Consciousness as pattern
I’ve been contemplating whether consciousness is less like an immaterial, immortal soul, and more like a pattern impressed upon physical matter.
Bear with me. Our personality, memories, and sense of self may not simply reside solely in the organic brain, but everywhere in the vast network of electrical charges and relationships that comprise the atoms from which our entire bodies are formed. Hence the heart as the seat of the soul in ancient Egyptian religion, as well as the practice of preserving the vital organs in canopic jars, and of the mummification of a shell for consciousness to “cling to”. Indeed, consciousness, in this view, is an extraordinarily stable pattern rather than an independent spiritual substance that simply departs us at death to live on elsewhere forever.
If so, death can never be an instantaneous annihilation, even with the death of the brain. Consider examples of patterns which survive the structures that created them. For example, imagine a wooden vessel buried deep in the ground, long after its sailing days are done. The timbers decay, but its shape, even down to the minutest nails, remain preserved as a hollow cast in the earth.
Perhaps something similar occurs with consciousness. The living brain ceases to function, but the electrical imprint that constituted the person does not vanish at once. For a brief period, perhaps several days or longer, our minds may retain some coherence before gradually dissipating. Such a possibility might account for reports of post-death visitations and related phenomena, which are often said to occur most frequently in the days immediately following death.
This, of course, is speculation on my part and certainly not the science of it. But many experiences traditionally interpreted as “evidence” for an immortal soul or an eternal spirit could simply reflect the temporary persistence of an organised pattern that eventually dissolves. Or perhaps one that retains the impression of its former shape, just like a buried ship that has ceased to physically exist? This would certainly fit well with the descriptions of the spiritualists.
In that case there would be no eternal spirit, no immortal mind surviving the grave. Yet there would be “something” more subtle …