310 Self and the Phenomenon of Life
b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity “9x6”is not. Correlative explanation is easy to do and has been done many
times over. Very roughly, we can correlate the brain with mind, for if
we remove the brain, the mind (at least its outward behavior) is gone.^26
We can also correlate the electrical phenomenon of the brain with
mind, for we can identify the degree of alertness with the frequency
and amplitude of the brain waves. Furthermore, we can correlate mood
changes with brain chemistry, because if we take a certain drug that is
known to affect synaptic transmission, we become happier or sadder.
The examples are endless and are accumulating continuously. Causal or
mechanistic explanation goes a step further. As techniques become more
refined and analyses more sophisticated, we can get closer and closer to
the abode of mind. For example, analysis of the brain used to be limited
to the human organ taken after death, or to a non-human animal, but
now electrical activities and chemical changes can be studied in a live
human brain. Instead of using a single electrode, multichannel recordings
on live, conscious persons are being done. Non-invasive imaging tech-
niques and genetic manipulations can pinpoint functions in small brain
parts. Indeed, progress in physical study of the mind will continue with
no end in sight. Nevertheless, while we rejoice in this type of explana-
tion, the question arises as to when we will ever reach the “crossover”
point (a threshold) where the physical turns into mental, identified intro-
spectively as our inner feelings, thoughts, desire, and of course our sense
of self. But think of it carefully, is there really such a point? The mat-
ter-energy world seems to be a closure. Is there a point at which matter
“jumps over” to the mental? The third type of explanation, ontological, is
a philosophical issue outside the domain of science, and by far the most
difficult to tackle.^27 What is the nature of mind? How do we interpret the
nature of mind in terms of the nature of matter? The nature of mind is
irreducible, as is the nature of matter. In fact, we do not even know the
nature of matter; how can we use it to understand mind? The mystery
of mind plus the mystery of matter is the mystery of everything, or the
mystery of our being. As matter and mind are distinct yet intertwined,
could the two mysteries be just two sides of one coin?