Choose to Take the Journey

When I’m on a date, I often get asked if I believe in life after death, if we humans are merely a hodgepodge of proteins, DNA, and chemical reactions that will cease to exist posthumously, or if there is something else, something greater and more magnificent upon which to rest our unwieldy egos (well, maybe I don’t get asked in those exact words).

Considering such a deep question almost always triggers a series of new questions in my mind, questions like, “Why is she asking me this on a first date?” “Do I need to order another round of drinks?” or “Will Dexter finally get caught?” But I realize the question she is asking usually boils down to, “Is there such thing as a soul?”

Call me old-fashioned if you’d like, but I do believe in the existence of a soul. Being a lover of science, I’ve spent an embarrassing amount of my free time searching for some hint of the soul within science itself. My “soul search” within the field of chemistry ended quite abruptly with my understanding of predictable chemical reactions from differential gradients. In neuroscience, I studied the origins of consciousness, hoping to find a window through which I could peer into my soul. The discovery that there are many levels of consciousness made me realize that the various “consciousnesses” are but tools for use by free will–what many believe to be a manifestation of the soul. It was quantum physics that finally provided the much needed hint. As intimidating as it sounds, quantum physics is nothing more than a description of things that are extremely small, like atoms.

Each atom, no matter whether it be hydrogen or gold, vibrates at a particular frequency. It has a characteristic signature, like the vibration of a particular tuning fork or violin string. By observing the vibration of an unknown atom, a trained physicist can ascertain the identity of a hydrogen atom as easily as a skilled musician can recognize the distinctive twang of a C-sharp.

The question then becomes, “Where does the vibration come from?” Well, there is something called Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. It states that it is an impossibility to know where an electron is located. There is uncertainty. You don’t know what’s going to happen with regard to even a single atom. The future cannot been determined. It is uncertain, and this uncertainty causes atoms to vibrate. So unique is the vibration of every atom that even 2 hydrogen atoms of identical mass and charge each produce their own one-of-a-kind “sound.”

When 2 or more atoms combine to form a larger molecule, the individual sounds harmonize to produce a melody distinct from the melody of all other molecules. Through the power of your genes, an inconceivably vast community of molecules have come together to create your physical form, an entire symphony that is unique to you and only you. But do not confuse your physical form for you. This form, this symphony, has an infinite number of elegant and colorful variations. And these variations are but possibilities for the future, compositions from which you can choose. You are in fact the conductor, and it is your free will that allows you decide how your life will ultimately play out, because this symphony, my friend, was created for your soul.