Connecting Mind and Computer

Materialists are physicalists: physical properties are all that matter, and when you die, you're worm food. No soul, no afterlife, no rewards or punishment, nothing. (Atheists have a message of hope? Not hardly!) Christians and others believe that we have a mind or soul that is independent of the body, and some materialists suggest that it may be real, but they can't find where it resides (see "The Quantum Soul?"). The mind is not the brain, but the mind uses the brain as its conduit, if you will. Some extremely impressive technology supports this belief.

Image credit: Pixabay / GDJ

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurological disease that destroys voluntary muscle movement, but often leaves the mind intact. A woman with ALS was fitted with a computer interface that gives her some remarkable abilities to communicate and some motion, which is caused by thinking about the motion. She can also pray without thinking about muscle movements. All of this shows not only the brilliant medical technology, but that our Creator's skills are still far above our comprehension.

A new bioengineered medical device was designed to treat people with a severe loss of neurologic muscle control. It affords a rare opportunity to clearly see some of the hidden relationships between mind, body, and designed interfaces.

The New England Journal of Medicine reported on a 58-year-old woman with normal cognition, but who lost voluntary muscle control due to severe amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This woman with locked-in syndrome received a remarkable new treatment—a fully implanted brain-computer interface that links her brain's thoughts to the outside world.

The term "interface" is rather common, but many people don't know exactly what one is. A recent paper by Frank Sherwin of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) and myself detailed the elements of a physiological interface and their vital importance. We showed how our immune system actually functions as an interface between our human body and the microbial world. We confirmed a fundamental principle of design in general: For two autonomous, automated entities with distinct boundaries to work together, they must be connected by an interface with three distinctive elements: 1) physical authentication mechanisms, 2) non-physical standardized protocols, and 3) a mutually accessible physical medium to both entities.

Don't even think about skipping out. You can read the rest by clicking on "Brain-Computer Interface Unmasks Mind-Brain Relationship".




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