Boy Born Without a Brain Dies - This is not a joke

reply to post by PurpleChiten


The brainstem is the oldest part we share evolutionarily with many other "lower"

life forms in the kingdom animalia. The archipallium is considered integrated into

our emotions - the papez circuit. the higher functions - decision making, vision,

music, art, etc are all processed by the neocortex - but also "comb filtered" by

the cerebellum and some think the brainstem. Anencephaly is indeed something

close to what we would consider a "primal" human life form who may have a soul

but can not think. When they pass - could they account for those "animal like" spirits?

pure conjecture.

Originally posted by AQuestion
reply to post by Trexter Ziam

 

Dear Trexter Ziam,

Maybe; but, that the doctors said he shouldn't have lived beyond a day. Why would they say that if it is nothing special?

Because doctor's don't know everything. It's that simple my friend. There is a reason medicine is called the Practice of Medicine and not the Science of Medicine.

Click here for more information.

reply to post by antar


Dear antar,

Thank you for the information that you posted.

reply to post by jiggerj


Dear jiggerj,

I am sorry for your loss and of course you only wanted what was best for your child. I had never heard of such a thing until this weekend and am still trying to understand it.

reply to post by caladonea


Dear caladonea,

I could not have said it any better myself.

reply to post by drphilxr


Dear drphilixr,

One of my daughters had a miscarriage in the first trimester and I know that is when they are most likely to occur because something has gone wrong or the baby is not developing properly. I don't really understand why in these extreme cases some of them result in live births that last more than a day. My guess is that when they are still within the mother they are living off her circulatory system; but, how do they survive after is what I don't quite get. Thank you for the information.

reply to post by Unity_99


Dear Unity_99

Bodies do not grow souls! Theyre just temporary suits we use to lean, soul is infinite part of infinity

What a lovely sentiment. I have really learned something from all of this even if I still do not understand how it is possible. Peace.

Originally posted by JiggyPotamus
I think this condition may shed some light on the soul, as others have pointed out. If these kids were able to do what is claimed, and interact, among other things, without a brain, then the brain is not the intermediary between the body and soul. This is important because it implies, possibly at least, that the soul is not product of having a brain, but rather exists for every living person. This would seem important from a religious point of view, and important for anyone interested in what happens after death. I personally believe in the idea that the body is but a suit for the soul.

Dear JiggyPotamus,

As a Christian I also believe in a soul; but, I also believe our bodies are amazing and enjoy science. I may start a thread in the Faith section on souls and what they may or many not be; but, I posted in the medical section because I wanted to understand this phenomenon from a medical perspective. Science did not always believe that our consciousness resided in our brains and even now there are some doctors who question it. Cases like this show that we have not located consciousness and that we are more complex than simple machines. Peace and thanks.

Originally posted by Hr2burn
This does an interesting thought. If the brain holds conscientious, is this where the "soul" resides? Having no brain would you then also have no soul? (for those of us that believe in theses things) it says he was playing with pumpkins before he died. With nothing more than a brain stem it seems to me you would have no need, desire or ability to interact with anything.

Dear Hr2burn,

Unity_99 responded to this thread with a video of another child born with this problem and there is no doubt that the other child was very responsive and interacted with the world. While I believe in a soul, at a minimum science says we need a brain to have a certain level of ability to interact with the world and yet, these children did interact with those around them and had no brain as we understand it. I think this whole thing leaves me with more questions than answers. Thanks for your words.

Originally posted by Bluesma
I fidn it interesting what some consider associated with "soul"- like smiling.
Why does that indicate a soul for you?

I don't mean to argue that this child or any other has or doesn't have a soul- I am not sure what that term signifies for others.

Dear Bluesma,

Firstly I want to say that I like your new picture better than the old one, not that my opinion on it matters. Just a kudos on your picture selection.

For the purposes of this thread, I am happy to limit the idea of a soul to the concept of sentience. The child seemed self aware and aware of what was around it. If one believe that we are born, die and are only conscious while are bodies are alive then at least for that time period we had a "soul". Peace.

Originally posted by Limbo
For further reading/research.

en.wikipedia.org...
rense.com...

I remember reading about a case of some guy with a good IQ having no evidence of a "brain" at all.
Apparently the fact that you _can_ survive without a brain casts doubt on our current understanding about the brain.
Limbo

Dear Limbo,

These things are definitely blowing my mind. I went to your links and was amazed to see how little follow up medical science did on these things.

reply to post by jeantherapy


Dear jeantherapy,

I first came across things remotely related to this when studying strokes. There was a famous actress who suffered one and lost the ability to speak and she had to learn it all over again. Theoretically the part of the brain identified as controlling speech was bypassed and the memories relearned in another part of the brain. I don't believe science has yet to understand consciousness and because it is afraid to, it may never. Peace.

reply to post by Skywatcher2011


Dear Skywatcher2011,

Thank you for adding that video.

reply to post by AQuestion


This isn't even the most unusual case. There are people born without brains who have fully functional memories, and are just a little bit slower than you or me. There is a doctor who wrote a book on it, arguing that the seat of Consciousness is not in the brain of all, and that we exist outside of the physical for it to even be possible… can't remember who.

reply to post by vpjanitorial


Dear vpjanitorial,

Someone posted on the doctor you are referring to in this thread and posted a wikipedia link and to an article from another site. It is still amazing me what I am learning. There is also a doctor on this thread that gave some very interesting information about what is possible. Peace.

Originally posted by Lawgiver
reply to post by AQuestion

 

How interesting. In a world where stem cell research is limited by laws guiding what can and cannot be done in the name of science, how convenient it would be if there was some way to bring a person into this world that lacked a soul, or what we might consider the origin of a soul. A body, or a receptacle of body parts, including the most valuable parts if stem cells, which could be harvested since there's no consciousness. To say that science cannot manipulate the embryo so that it is born without a brain... Is it possible, probable? Experimentation to see how lomg a body born without a brain can actually live and grow. A brave new world

How incredibibly insane. I'm sorry but I have to be blunt with you.
You do NOT tamper with nature. Only an idiot does.

I am a man who loves science but I am a person with a brain that can tell a bad thing from a good one.

If this is our new world then this ends up in a zombie massacre. If you read what you just said then you should put 1 and 1 together.

Come on now.

That's too bad he died. He would have made a great US President.

Originally posted by The Cusp
That's too bad he died. He would have made a great US President.

Dear The Cusp,

Why would one choose to be thoughtless and heartless about the pain of others? Are you attempting to have your millisecond of fame here on ATS? I said this is not a a joke, real people with real pain. You hide behind the anonymity of the internet; but, is this really the best that you have to offer the world?

Originally posted by AQuestion

Originally posted by Bluesma
I fidn it interesting what some consider associated with "soul"- like smiling.
Why does that indicate a soul for you?

I don't mean to argue that this child or any other has or doesn't have a soul- I am not sure what that term signifies for others.

Dear Bluesma,

Firstly I want to say that I like your new picture better than the old one, not that my opinion on it matters. Just a kudos on your picture selection.

For the purposes of this thread, I am happy to limit the idea of a soul to the concept of sentience. The child seemed self aware and aware of what was around it. If one believe that we are born, die and are only conscious while are bodies are alive then at least for that time period we had a "soul". Peace.

Thanks!
-And okay. Sorry.