by Bethany Vanderzand

Created on: May 07, 2008

Let us set aside the fact that there are things in this world which science and reason cannot explain - or, at least, have not yet been explained - and that the human brain is as mysterious as it is complex. If we examine the logical plausibility of mind-reading, we find there is evidence to support it. Just as we use machines to measure brain waves and magnetic resonance (EEG and MRI), so it is also possible for a human brain to read and interpret the electromagnetic signals emitting from the brains of others. Since the brain controls thought and consciousness, and gives off a kind of "psychic residue", is it so far off to conclude that the mind's energy and essence can be picked up and deciphered using another brain? The human brain, after all, is a machine, and its functionality and potential has never been fully explored or defined by science. Only ten percent of the brain's neurons are firing at any given time; what happens when twenty or fifty percent are firing? Is it possible that our minds can do more than what we ask of them, more than what they've merely been conditioned to do? I think so.

The Nyaya and Vaisheshika schools of India in the sixth century BCE developed the theory of atoms combining to form more complex objects. Two hundred years later, a Greek student, Democritus, named the atom, "atomos" meaning "the smallest indivisible particle of matter". In 1661, Robert Boyle published "The Sceptical Chymist" in which he argued that matter was composed of atoms. In 1803, John Dalton actually viewed atoms through his microscope. However, the first mathematical analysis of the motion of molecules wasn't produced until the year 1905, by Albert Einstein. Atoms were known to exist thousands of years before their existence could be proven. My point is, just because something has not yet been scientifically explained and socially accepted as truth, does not mean that it cannot be explained or isn't true. The same can be said for the position of the planets in our solar system, the table of elements, doplar radar, radio waves, gravity, and flight. All theories were thought to be impossible or constructed from insanity, yet today we know them to be based in some kind of factuality and truth.

There are those who possess abilities unphathomable to the common man. The entire history of the Bible is filled with the performance of miracles and of God infusing individuals with His gifts to carry out seemingly impossible tasks, yet these things are accepted by the faith of millions all over the globe.

Science has not unlocked all of the secrets of the human body and spirit, and so to blindly state that mind-reading is impossible - without taking into consideration the literally endless possibilities of existence, metaphysical truths, and divine intervention - is ignorant at best. Granted, Dr. Phil and Miss Cleo (and other "psychic advisors" who manipulate open-minded individuals to generate income) are probably frauds, but those individuals cannot discredit the soundness of a thing which is entirely scientifically and spiritually possible, and that millions of people believe to be true.

Learn more about this author, Bethany Vanderzand.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.