Epigraph:

And they ask you concerning the soul. Say, ‘The soul is by the command of my Lord; and of the knowledge thereof you have been given but a little.’ (Al Quran 17:85)

Presented by Zia H Shah MD

The verse quoted as epigraph has been my guiding light in my study of consciousness and I am amazed every day at limitations of understanding of scientists and philosophers of this subject. Based on this verse of the Quran, I believe that significant gaps in our understanding of the subject of human consciousness, soul, free will, our intentionality, our identity continuum over the years, our thoughts, will always be there.

In the above video I am surprised that the leader of Intelligent Design movement in Christianity William Dembski does not stand in awe of human consciousness and as a proof of God, the Creator. I would take his limitation stemming from following the Bible rather than the Quran.

In the above video, the moderator Robert Lawrence Kuhn presents 7 different possibilities to explain consciousness, five material and two non-material. He then out rightly rejects some of them. As a believer I would reject all except the consciousness of Allah as the final explanation of human consciousness and in that sense our science will always have some limitations to get to the very bottom of human consciousness.

Everything that follows I present as a commentary of the Quranic verse under discussion:

Video: Why is consciousness so baffling

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