The Argument from Geometry
The following is an original and testable argument for substance dualism (the proposition that our mind and brain are separate). This argument is presented in full in The Atheist Afterlife - The odds of an afterlife: Reasonable. The odds of meeting God there: Nil.
There is reason to believe that we dream in a different geometry to waking experience. It is possible to form a conception of how an additional dimension of space and an additional dimension of time would affect our experience, and this conception correlates with dream experience. To put it another way, the weird things that happen in our dreams are exactly the weird things we would expect to happen if there was an additional dimension of space and an additional dimension of time.
If this is correct, it leads us to the question, 'How could our brain dream in a different geometry to the geometry in which it exists?' The answer is: it couldn't. If the correlation between dream experience and the experience of additional dimensions is correct, it cannot be our brain that is dreaming. This leads to the conclusion that it must be our mind that is dreaming, and therefore that our brain and our mind are different.
There is an assumption and logical progression in The Argument from Geometry that can be challenged, but the argument is surprisingly robust. Part of its strength lies in the breadth of things the theory can explain. This includes:
- Why we have difficulty remembering our dreams.
- The recurrence and other observed behaviour of thought.
- The ability of great minds to merge two concepts into one.
- How we can have an intimate relationship with a non-existent God.
Critics could argue that additional dimensions have not been proved, and while this is true and most scientists are agnostic on this subject, there is general agreement that additional dimensions are plausible. Physicists often assume additional dimensions exist or require them for their theories, and no scientist would rule them out. Critics could also dispute the validity of assertions concerning the experience of additional dimensions and how we could correlate this with dream experience - especially when our dreams are usually remembered so poorly, but enough work has been done on additional dimensions and enough people have lucid dreams for the theory, I think, to be testable.
The Argument from Geometry is made in full in The Atheist Afterlife. If these topics interest you, you will find The Atheist Afterlife an entertaining and insightful work. It is written for a general audience and assumes no prior knowledge of physics or philosophy.
Read the Introduction, Frequently Asked Questions, or go to the Bookshop.