Title: On the ontology of life and mind: a proposed paradigm shift

Authors: Yunus A. Çengel

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA

Abstract: The hard problems of distilling life out of lifeless matter and extracting non-physical mind out of physical brain are often dubbed as the impossible problems in biology and neuroscience. The reasons for this pessimism are ideological perspectives that limit existence to the physical realm, and view subjective existence as an illusion. There is a need for a paradigm shift to broaden existence that includes both physical and non-physical subjective realms. We need to be open to radically different ideas about life and mind if we are to have any chance of unveiling their secrets and developing a true understanding of them. Once life and mind are correctly characterised as non-physical entities, then we can concentrate on how material and immaterial things interact and how the process can be manipulated. This may lead to the development of tools to explore the mysterious nature of both life and mind. The paper focuses on inferences made by inductive reasoning, and falls into the category of the philosophy of science.

Keywords: ontology; existence; life; brain; neuroscience; mind; perception; five senses; vision; smell.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRIC.2020.109387

International Journal of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation, 2020 Vol.3 No.1, pp.47 - 72

Received: 31 May 2020
Accepted: 04 Jun 2020

Published online: 04 Sep 2020 *

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