Search ResultsMichael Egnor
Yes, the Film on Near-Death Experiences Is Another “Hated Hit”
As with Sound of Freedom, critics trashed After Death but audiences loved it. And the critics just aren’t keeping up with the science
Exploring the Mind-Brain Relationship and Challenging Materialism
Can the mind be explained in purely physical terms? Or is it something else entirely? In this interview, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor kicks off a three-part discussion with Dr. Angus Menuge about his book Minding the Brain: Models of the Mind, Information, and Empirical Science. The book brings together contributors from various academic disciplines to challenge the dominant materialist paradigm in the Read More ›
Can Evolution Create Free Will? A Neurologist Says Yes
Could the impersonal natural force of evolution shape hierarchies in the human cerebral cortex so that we have the free will that it does not itself have?
Can Roger Penrose Explain Consciousness Through Physics?
The Nobel Laureate physicist makes clear that he only wants a theory of human consciousness if the explanation comes down to physics
Neuroscience Has Never Provided Much Evidence for Materialism
In a chapter of the new book, Minding the Brain, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor points out that many great neuroscientists were non-materialists
Modern Neuroscience Does NOT Disprove Free Will
In a chapter of Minding the Brain (2023), Cristi L. S. Cooper looks at the current state of neuroscience research on free will
Body & Soul: Joshua Farris and The Creation of Self
How does the body contribute to the soul? On today’s episode, host Michael Egnor and theologian Dr. Joshua Farris discuss the implications of a neo-Cartesian understanding of the human soul on divisive cultural issues such as transgenderism and abortion. Farris, author of the recent book The Creation of Self: A Case for the Soul, argues that the body supplies certain controls and Read More ›
Are Near-Death Experiences Becoming Science Now?
The laughter has died down? Good. It was modern medicine — not religion — that created the hard evidence for credible near-death experiences
Will Studio’s New “After Death” Be a Hit Like “Sound of Freedom”?
The new 90-minute film interviews researchers and survivors of near-death experiencesAfter Death (Angel Studios 2023), a look at the many recent accounts of near-death experiences, will premiere October 27. Angel is the studio that produced the recent smash hit Sound of Freedom (2023). There’s a story in that: While SoF was trashed by fashionable media, it outgrossed some of the biggest films at the box office. Will After Death, directed by Stephen Gray and Chris Radtke, meet the same fate? Its basic message is that NDEs are becoming an intersection of science/medicine and faith. It will be interesting to see how the same fashionable media react. The principle reason for exploding interest in near-death experiences in recent decades is that high-tech medicine has been bringing back thousands of people from Read More ›
What Makes Humans Unique?
What makes humans unique compared to the rest of the natural world? Can strict materialists answer that question? In today’s podcast episode, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor speaks with Dr. Joshua Farris on the idea that human beings are made in God’s image, the mystery of consciousness, and panpsychism. Additional Resources
Split Mind: The Strangest Theory in Neuroscience?
The idea that we might all have separate, undetected consciousnesses in each half of our brain supports materialism but there’s little evidence for it
The Person as “Immaterial Substance”
Is there substantial evidence that we are more than our bodies? And does that point to the existence of God? Theological anthropologist Dr. Joshua Farris thinks so. In this podcast episode, Farris speaks with host and neurosurgeon Michael Egnor to talk about materialism, mind, and theism, as well as Farris’ new book: The Creation of Self. Additional Resources
The Mind: A Neuroscientist and a Psychiatrist Walk Into a…
Psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist, conversing with Christian neuroscientist Sharon Dirckx about materialism’s deficits, shows considerable sympathy for panpsychism
Discussing the Cartesian Error
What impact did the ideas of the philosopher René Descartes have on our modern conception of the mind/body problem? In today’s episode, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor digs deeper into his conversation with Dr. Joshua Farris, discussing Thomistic dualism, materialistic explanations for consciousness, and the inevitability of metaphysics. Additional Resources
Neuroscientist vows post-wager: We’ll nail consciousness yet!
Anil Seth, proponent of the “hallucination” theory of consciousness, vows that researchers will find that consciousness spot or circuit in the brain
It’s Becoming Clearer That the Mind Is Not the Brain
The “science of consciousness” not only has no workable materialist theory but it’s unclear what such a theory should look like or explainNot surprisingly, given that philosopher David Chalmers won the famous wager with neuroscientist Christof Koch last month, the topic of consciousness has been in the news a lot. In 25 years of research, no one has found a specific consciousness circuit, spot, wave, or whatever in the brain. Consciousness is still the “Hard Problem of Consciousness.” At Vox, Oshan Jarow, a writer who knows the field, tells us that the bet has been renewed for another 25 years and offers an interpretation of why scientists haven’t “cracked” consciousness so far: “we still lack a definitive, falsifiable explanation. We even lack consensus on whether one may ever exist.” Eventually, in this view, the field might coalesce around a unified theory and Read More ›
How Can a Woman Missing Her Olfactory Bulbs Still Smell?
The brain’s plasticity intrigues and puzzles researcher, and it also raises a larger issueEven since neuroscientists started imaging the brain, they’ve been turning up cases where people are missing brain parts we would expect them to need in order to do something — but they are doing that very thing anyway. One example, written up in LiveScience in 2019, concerns women who are missing their olfactory bulbs (illustrated) but can still smell: Researchers have discovered a small group of people that seem to defy medical science: They can smell despite lacking “olfactory bulbs,” the region in the front of the brain that processes information about smells from the nose. It’s not clear how they are able to do this, but the findings suggest that the human brain may have a greater ability to Read More ›
Neuroscience, the Mind, and Theism
What can modern neuroscience teach us about the immaterial mind? Can we ever know anything for certain? In this episode, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor talks with anthropologist Dr. Joshua Farris. They discuss the brain, Descartes, and the theological implications of the various philosophies of mind. Additional Resources
The Philosopher Wins: There’s No Consciousness Spot in the Brain
After a 25-year search, dualist philosopher David Chalmers won the bet with neuroscientist Christof KochBack in 1998, premier neuroscientist Christof Koch had wagered philosopher of mind David Chalmers a case of fine wine that within the next twenty-five years, a specific “signature of consciousness” would be found in the brain. In 2018, Swedish journalist Per Snaprud reminded the world of that fact at New Scientist. With five years to run, a countdown of sorts began. Snaprud’s article was titled “Consciousness: How we’re solving a mystery bigger than our minds,” telling readers that “we’re uncovering clues.” The five years are up and who won? Mariana Lenharo reports at Nature, “Both scientists agreed publicly on 23 June, at the annual meeting of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC) in New York City, that Read More ›