism and sewed it up, and then reintroduced the blood into her body. Finally, they raised her body temperature and brought her back to consciousness.

When Reynolds awakened, she had a story to tell. She said she floated upward and watched part of the operation. She could describe what the operating theater looked like and how many surgeons there were. She could describe the unusual-looking bone saw that cut open her head, as well as the drill bits and blade container. She heard converations, including one in which a female surgeon observed that Reynolds' left femoral vein was too small for a tube, to which the chief neurosurgeon responded, "Try the right side."

Records from the surgery confirmed all these details. Reynolds neurosurgeon says he is flummoxed by the episode: "From a scientific perspective," he says, "I have absolutely no explanation about how it could have happened." Her story raises the question: Was Reynolds' consciousness operating separately from her brain and her physical body?

The Pam Reynolds case experience -- and that of many others -- is prompting researchers at many institutions of higher learning to investigate that astonishing proposition that a person might have a consciousness(a soul)that can operate without the use of the human brain or body.

To actually witness this type of evidence that supports the belief that we maintain an identity independent of the physical body is proof enough for me that our soul is immortal and the personality of the soul continues after death.