Beyond Science: A Psychologist Unveils the Truth About the Soul

It was a spring day in 2009, in a small British town near Manchester. Fifteen-year-old Gemma Houghton suddenly had a strange feeling. All at once, she just knew: her twin sister Lyn needed her help. Without a moment's hesitation, Gemma rushed upstairs to the bathroom, opened the door, and found her sister submerged in the bathwater. "When I lifted her head from the water, I discovered she was turning blue," Gemma told the British Telegraph. "I immediately understood she had an epileptic fit." Quick CPR, as learned from a first aid course, helped save Lyn's life.

This story was shared by Micha Ankori in an interview with "Epoch." He wanted to showcase his method, which proposes that the soul is not material. There are phenomena within it that are not understood through material means.

Micha Ankori is an analytical psychologist. He has also specialized in physics and mathematics. He is fully equipped to approach the human psyche materially, but he chooses to confront this perspective. In his books and publications, he argues that modern psychology views itself as a "science" and analyzes the psyche under the assumption that it is a material phenomenon, thus missing the point.

In an article he published a few years ago, he quotes a researcher named Ian Sample, who shows that examining psychological research reveals that 64% of them cannot be replicated. This means that if we repeat the experiment, we’ll obtain different results, which proves that the research does not truly represent reality.

The logical conclusion from this surprising fact is that the research method is flawed. Psychological studies are not science because they incorrectly perceive the psyche as merely a computer or a material device; therefore, it is expected that research results will be incorrect. As Ankori states: "The attempt to express psychological phenomena in quantitative terms contains a profound contradiction. Beliefs, values, fears, hates, loves, desires, and hopes are real and hold immense value in the person's internal world, yet they have no objective meaning and are not open to observation and research using natural science tools."

Freud, who founded psychology, attempted to present it as a science. There is no doubt that Freud made significant contributions, but his attempt to formulate the study of the psyche with scientific models akin to biology, for example, led him and his followers into substantial errors.

For instance, Freud created a kind of law of conservation of energy, explaining the life history of the famous artist Leonardo da Vinci and why he was so successful in art. However, historical research showed that the explanation contradicts reality. Freud transplanted a physiological model of the law of energy conservation and tried to apply it to the operations of the psyche, which is seemingly more complex and less measurable. The forces and traits of the soul lack physical attributes, therefore a mother with four children does not have less love for her children than a mother with one child.

The main problem with materialist psychology is the causal perception. Just as there is causality in natural sciences, so do researchers of the psyche with materialistic assumptions seek causality in mental mechanisms. A always causes B, or B always results from A. According to Ankori, this is obstructive. This is the reason why research cannot be repeated, because the results are not truly causal or necessary.

Ankori concludes: "The very assumption that science can decipher every human phenomenon is the source of the obstacle. The human soul and spirit are not material, not the product of material, and cannot be forced into the laws of matter. The question of the relationship between body and soul is an eternal question that has occupied the greatest minds throughout history. The essence of the relationship between a spiritual entity and a material entity is an open issue even today, and it is doubtful if it can ever be solved. Ignoring this issue achieves nothing. When psychology is defined as the 'study of human behavior' (see 'Psychology' in the Hebrew Encyclopedia), it constrains psychological research into a narrow field and misses the main point."