Yet some of these people wear helmets when riding their bikes. Weird, innit?

old Descartes wrote about dualism. Despite his genius, the brain was still an enormous mystery during his lifetime. Nothing really was known about how it functioned. We know a great deal more now, right down to the cellular level and beyond. We're learning more every year. Dualism is no longer how science looks at the mind, which is explainable through brain function alone.

Now, I'm not claiming that reading that Wikipedia article will transform anyone into a neuroscientist. But, it's a pretty good basic introduction to the subject, and enough time spent exploring links will lead the curious, intelligent person to a very good understanding.

It's frustrating, at times, when people write about things without even a basic knowledge of the topic they're addressing. It's so easy, now, to learn the basics of anything, that there's little excuse for failing to do so, I think.

As for those helmet-wearers, everyone knows that a serious brain injury can end one's life, or reduce a person to life in a vegetative state. Whether or not one believes in dualism, using due caution is always a wise choice.

They wear helmets. They worry about their kids playing football. They understand brain damage is something to be vigorously avoided.

I suspect they cling to dualism despite this knowledge because an afterlife would very much depend on a consciousness separate from the physical body. It's a matter of cognitive dissonance.

I believe we instinctively know where the mind is, but, as you say, many people need to believe that their consciousness goes on after death. I understand that, of course, but the knowledge that it does not makes life far more interesting and intensifies the experience of life, it seems to me.

I long ago decided that it was enough. I didn't need any assurance of continuance.

Odd then that there are many who will say we cannot have respect for life if we accept it as a tenuous, temporary alignment of mere matter and energy. More fool them, I say.

I respect yours more, too. We get a shot at doing stuff, learning stuff, exploring stuff, sharing stuff. We should focus on that shot and take as much advantage of it as we can, I believe.

There are views of the afterlife that does not presuppose this. If you have some sort of "soul" or life-force, yeah. Otherwise, not so much.

with Eben Alexander and Ron Moody who take the affirmative side.

Novella is a clinical neurologist at Yale and host of The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe podcast (which has not missed a weekly upload in over 11 years). Sean Carroll is a theoretical particle physicist at CalTech.

This is a great debate on dualism.

A biological machine, of course, but a machine nonetheless. How he finds time for a faculty position at Yale, a weekly podcast with serious research requirements, and all the debates and speaking gigs he does is beyond me. I mean, we Connecticutians are an energetic bunch, but he's just ridiculous.

And he does 100% of the post production himself! Every Saturday morning. Nearly 90 minutes long. Every damned week!

His thrice weekly Blog posts on Neurologica, and those on Science-Based Medicine Blog.

And he does the Science or Fiction quiz nearly every week for SGU, which has to take some serious effort. It's the most popular part of the podcast, with good reason. It's fun! But I wouldn't wish coming up with it weekly on my worst enemy. Steve just does it, over and over and over again. Well over 600 times so far.

He is, indeed, a machine.