Limit on eternal error

“The goal of science is not to open the door to everlasting wisdom, but to set a limit on everlasting error” Galileo in Galileo by Bertolt Brecht

The above taken from “Brain-Wise: Studies in Neurophilosophy” by Patricia Smith Churchland. In the same book, in the introduction she says “Bit by experimental bit, neuroscience is morphing our conception of what we are.”

“Consciousness, almost certainly, is not a semimagical glow emanating from the soul or permeating spooky stuff. It is, very probably, a coordinated pattern of neuronal activity serving various biological functions. This does not mean that consciousness is not real. Rather, it means that its reality is rooted in its neurobiology. That the brain can come to know such things as these, and in particular, that it can do the science of itself, is one of the truly stunning capacities of the brain.”

I appreciate Mavaiahgaru’s sentimental attachment to revered scriptures and collections of slokas. However, gone are the days of sages wearing the mantle of philosopher-king. Adi Shankara is not the only one who can pontificate on the topic of “Who am I?” As scientific thinking people, all human beings have a right to examine this question in their own context. Indeed, Usha can take the questioning further to “Why do I exist?”

On the other hand, looking back to the 1960s, the idea of wireless communication had not taken root. We now have ample proof of wireless communication and can conceive of an Atma that connects all human beings through some biologically determined neural network. The soul could be part of a larger system of wireless neural connections that our knowledge of neuroscience cannot yet prove to us.

The reason for revering Adi Shankara and those of his ilk is perhaps in the belief that they have made the correct leaps of intuition in their understanding of our Atma. We do not yet have physical proof of his understanding but his words have endured because they have resonated with other human beings for centuries. But I cannot help worry that it is a limitless everlasting error that has been handed to us through the eons.