At the halfway point through my postgraduate studies now, I can definitively say that nothing slows down a lifelong reader quite like going back to school, haha. I did want to assure everyone that I am still plugging away at the ancient literary epic I mentioned in my Gone Girl post last year; I read volume two over summer break, and I’ll make a post whenever I manage to finish all four volumes. In the meantime, though, I’ll share the book I read at the beginning of this most recent semester, The Mind of God: Neuroscience, Faith, and a Search for the Soul by Dr. Jay Lombard.
Dr. Lombard’s professional biography describes him as a renowned neurologist who has worked stints at several prominent New York-area hospitals and published research in the New England Journal of Medicine. The Mind of God also features an introduction by former U.S. Representative Patrick J. Kennedy, a mental health care advocate and survivor of bipolar disease and substance abuse.
Without going into too much detail, I placed an Amazon.com order over the summer for several volumes pertaining to the neurological perspective on the Judeo-Christian soul. I felt challenged in my personal definition of the human soul by events occurring in my family and I was seeking alternative perspectives. Even more specifically, I have always considered myself to be a person who can successfully integrate scientific and religious viewpoints into my personal worldview, and I hoped to read a volume which did not prejudice readers against the viewpoints of either “camp.” Needless to say, the bar I set for The Mind of God was rather high.
Happily, I can report that Dr. Lombard’s work was able to assuage some of the concerns that I was experiencing to my desired level of satisfaction. The volume is slim but tackles major philosophical questions beyond the nature of the human soul, such as the nature of good versus evil and the “meaning of life.” Dr. Lombard’s central thesis is that the presence of a deity can most clearly be observed in the power of human connection; furthermore, the connectivity between humans and in society is the strongest evidence in Dr. Lombard’s view for the existence of a soul. He can explain it better than I can, to be sure, but the volume contains a deft blend of professional anecdotes, religious references, and popularly digestible neuroscience to be comforting for someone in my situation.
Since I read The Mind of God for such highly specific reasons, it is challenging for me to offer a broad-based recommendation for the work (as I am unsure what audience groups might be most interested in reading it). I can say that for me the volume was personally helpful as I experience personal affronts to my worldview, and so it may also be for others in similar situations. I might also recommend the book to individuals from a strongly-religious or strongly-nonreligious background with interest in the more centrist view held by persons like myself.
Sophie's Book Reviews 