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a Ph.D. degree in Anatomy-Brain Re–
search (neurophysiology) from the
UCLA Dcpartment of Anatomy and
Brain Rcsearch Institute, and a second
A.B. Jcgree from Ambassador College.
He has conducted rescarch
program~
in molecular biology and cerebro-corti cal
clectrophysiology. On thc faculty of
Ambassador Collegc he is prcsently
invcstigating the intcr-relationship be–
twccn science, thcology and thc survival
of mankind.
T
give you, herc, a condensed partial
report of his studics in thc relative
diffcrencc bctwecn ,m ima! brain and
human mind.
It
is,
r
realize, rather
technical and scientific for a magazine
of general mass circulation like
The
PLAIN TRUTH. Therefore it is not com–
plete.
I
do not \Vant to bore the reader
with exccssive technical m:tterial. But 1
do want to give cvidcnce that the rc–
suJts of my own researchcs into this
MOST IMJ>ORTANT QUESTION are sound,
and in harmony with thc latest scicntific
rescarch.
W11v is this so important?
Becausc it EXPLAINS
WHY
the
human mind can invcnt thc computer,
devise means of space travel, do mar–
vclous exploits in the physical and
material rcaJm -
YET 1$
SO ABYSMALLY
IMPOTENT when it comes to solving
his own problcms hcre
cm
earth.
Furthcr, it explains WHY man
has
thes;:o problems.
Can anything be MORE IMPORTANT?
Or more intcrcsting? Or more FAS·
CINATING?
Following is Dr. Robert Kuhn's re–
port, in part, condenscd. His full report
will appear in our book.
"Man thinks. At least he thinks that
he thinks. But he knows. And he
knows that he knows. Man is indeed
unique: No other physical being is
creatively self-conscious, nor can any
other ponder the transcendental ques–
tions of life, death and ultimare pur–
pose.
The
PLAIN TRUTH
"lt is now imperative to seriously
revive those old - yet still unsolved
- questions: What is man ? Where
has man come from? \XIhere is he
going? What is man's purpose? How
should he live? Our very survival lies
in credible answers to these funda–
mental questions.
"For the crux of the inquiry, we
must resurrect the endlessly rehashed
'mind-body problem'. What is the
relationship between man's mental ac–
tivities and his physical brain?
W
bat
is "mind"
-
is it differeut from
braín?
"Materialísm
postulares that
matter
is the only reality. Consequently,
the mind would be ;usl
t/~e
brain. And
notbíng more.
'Mind' is viewed as
an epiphenomenon, simply the totality
(Gestalt)
of physiological brain
function. The materialist believes
that the term 'mind' itself is unneces–
sary and confusing, and was invented
to superstitiously explain what man
could not yet physically comprehend.
The scientist, who by definition is
concerned exdusively with the physi–
cal, epitomizes the materialist.
"So the lines of combat are clearly
drawn: the materialistic scientists,
dressed in their Iaboratory smocks,
are barricaded behind their esoteric
theories on one side; the spiritualistic
religionists, clothed in their preaching
frocks, are entrenched behind their
philosophical reasonings on the oppo·
site side. In the historie struggle be–
tween religion and science, the
materialism-mind controversy remains
the dassic confrontation. In our
'sophisticated' society of wishy-washy
noncommitment, each side is usually
courteous toward tbe other - at least
in public. This uoeasy truce is often
expressed in popular articles: 'Can a
Scientist Believe in God?' or 'A Theo–
logian Looks at Modero Science'. Is
man wholly physicaJ -
oc
does he
have a higher purpose? In our night–
marish age, this question is vital.
"Now, at this same critica! juncture
in history, there has emerged a
science which can unravel the mys–
tery and direct us toward the sorely
needed solution. Just as the 1960's wit–
nessed enormous strides in molecular
January,
1970
biology, we are now entering
the
age of brain research.
Brain research
is presently evolving into a multi–
disciplined study where scientists
from two dozen or so diverse fields
- from physics ro physiology, bio–
chemistry to psychiatty - combine
forces for a frontal attack upoo the
basic mechanisms of thought.
"'The brain is a computer,' cries
the materialist, pointing out parallel
concepts in cybernetics and neuro–
physiology. lnformation in the brain
is simply the presence or absence of
an electro-chemical discharge. This
'presence-absence' is precisely the
same as the 'yes-oo,' 'flip-flop' of
a
computer. True e.nough, the brain is
enormously more sophisticated in po–
tendal pathways and micro-circuitry.
(There are upwards of 10,000
to
50,000 independent nerve cells in
every cubic millimeter of cerebral
cortex -
lO
to
1
5 billion altogether;
each nerve cell is able to receive
simultaneous information from thou–
sands of cells, integrating and then
funneling this new information to
many orher cells; consequently, the
permutations and combinations of
circuitry and sequences becomes astro·
nomical.)
"BUT IS HUMAN
MIND
EN–
TIREL
Y
THE SAME AS ANIMAL
BRAIN?
"1'bat's the crucial question.
And to
find the aoswer, we submit this funda·
mental issue to the unbiased arbitra–
tion of brain research.
"Representative mammalian brains
can be weighed and, in decending
order, they are: Whale, elepbant,
dolphin, man, gorilla, chimpanzee, and
rat. Comparative anatomical studies re–
vea! a uniformity of distinct brain
structures: Each structure is preseot in
et•ery
brain, though their relative
sizes vary. There is
no
qualitative
difference among
all
tbe mammalian
brains.
"Mentally,
of course, roan is un·
questionably supreme. That's obvious.
But he
doem't
have the largest
brain! And that's suprising.
"However, physiologists can explain
this apparent paradox. They realize
that only the cerebral cortex is