Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor, author with Denyse O’Leary of The Immortal Mind: (Worthy, June 3, 2025) was interviewed at The Stream recently by John Zmirak: Here’s an excerpt from the third of three parts:

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Materialists Refute Themselves 

JZ: In the philosophical section of your book, you show how each of the theories offered by materialists to account for human rationality and subjectivity fail – becoming incoherent, self-refuting, or tautological. How would you sum that up briefly?

ME: There are several characteristics of rational thought that make it impossible for it to be generated by the brain. These include:

Precision: we can reason with precision—we can conceive of a perfectly straight line (the shortest distance between two points), the exact definition of a triangle (a closed plane figure with three straight sides and internal angels of exactly 180 degrees), a perfect circle (the set of points in a plane equidistant from a center point) etc., even though no material state of the brain can be perfect or exact (because of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle).

Infinity: we can contemplate infinity, and even do mathematics using infinity, although our brain states are finite.

Logic vs. physics: relationships between ideas are logical, but relationships between brain states are physical, and there is no ontological overlap between logic and physics. How does reasoning and logic emerge from chemicals and protoplasm?

Simplicity: the soul is metaphysically simple, meaning that it can’t be split into independent parts. The brain can be split. Therefore, the brain does not explain the mind completely.

Self-refutation: materialist arguments that the mind is completely material are self-refuting. If we are machines made of meat, why would we pay attention to the opinions of “meat”. Physical things like brain states aren’t reasons or propositions, so why pay attention to them?

Materialists claim to be machines made of meat and they deny the reality of reasoning itself.

How Do Colleagues Treat You?

JZ: What has been the response of your colleagues to this book and its message? Is it breaking through, or are you hitting a wall of denial as people close ranks?

ME: My colleagues in neurosurgery and neuroscience have always been friendly and respectful of my opinions, but generally they are quiet and reserved on these issues. It’s noteworthy that other people I work with—students, nurses, friends, family etc. are often very supportive. It’s common that people I work with in the operating room and the clinics and even patients come up to me and tell me that they read our book and really liked it. They are grateful that we are speaking up about the truth about the soul.

“Is Your Mind Immortal or Are You a Meat Machine?”Part III, September 4, 2025

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Here’s an excerpt from the first part: Why the mind matters: No free will = no guilt — thus no innocence. Michael Egnor spells out the true consequences of materialism: We come to be seen as animals to be managed by government. Materialism, Egnor says, is rarely defended explicitly; rather, objections are brushed off and prominent objectors may be Canceled.

Here’s one from the second part: Michael Egnor at The Stream: How the mind transcends the brain. In his interview with John Zmirak, Dr. Egnor points out that epileptic seizures do not involve abstract thought because that type of thought is not simply a product of the brain. He noted that pioneer neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield started out as a materialist but became a dualist as a result of discovering things like these.

Here are the whole of Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.