Skeptic learns there is something beyond matter – BionicOldGuy

In a previous post I discussed the arguments for whether science plus the philosophy of scientific materialism is sufficient to explain the universe and our presence as conscious beings in it. Alternatively, is « something more » needed that specifically refers to consciousness? A significant percentage of scientists believe that « something more » is needed, and there is association of « post-materialist » scholars.. But a large number of scientists, perhaps the majority, still believe that materialism is sufficient, and if there is something that is not explained now, it will be in the future (this is known as « promising materialism »).

David Gibbs, MD, was one such scholar and his delightful memoir The death of materialism describes his journey from skepticism to faith.

Dr. Gibbs has many years of experience in emergency medicine. He describes himself as a believer in hard science and materialism. Even in his pre-med studies, he encountered troubling concepts like « consciousness crashing the wave » in quantum mechanics, but he had no time for them. Learning enough to get into medical school was a priority. As he put it, he removed the anomalies as “unsuitable for MCAT He then studied hard in medical school and went through the ordeal of an internship and residency that solidified his skepticism. But his practice over the years in emergency medicine has had some troubling intangible experiences. It was a fascinating example of what it’s like to work as part of a team trying to save the life of someone in cardiac arrest. The team is in a frenzy, trying different things like defibrillation and medication. Sometimes the patient could not be saved, and there always seemed to be a moment when the team knew it was coming intuitively before tools show things like a flat ECG line.

Another example was a case where a patient looked fine based on the routine examination and tests that any doctor would do based on the symptoms. Dr. Gibbs was about to discharge him, but « something didn’t feel right » and he ordered an additional scan, which is not standard procedure in this case. The results indicated that the patient required emergency surgery and would likely have died had he been discharged. In either case, where does this intuition come from?

Finally enough examples like this came along and Dr. Gibbs was motivated to go down the rabbit hole of research into unexplained phenomena like psi (formerly esp) and the placebo effect. His skepticism accompanied him on this odyssey, but he still discovered that there were phenomena that could not be explained by materialism but had a very small chance of being caused by chance (like one in a trillion). There are, for example, placebo-like examples of faith-induced healing in treatments at rates that exceed those of FDA-approved drugs. Eventually enough of these irrefutable anomalies accumulated and he decided that scientific materialism was missing something. The rest of the story was how this affected the way he practiced and lived his life. Highly recommended reading.

As for the subtitle, as I pointed out in my previous post on this topic, panpsychism is one of several alternative theories that attempt to explain what materialism cannot. Which particular theory works best for reality is currently a matter of debate. But I think it’s less important which explanation makes the most sense to us, and more important how acting on that belief positively changes our lives. This is well described in the latter part of Dr. Gibbs’ book.

Posted by BionicOldGuy

I’m a mechanical engineer, born 1953, PhD, Stanford, 1980. I’ve been active in mechanical CAE for decades. I also have a lifelong interest in outdoor activities and fitness. I had both hips replaced and a heart valve replaced due to a genetic condition. This blog chronicles my adventures in staying active despite these bumps in the road. View all posts by BionicOldGuy

Published
March 17, 2026March 16, 2026