Michael Egnor is an American neurosurgeon and the co-author, along with Denyse O’Leary, of The Immortal Mind, in which he argues for the non-mortality of the soul. He is interviewed by Adam Jacobs
Egnor maintains that the mind is not located in any specific part of the brain. In the same way that when one thinks of a mathematical equation, that equation is not found in any particular place within the brain. Continuing along this line of reasoning, if a person moves their head—tilting or turning it—there is no different consciousness in one position than in another. This demonstrates that, unlike the brain, consciousness is not materially localized, from which it follows that the brain and consciousness are not the same.
In general, it has been accepted that the brain produces the mind, to the extent that within academia it is often considered absurd to suggest that the mind and the brain are not the same thing. However, Egnor asserts that this view stems from an ideological materialist bias. He also notes that, within the circles in which he moves, he does not usually debate his ideas with skeptics.
Finally, the neurosurgeon explains how the most widely accepted materialist models of consciousness—such as Integrated Information Theory and Global Workspace Theory—fail to explain consciousness.
In short, both models assume that the brain somehow creates consciousness, yet they provide no evidence to support this claim.
Òscar Llorens i Garcia
