Spiritual Intelligence and The Neuroplastic Brain

Our brains are getting wired differently in the world of digital technology, information revolution, and in the intercultural world of global society. Think of the new vocabulary: Global brain, collective intelligence, global village, and the idea of cyberspace. That should tell us something about the neural rewiring that is taking place inside of our brains, whether or not we are aware of it. Neuroscientists tell us that though the human brain has not changed in its anatomical shape, size, and structure in the past 200,000 years, the neural wiring and rewiring inside the brain has been ongoing throughout human history and civilization. The fact that the human brain changes throughout a person’s life in response to intellectual stimulation, physical exercise, exposure to new cultural environments, learning opportunities, and new challenges is a revolutionary discovery. Up until twenty years ago neuroscientists believed in the conventional theory that the brain’s neural pathways remained unchanged after a child’s critical period of growth and development. That is the old dogma. New findings have proven otherwise. Some neuroscientists that challenge the old theory now go to the extent of saying that thinking, learning, and other sustained brain activities actually change both the brain’s physical structure as well as functional organization.

Cultures change. Our thinking, ideas, technology, and lifestyles change constantly. The pace of change in our times is exponential unlike any other time in history, and our brains seem to be adapting to what Max Schiller calls the “Era of Equalization.” Human beings have been pursuing spirituality by way of spirit worship and animistic religions since the dawn of history. Human spiritual journey did not begin with the so-called organized religions. Religion as we know it today is a new kid on the block—just about six thousand years old. The demographic landscape of world’s religions is changing in the twenty-first century. At the same time our quest for spirituality is going full throttle in the midst of scientific discoveries and technological innovations, thriving entrepreneurship and travel across continents and countries. Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins may add another volume to The Delusion of Disbelief, Daniel Dennet may publish two more books on Breaking the Spell; Christopher Hitchens’ God is Not Great How Religion Poisons Everything may sell another 296,000 copies as it did within seven weeks after its publication, and Sam Harris’ Letter to a Christian Nation may sell another 300,000 copies. That is not going to stop people from pursuing their quest for God and spirituality. Just because a scientist can describe a rose flower in the language of science, using scientific vocabulary like the word “photosynthesis,” etc., is not going to make any difference in the way a person smells the flower. Spirituality is our experiential reality, which is subjective, whereas scientific explanations, arguments, and theories are the scientist’s mental constructs and explanations.

The question I pursue in this chapter is a simple one. If our brains are getting wired differently in this era of globalization, are we progressively moving away from religion and community-based spirituality into the “spirituality of different strokes for different folks?” We live in so-called the postmodern era in history. “Our brains are vastly different in fine detail, from the brains of our ancestors,” writes Michael Merznich, a leading neuroscientist of our times. Carl Zimmer, author of Soul Made Flesh: The Discovery of the Brain – and How It Changed the World (2004), describes this era of ours as a kind of “Second Copernican Revolution," one inside the body. Richard Restak, M.D., author of 18 books on the subject of brain, including, The Naked Brain: How The Emerging Neuroscience is Changing How We Live, Work and Love (2006), thinks we are living in what he calls the “neurosociety.” In the words of Ray Kurzweil, the futurist thinker, we are entering into the era of “singularity” when non-biological machines invented by human brains and human ingenuity are going to outsmart human intelligence billions of times.

I tend to believe a particular type of human intelligence (IQ), the modus operandi or a method of thinking has brought us to this stage of development in human history and civilization, and we do not know where it is taking us in the future. One thing I do know, as Albert Einstein stated, problems created on one level of thinking and consciousness will not be solved on the same level of thinking and awareness when they were created. This book focuses on a different type of thinking called Spiritual Intelligence (SQ). For some people this concept may appear new. Spiritual intelligence, as I understand, is about making sense of the world of mystery by finite humans. Simply stated, it is about applying tools, techniques, and means of caring about the inner needs of spirit known as “self-transcendence needs.” Who are we? Why are we here? How do we make sense of events and experiences that do not make sense to our rational minds? How do we get connected to a force and power that is greater than us? Why do we believe in the power that is greater than us, to begin with?  Why some of us believe in what is called “destiny?” What happens after we die? How can we cope with life’s uncertain moments of sickness, sorrow and death? How does one find peace (shanthi), harmony (shalom) and tranquility (satori) while going through life’s ups and downs? These questions are not new. Philosophers, theologians, and spiritual pundits have wrestled with these questions since the dawn of history. The difference is the twenty-first century brain that is asking the same old questions is wired differently.