The Biological Machine, I

In most popular religious beliefs there generally exists a basic understanding that the "life force" of the human being can be defined as some non-material. Something ethereal. Some invisible being that guides an empty body into the dusk of time. By this understanding we are simply vessels relegated to infect our bodies until a time when we are released. Upon this release, we potentially progress into various afterlife, depending on which flavor of religion you choose to indulge in. But what is this being that holds no mass? What is its motive? How does it coexist with the corporeal world?

I of course speak of the soul. It has many terms but this is by far the most commonly used and widely accepted. It spans the lengths of the clockwork world, allowing each cog to believe that they are not metal wheels but the incarnations of time itself. But how can we justify this idea? How can we substantiate such claims? Is it even possible? The soul is a simple subject with complicated ramifications. First, however, we will examine the purpose of the soul; the soul is simply a coping mechanism of man. We look at the idea of the soul as a vessel to guide us from the end of one chapter to the beginning of the next. We can die on Earth, but essentially cheat death and ascend to heaven as a soul; a body is perishable while the soul is immortal. And this is not surprising, as many if not most religious ideas revolve around the reassurance that something other than an empty void awaits us in the unknown.

But, returning to our question, are these claims justified? Not at all. The life force of humans, as we know, is not some otherworldly component, but rather a concoction of biological events all operating in a self-sustaining display. I live because my cells break down glucose (and other metabolites) with oxygen to create the energy to acquire more of said nutrients. To ignore these metabolic fuels would be to starve or suffocate, effectively ending life. No soul is needed. No operator behind the machine guides my body save for the complex system of neurons in my brain. They are the epicenter of higher thought, and essentially the closest science can come to identifying a soul. But they are still the product of evolution and biology, and likewise need no spiritual explanation. Biology stands on its own foundations without faltering.

posted 9/18/10, written 5/13/10