A group of researchers from Indiana University, Harvard Medical School, et. al have completed the first map of the outer layer of the brain. While this is cool research, I think people tend to extrapolate this stuff out too far… more on that later. Here’s a quote I found interesting:

“This is one of the first steps necessary for building large-scale computational models of the human brain to help us understand processes that are difficult to observe, such as disease states and recovery processes to injuries…” [emphasis mine]

As an engineer, I’m more interested in modeling the brain for artifical intelligence reasons (call me narrow and selfish if you want). To be clear, I don’t believe that simply cloning the brain will create a living conciousness… I’m more interested in augmenting our existing reasoning power (controversial, I know).

I tend to question the comments made by one of the researchers (maybe I’m reading too much into it):

“We can measure a significant correlation between brain anatomy and brain dynamics. This means that if we know how the brain is connected we can predict what the brain will do.”

Maybe on some generic scale, but I consider us more than just a biological computer. I’ll lay out why I believe this using inductive logic. First, I believe people are fully responsible for their own actions (using the Bible as my base). To be responsible, a person has to be able to make a choice about what actions they will take (free-will vs determinism). Now, assume we are just a biological computer, with predictable, deterministic actions. If this is true, then our behavior is dictated by our biology and we only appear to have free-will. Without free-will, we are not responsible for our actions. Thus, this can’t be true.

Okay, now some would argue that we are a biological computer but with some non-deterministic properties. If this is the case, we still have no responsibility for our actions because they are simply slaves to these random fluctuations. Thus, I hold firm to my belief that we have a soul that transends the physical.

You can read the full results of the study HERE. Or as a PDF.

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“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

I’ve been thinking a lot about faith lately. I think all too often Christians confuse hope for faith. There’s a very important distinction between the two: you must have hope to have faith, but you don’t have to have faith to have hope. Look at Hebrews 11:1 again… a part of having faith is “… being sure of what we hope for…“. The problem is that many of us stop there. We know what we hope for, but that’s only the first part of having faith… we have to be “… certain of what [we] do not see.” Faith requires both parts! Substituting hope for faith is like trying to win a race without crossing the finish line… you have to start and finish. The power is not in starting the race… anyone can do that. The power is in finishing. This is why faith is so difficult.

Read the rest…

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