Is mind separate from body? If so, this would be proof of immaterial or spiritual existence. Transfer of mind from one body and brain to another together with proof of transfer, such as a linguistic cue or an apparent personality change, would bring scientific knowledge close to religious doctrine. Soul, spirit/ghost, atman, are concepts of a human being's essence originating in part in philosophical thought, but have received extensive development in world religions. What we call 'mind,' a pattern of thinking, behaving, talking, a long-standing (over decades) self-understanding, may be considered coequal with Western or Eastern teachings of 'soul.' There are differences, nuances, of course, among various thinkers and interpretations of dogma and traditions, but a broad understanding of mind and soul is invoked here, for preliminary purposes.
In consideration of twenty-first century neuroscience, 'mind' may be same as 'consciousness.' Consciousness is a mystery to philosophers of mind and neuroscientists alike, its origins and nature discussed and disputed. Advocating experimentation in mind transfer could be understood as transport of conscious self between brains. The receiving brain might experience two selves and become disheveled or ill. Perhaps the moving consciousness would suppress the receptive self, becoming dominant. Safety testing would occur before accomplishing such transfer.
In reality and the history of Homo sapiens, no known case of mind-transfer has taken place. It is found in modern fiction, particularly science fiction, such as 'Star Trek.' It may be argued that Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein (1818) provides background for such stories. Dr. Frankenstein discovers the principle of life through alchemy and creates a new lifeform with conscious self. The self created by Frankenstein is not transferred, but created anew by a secret alchemy involving reanimation of dead matter. It is a logical step, then, to posit a basic form of consciousness inherent in all life. Of course, this is imaginary, not empirical.
The first case of transfer of mind from one living being to another will happen after much continued research into the connection of mind to brain or consciousness to neural network. How does image and language arise from neural-electric activity? Dr. McCoy of Star Trek spoke of "hyperencephalogram," an advanced recording of "brain circuitry." Observing and understanding brain activity in dreaming will probably be crucial to achieving adequate theory of mind and consciousness. Does an amoeba dream?
The discovery of consciousness in one-celled organisms might yield eventually the technology of mind transfer. Such science and its application would bring us much closer to God, but we still wouldn't know God, only that God Is (Heb. YHWH). To know God, one should look at and comprehend religious people, people of faith, like Jesus of Nazareth, Moses, Muhammad, Abraham, Mother Theresa or Mohandas Gandhi. From Jesus, for example, you'll learn of the "mystery of the kingdom." What is kingdom? Another word for kingdom is 'rule.' A rule is a dominant or governing principle. In living things, we have found this to be the gene or groups of genes, i.e., chromosomes. Genes contain diversified instruction. So in a way, the first instance of transfer of mind came with the birth of eukaryotes. Yet we still don't fully understand that; it's a mystery. Consciousness in eukaryotes, possible?
N.B. Zen Buddhists claim transmission of mind of Buddha from person to person in their religion. For example: "From Gautama Buddha down through the whole line of patriarchs to Bodhidharma, none preached aught besides the One Mind, otherwise known as the Sole Vehicle of Liberation. . . . When Bodhidharma came to China and reached the Kingdoms of Liang and Wei, only the Venerable Master Ko gained a silent insight into our own Mind; as soon as it was explained to him, he understood that Mind is the Buddha, and that individual mind and body are nothing." John Blofeld, tr., The Zen Teaching of Huang Po On The Transmission of Mind (NY: Grove, 1959), p 70
In Christianity, St. Paul taught his converts possession of the mind of Christ, viz., "fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus ..." (Phil 2:2-5 NKJV)
[Science attempts to accomplish with technology what religious adherents do through spirit.]
