Editing Meaning of life (section)

===Scientific questions about the mind===
The nature and origin of [[consciousness]] and the [[mind]] are also widely debated in science. The [[explanatory gap]] is generally equated with the [[hard problem of consciousness]], and the question of [[free will]] is also considered to be of fundamental importance. These subjects are mostly addressed in the fields of [[cognitive science]], [[neuroscience]] (e.g. the [[neuroscience of free will]]) and [[philosophy of mind]], though some [[evolutionary biologist]]s and [[theoretical physicist]]s have also made several allusions to the subject.<ref name="Whitehouse">{{Cite book |author=Harvey Whitehouse |title=The Debated Mind: Evolutionary Psychology Versus Ethnography |publisher=Berg Publishers |date=2001 |isbn=978-1-85973-427-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/debatedmindevolu0000unse }}</ref><ref name="Gray">{{Cite book |author=Jeffrey Alan Gray |author-link= Jeffrey Alan Gray |title=Consciousness: Creeping Up on the Hard Problem |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2004 |isbn=978-0-19-852090-0}}</ref>

[[Reductionistic]] and [[eliminative materialism|eliminative materialistic]] approaches, for example the [[Multiple Drafts Model]], hold that consciousness can be wholly explained by neuroscience through the workings of the [[Human brain|brain]] and its [[neuron]]s, thus adhering to [[biological naturalism]].<ref name="Gray"/><ref name="Churchland">{{Cite book |author=Paul M. Churchland |author-link=Paul Churchland |title=A Neurocomputational Perspective: The Nature of Mind and the Structure of Science |url=https://archive.org/details/neurocomputation0000chur |url-access=registration |publisher=MIT Press |date=1989 |isbn=978-0-262-53106-1}}</ref><ref name="Dennett">{{Cite book |author=Daniel Clement Dennett |author-link=Daniel Dennett |title=Consciousness Explained |publisher=Little, Brown and Co. |date=1991 |isbn=978-0-316-18066-5|title-link=Consciousness Explained }}</ref>

On the other hand, some scientists, like [[Andrei Linde]], have considered that [[consciousness]], like [[spacetime]], might have its own intrinsic degrees of freedom, and that one's perceptions may be as real as (or even more real than) material objects.<ref name="Barrow, Davies, Harper">{{Cite book |author1=John D. Barrow |author-link1=John D. Barrow |author2=Paul C.W. Davies |author-link2=Paul Davies |author3=Charles L. Harper |title=Science and Ultimate Reality: Quantum Theory, Cosmology and Complexity |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-83113-0}}</ref> Hypotheses of consciousness and spacetime explain consciousness in describing a "space of conscious elements",<ref name="Barrow, Davies, Harper"/> often encompassing a number of extra dimensions.<ref name="Millay, Heinze">{{Cite book |author=Jean Millay |author2=Ruth-Inge Heinze |title=Multidimensional Mind: Remote Viewing in Hyperspace |publisher=North Atlantic Books |date=1999 |isbn=978-1-55643-306-1}}</ref> [[Electromagnetic theories of consciousness]] solve the [[binding problem]] of consciousness in saying that the [[electromagnetic field]] generated by the brain is the actual carrier of conscious experience; there is however disagreement about the implementations of such a theory relating to other workings of the mind.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=McFadden |first1=J. |date=2002 |title=Synchronous Firing and Its Influence on the Brain's Electromagnetic Field: Evidence for an Electromagnetic Field Theory of Consciousness |url=http://www.mindcontrolforums.com/news/electromagnetic-field-theory-of-consciousness.htm |journal=Journal of Consciousness Studies |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=23–50 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051218171922/http://www.mindcontrolforums.com/news/electromagnetic-field-theory-of-consciousness.htm |archive-date=18 December 2005 }}</ref><ref name="Buccheri & Di Gesù & Saniga">{{Cite book |author=R. Buccheri |author2=V. Di Gesù |author3=Metod Saniga |title=Studies on the Structure of Time: From Physics to Psycho(patho)logy |publisher=Springer |date=2000 |isbn=978-0-306-46439-3}}</ref> [[Quantum mind]] theories use [[quantum mechanics|quantum theory]] in explaining certain properties of the mind. Explaining the process of [[free will]] through [[quantum]] phenomena is an alternative to [[determinism]].

==== Parapsychology ====

Based on the premises of non-materialistic explanations of the mind, some have suggested the existence of a [[cosmic consciousness]], asserting that consciousness is actually the "ground of all being".<ref name="Walker"/><ref name="Bruce">{{Cite book |author=Alexandra Bruce |title=Beyond the Bleep: The Definitive Unauthorized Guide to What the Bleep Do We Know!? |publisher=The Disinformation Company |date=2005 |isbn=978-1-932857-22-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/beyondbleep00alex }}</ref><ref name="Ho">{{Cite book |author=Mae-Wan Ho |author-link=Mae-Wan Ho |title=The Rainbow and the Worm: The Physics of Organisms |url=https://archive.org/details/rainbowwormphysi00homa_253 |url-access=limited |publisher=World Scientific |date=1998 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/rainbowwormphysi00homa_253/page/n239 218]–231 |isbn=978-981-02-3427-0}}</ref> Proponents of this view cite accounts of [[paranormal]] phenomena, primarily [[extrasensory perception]]s and [[psychic]] powers, as evidence for an [[incorporeal]] [[higher consciousness]]. In hopes of proving the existence of these phenomena, [[parapsychologist]]s have orchestrated various experiments, but successful results might be due to poor experimental controls and might have alternative explanations.<ref name="Akers">{{Cite journal |author=Akers, C. |title=Methodological Criticisms of Parapsychology, Advances in Parapsychological Research 4 |publisher=PesquisaPSI |date=1986 |url=http://www.pesquisapsi.com/books/advances4rape/7_Methodological_Criticisms.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924071708/http://www.pesquisapsi.com/books/advances4rape/7_Methodological_Criticisms.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=30 July 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|author=Child, I.L. |title=Criticism in Experimental Parapsychology, Advances in Parapsychological Research 5 |publisher=PesquisaPSI |date=1987 |url=http://www.pesquisapsi.com/books/advances5/6_Criticism_in_Experimental.html |access-date=30 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927223410/http://www.pesquisapsi.com/books/advances5/6_Criticism_in_Experimental.html |archive-date=27 September 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wiseman |first=Richard |author2=Smith, Matthew |display-authors=etal |title=Exploring possible sender-to-experimenter acoustic leakage in the PRL autoganzfeld experiments – Psychophysical Research Laboratories |journal=The Journal of Parapsychology |date=1996 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2320/is_n2_v60/ai_18960809 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709230555/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2320/is_n2_v60/ai_18960809/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 July 2012 |access-date=30 July 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Lobach |first=E. |author2=Bierman, D. |title=The Invisible Gaze: Three Attempts to Replicate Sheldrake's Staring Effects |work=Proceedings of the 47th PA Convention |url=http://www.parapsych.org/papers/07.pdf |date=2004 |pages=77–90 |access-date=30 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810173433/https://www.parapsych.org/papers/07.pdf |archive-date=10 August 2007 }}</ref>