Soul : Theory of consciousness.

When we ask people about do they believe in soul. Some may say ‘yes’ while some may answer ‘no’. Many religious people do believe in soul but when we ask ‘what does soul mean?’, they don’t have an exact answer. There is currently no scientific evidence of the soul. There are only some predictions made by scientist which does not prove existence of soul. So, the question arises that does the soul exist, or it’s a religious belief or just an imagination. People may make joke about, but this remains a question where we go after we die.

Here, I will compare consciousness with the soul particle. Firstly, what does conciousness mean? To simplify the word, it’s the awareness of internal or external existence. The consciousness creates the materialistic universe. It is considered that the body generates consciousness. So, when body dies, the conscious part of us also dies. But it’s not true. In fact, conciousness can be present out of space and time. It can be everywhere. Therefore, there is a part of you which is non-material and will live after the death of your physical body.

The Book ‘Biocentrism’, which is about how life and conciousness are the keys to understanding the nature of universe. In this, the writer gives an example that how a turtle carries its shell, the same way we carry time, space and our physical body. Once the shell comes off, our consciousness moves back to the universe. He says that its non other than our conciousness that creates the materialistic universe. The writer also believes that multiple universe can exist simultaneously. So, we may be dead in one universe while may be alive in another. Which means soul of a dead person while traveling through tunnel ends up into the hell or heaven. Or we can say that when we die, we transform into a new universe or dimension.

However, quantum physics proves that the physical world we are surrounded in, the physical body we have and the physical objects in the universe is nothing more than an illusion. The world around us is nothing but a hologram which our brains perceive via a consciousness which we have given before birth. Consciousness before birth, which we call ‘Ensoulment’ that is a moment at which a human gains a soul. As per this, an argument continued for years that whether human embryos have souls from conception, or there is a point between conception and birth where the fetus acquires a soul or consciousness. To answer this, it is believed that the human soul enters the forming body (embryo) at 40 days (male embryo) or 90 days (female embryo). The quickening that is the fetal movement is considered as an indication of presence of soul. Many religious views that ensoulment happens at the time of conception; or when the child take first breath after birth; or at the formation of brain activities or nervous system development (example- heartbeat). This concept closely relates the morality of abortion and morality of contraception.

Rather than religious concept, science believes in visible, concrete things using objective data. But, since the era of quantum physics, invisible things and fleeting events have entered science. A new quantum theory of conciousness called “Orch OR”- orchestrated objective reduction – states that the quantum vibrations in microtubules inside brain neurons give rise to conciousness. The ‘Orch OR theory’ asserts that those brain microtubules allows conciousness out from the brain and body, distributed and entangled in space time geometry. Therefore, it can be possible that the quantum information can exist outside the body as a soul.

To end this discussion, I would say about a process described by Dr. Stuart Hameroff who is an American anesthesiologist – “let’s say the heart stops beating, the blood stops flowing, the microtubules lose their quantum state. The quantum information within the microtubules is not destroyed, it can’t be destroyed, it just distributes and dissipates to the universe at large.”

Science to the art of falling in love.

Poets and philosophers have a lot to say about love, but there is an actual science behind it. Have u ever thought – what’s the magic in love that everyone craves for it. In an 75 year old study, it has been proven that the biggest predictor of our happiness and fulfillment overall in life is, basically LOVE.

Have you ever wonder why we fall for certain types of people? Or why we may only feel when the perfect person for whom we dream comes in front of us and the spark between is different. There would be number of people in our life for whom we feel. As we grow older and met new people, the number increases (until we get the ultimate person with whom we marry, who has all we want). To get answers of this questions, when we have a glance on all those people for whom we feel special, there is a pattern we seem in each of them. The pattern we find in all. The common theme those person would have which would connect you and your thoughts. And you will look for this connection in all person you get attracted with. Basically, we search for a person with similar looks, intelligence, socio-economic background, religious values and reproductive goals, with whom we can spend our rest of life happily. Not only in case of partners, but also when we make friends. If the characteristics don’t fit on place, the relation with that person is not so strong.

So, why we fall for specific characters, when we have lots of choices and we don’t feel for them all. The answer lies in our subconscious mind. Our brain plays an important role in generating those special factors. In this, life experiences, observations, thinking, our values, ethics, the atmosphere in which we are grown up and the religion we follow has a great influence in imaginating the life partner we want. Therefore, when you met a person and you get struck by cupid’s arrow that may very well take your breath away and if they fulfill your subconscious checklist rapid activity in the brain which enables you to feel certain way towards them.

Furthermore, there are neurotransmitters and hormones involved in love. They are serotonin, dopamine, estrogen and testosterone which are responsible for romantic attraction, sex drive and a long term attachment. A anthropologist named Hellen Fisher had broadly studied this hormones and also had connected with the factors a person choose while falling in love. Firstly, those person who express more of the traits linked with dopamine system in brain are called explorers. They are more adventurous, curious, open minded, creative, optimistic and energetic. They attracts a person with similar traits. So, they search for a person just like them. Secondly, those who are highly expressive of the serotonin system in brain are called builders. They are social, respectful, calm, religious and loyal. They dislike people who are not loyal enough. Just like explorers, these people fall in love with similar traits persons. Thirdly, those who express traits linked with estrogen system in brain are called negotiator. They are intuitive, empathetic, imaginative, long term thinkers and good at leading. They attracts partners who are opposite to them. Lastly, those who are high at testosterone system in brain are called directors. They are analytical, logical, rank oriented, assertive and independent. Just like negotiator, they attract opposite partners.

We all are a combination of these four constellations, but we express some hormones differently. The love personality test by Helen Fisher makes sure about which hormone we express more and makes us understand which type we are that helps us to choose appropriate partners. And a book of Helen Fisher “Why Him? Why Her?” has the fullest description of these personality styles and how to make them use at love and work.

To conclude I would say that Law of attraction is just like law of gravity. You won’t see it but you can feel it.

The scientific reasons to choose between having plants as food or eating animals by killing them.

When people have different views on vegetarianism, the discussion on food turns into an argument. For many people, eating animals seem unethical while having plants as food is appropriate. While, many of the meat eaters believe that eating plants is as similar as consuming animals because they consider plants a living organism. But it’s not the same thing. Here I would focus on some scientific facts which would make u choose between meat and vegeterian food.

To start with, plants do react towards the environmental factors. There are many examples for this. Therefore, a question arises that while eating them, do they suffer pain? Actually humans and animals both have nervous system that make them capable of feeling pain, happiness, excitement, sadness and many more and thus they also embrace emotions and intelligence. While plants don’t consist nervous system, hence they feel no pain due to lack of sentiments and intellect. Although they react to different stimuli due to environmental changes or any insect damage, we can not consider it pain. Moreover, plants do not have nociceptors which are responsible for pain. Hence, plant have an inability to suffer when we eat them.

Eating fruits and vegetables does not mean we are killing plants. In fact, plants have an intention that we consume their fruits. Sounds inappropriate, but it’s TRUE. The reason behind is, fruit comprise of seeds and those seeds have efficiency to produce into a new plant. As plants can’t move and go after their seeds, it becomes our responsibility to germinate them properly. Furthermore, picking vegetables from plants, only strengthens them and does not cause harm as the plant continues its life cycle and eventually dies when the lifespan is over. In case of grains, they are only harvested when they reach maturity.

The scientific thinking behind avoiding animal eating is, while slaughtering animals they give response against our act which causes release of certain chemicals inside their body, as a result of fright and flight response. There are number of chemicals changes associated with slaughtering. When we have their body as food, those chemicals run into our bloodstream resulting into same kind of emotional response in our body. The explanation behind this would be that the body’s mechanism is almost similar of ours and animals. Hence there are chances that we may suffer from fear, tension and may also cause many kinds of disease. In addition, human body have an efficiency to digest plants, while digesting meat would be a difficult task so we have to cook them first. It also effects our ecosystem in many ways because every living being plays an important role for a good balance on earth.

Although there are numerous benefits of animal meat, but research has proven that plants contain all vitamins and nutrients that the human body needs to thrive. Thus, why to kill animals when we have an alternative for keeping ourself nourished and healthy. But again it’s a personal choice. Be wise and make a good choice.

Rocks and their role in origin of life.

A theory for beginning of life forms on earth.

When we talk about life, the foremost question arises in our mind is “Did the chicken came first, or the egg?” Many hypothesis were made to answer this question, but neither a single answer satisfied our curiosity.

Its important to understand the query. So it eventually means – did the life only arised from living matter OR they just originated from an inanimate compound. Till now, to reveal the hidden mystery of universe, rocks have always played an important role.

To start with, it has been predicted that our solar system came into existence approximately 4.5 billion years ago and the life originated at least 3.5 years ago. In the beginning, the temperature of earth was extremely high but as the time passes it dropped down. As a result, subatomic particles were formed such as quarks, electrons, etc. Then they organize into protons and neutrons, followed by hydrogen and helium when the temperature dropped even lower. As the earth cooled down gradually there was formation of new elements. Further, minerals were formed. There are more than 3000 known minerals and the number is still growing.

Secondly, sunlight also played an important role. Urey Miller experiment states that “when a simple mixture of reduced gas is subjected to electric sparks, the organic molecules form abundantly which are essential to biology.” (Miller 1953; Miller and Urey 1959). In his experiment the organic compound formed from inorganic matter were “amino acids”. And it is well known that amino acids are building blocks of protein which is the key component of muscles and other tissues. And thus, a scientist named ferris argues that “life must have begun with the first self replicating genetic material, RNA”. There were numbers of amino acids extracted, mostly they were mirror image left and right handed forms, but for some reasons life uses only about 20 of them, and they are left handed kinds.

Lately, water came into existence, due to which mineral molecules of rocks interacted with each other inside water. (As water plays a vital role as solvent). Water pictured off the clay which is also consider as having the most common minerals. The clay carry a kind of genetic information in their complex sequences, layer orientations, and metal cation substitutions; that it is predicted as the starting point of life’s first genetic system.

I would like to conclude that rocks and minerals have played a pivotal role in the transition from blasted, prebiotic earth to the living world we now inhabit.

An 2016, science documentary says much about the rocks which are consider as the ultimate reason for life. The film focuses on “The life’s rocky start”. If you develop an interest in this and want to learn more than I recommend you to watch this documentary.