What is man, anyway?

...consciousness is a truth of a sort that can't be comprehended within a system of molecules and cells alone.

  - Tom Siegfried, "Self as Symbol," Science News (Jan. 6, 2012)

...what is man...?

  - Psalm 8.4

With all the advancements being made in the field of neuroscience, the matter of consciousness is beginning to receive a good bit of attention.

Consciousness is a real problem for neuroscientists, because they can't pin it down in a brain scan. They can observe evidence of it at work throughout the brain, in all the places you might expect it to indicate. But still, what is it?

The brain, after all, is just cells and molecules. And these die and are replaced. So if the material stuff of which we are comprised dies and is replaced, what is that sense of "self" - consciousness - which continues? What is it that endures in our brains beyond the continuous molecular and cellular changing of the guard?

Tom Siegfried's comment arrested me in the midst of his very interesting report. Is there some other system? Some other way of getting at this "truth" which does not involve "molecules and cells alone"?

I rather suspect this comment might earn Mr. Siegfried a few sharp looks from some of his colleagues. Neuroscientists agree that they have not been able to access the material stuff which is consciousness - yet. They're pretty sure they will some day.

But I'm just as sure they will not. Human beings are more than matter. Consciousness is so completely involved with things like time, history, tastes, values, hopes, and habits. Something more than chemicals, electricity, and genes is involved here. Something which endures through, above, and beyond all these material things.

What is man, anyway? Is he just a higher animal? Is he nothing more than a most curious arrangement of matter?

The Christian wants to contribute to this conversation, affirming Mr. Siegfried's observation about systems of knowing beyond the merely material. But we'll have to make our points where we can, as we can. And for most of us, that will be in simple, everyday conversations with neighbors, co-workers, or fellow students. Try raising the question: "What kind of being is a human, anyway?" And add, "I mean, doesnt the fact that we remain conscious of ourselves, our past, our likes and dislikes, even as all our 'brain stuff' changes and is renewed - doesn't that suggest there's something more than mere matter about humans?"

You might be surprised at the conversation that will ensue.

The Christian believes that we humans are able to know by faith, through the medium of divine revelation, as well as through the work of science (which has its own faith components). The more consistently, forcefully, and matter-of-factly we employ this system in discussing matters such as consciousness, the more others will begin to believe that, well, we just might be on to something.

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T. M. Moore

Senior Theologian and Historian