Thursday, February 17, 2011

Man's Limited Knowledge Concerning the Brain


This extraordinary little boy, Chase, was born without a cerebellum, leaving doctors speechless. He is also missing the part of the brain that controls breathing and sleeping: the Pons. To exacerbate scientists' knowledge further, Chase's activity despite such conditions, defies all known knowledge about the cerebellum's functions by performing tasks that was once thought to be exclusively controlled by this part of the brain. It was once thought that such a scenario would leave a person as nothing more than a 'vegetable.' Many experts are speculating about how this little boy is living and walking around.
Although experts constantly debate what elements constitute a 'person', most will agree that a person is more than 'matter-in-motion'; in other words, more than a brain. God kept this boy alive without the part of the brain that was thought to be vital in order to develop motor skills, have emotions, and maintain physical balance; all are present in Chase.
I chose this article because many people put their sole trust and faith in doctor's diagnoses; thereby absolutizing them. Although most people would have no trouble in trusting a physician's opinion in matters of medical phenomena, Chase Britton's case is a prime example of the limited knowledge and experience of such experts compared to God's providence.

2 comments:

  1. This was a really interesting article that reflects how very little humans know about God's creation. So often we try to put God in a box and define what he has created. Labeling things and stating what they can and cannot do. But there are a number of cases such as these in which a child's brain has overcompensated for damaged areas, allowing them to overcome in such a way that was not humanly feasible. This post is a great reminder of how great our God is and that we as human cannot attempt to put an absolute on anything outside of Him.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really like this article and the way that you showed how humble humans really should be. God is so much bigger than our view of Him, and I think that man wants to make himself a god and that is when man messes up. Our knowledge is so infinte and when we can see examples like this it makes us come to two conclusions 1) there is a God. 2) that God isn't me. Good post.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.