COSM 2025 included a debate between neurosurgeon Michael Egnor and well-known skeptic Michael Shermer on the question of “Are Human Beings Machines?” The debate centered on the nature of the mind and brain and whether the mind is distinct from the brain or whether we’re nothing more than chemicals and firing neurons.
Egnor presented first. As a neurosurgeon, he has treated numerous patients over the years and has seen many kinds of unique cases. In one instance, a girl was missing two-thirds of her brain, but she is now a successful businesswoman.
It was this sort of evidence, Egnor explained, that helped take him from his former materialistic worldview to believing in God and the immaterial soul.
Another key piece of evidence for the immaterial mind is the origin of our free will and capacity to engage in abstract reasoning.
Next came Dr. Michael Shemer, the famous skeptic who studied psychology and holds a PhD in the history of science.
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Shermer’s position was that “Humans are biological machines that evolved from previous biological machines going back billions of years.”
