The concept that the human brain likely consists of such a vast number of neurons as 10,000,000,000,000 helps the belief that the mind is an element that exists on a physical level. But it is a concept that I was already aware of, one that helped formulate and accept the idea that the mind is something, at least on some sense, physical. It is to say that it has been one of the primary and initial factors for my comfort with the idea that brain is behavior.

But I still believe that the mind is something spiritual, something that also exists, in some sense, without the aid of a body. The mind is something that "resides" in the physical body in a real, tangible, and physical way during our earthly life. This means that the most defining behaviors, those that we use to identify the real "person" inside (such as our feelings, methods of interacting with others, and talents), can be traced to the complex firing patterns of the huge number of neurons in our brains. But by saying this, I do not mean to imply that the mind, the "person" or "I factor" is limited to the physical entity of neurons and protein and other elements that compose our bodies. The very complexity of our physical brain suggests the presence of God. We exist here on earth, our souls or minds present in our physical bodies, and are called to an afterlife when our time in earth is complete. Our physical entity dies, including the physical remnants of our mind, and the spiritual mind is "released".

Absolutely and unquestionably an entertainable hypothesis, given existing observations. And with a distinctive set of questions to be asked about the brain: where and how does the non-physical intersect with/influence the brain? In the long run, the validity of hypotheses relates to their usefulness: what new questions get posed, what new observations get made because of those questions. Worth persuing, along those lines. PG