The Biological Mind

The brain is a biologically-based organ, but “the cerebral mystique” elevates it as the mythical source of human behavior and personality. 

Kim Suozzi was only 23 years old when she died of cancer, but an all-consuming quest marked her final lucid months. She and her boyfriend sought to raise $80,000 to preserve her brain in liquid nitrogen. They hoped that someday science could bring her back to life, either in physical or digital form.

The company Alcor Life Extension Foundation provides brain-preservation services. Suozzi’s actions reflect the current societal belief that “we are our brains.” The concepts that brains are of singular importance, and complex beyond our comprehension, form part of a contemporary cerebral mystique. Researchers have discovered patterns of brain activity that coincide with every mental function. But the cerebral mystique obscures perhaps the most basic finding of brain research: The human brain “is rooted in banal physiological processes, and subject to all the laws of nature.”

Most spiritual traditions subscribe to a mind-body dualism that distinguishes between the body and...