Thanks for the message Matthew. I’m not familiar with the research on past lives and you’re right to assume it would be considered fringe in the brain/behavioral sciences. I would guess most of that work is based on self-report data, which can be very valuable depending on what you are studying. However, when it comes to trying to understand the link between brain and mind in reality, it tends to be less useful.

All the neuroscientific data I know supports the idea that brain function, along with its interactions with the body, wholly creates the consciousness we experience. So I personally don’t believe we can disentangle the two. The idea of past lives is driven by belief in an immaterial self that survives bodily death. While I can subjectively relate to why people feel this, I find it much harder to accept based on scientific arguments. There are certainly established scientific theories now that were laughed at in their early days because of preexisting biases in the field, but that transformation relies on mounting incontrovertible evidence (mindfulness is a good example of something that may be headed that way). The concept of an immaterial self doesn’t yet fit that category for me, and the ideas have been around for a long time!

Hope that helps to explain my position on the issue. I appreciate you reaching out and hope you’ll have similarly insightful comments for some of my future articles!

    Erman Misirlisoy, PhD

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    Neuroscientist writing about brains, behavior, & health. “Understand more, so that we may fear less” — Marie Curie. Sign up for your brainlift: thinksetlab.com