What do you think the mind is?

[Free Enterprise]

What do you believe the mind is? Do you think it is separate from the brain? Describe and discuss the mind and its nature. Do you think there is a mind? Do you maintain that only the mind exists and the material things you observe are mental constructs?

I think that the mind is a different entity from the brain. The mind and brain interact and produce effects upon one another. Signals can travel from the nerves to the brain and then to the mind which may alter the perception of the mind. The mind can originate ideas and perhaps actions which then frequently are processed in the brain and hence forth effect other areas in body. I support a dualist metaphysics.

Regarding the idealism option in the poll:
Although there are definitely several variations of idealism it can be thought of as "the mind exists and the brain is a perception or idea thought up by the mind (therefore it isn’t really a material thing rather it is a thought)." Or that the reality external the mind consists of non-material ideas (Final sentence paraphrased from: dictionary definition of idealist school of philosophy.)

 

[SideshowBob]

I think the brain is the brain and the mind is something composed of all the information in our brain and all the experiences we've had. And yes they interact, since what our mind is carrying from before affects how the brain sees and takes in new information which again will affect the mind. Infinite loop.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

The brain is the movie projector, mind is the movie.

 

[wlievens]

Dualities are the source of all evil.

 

[Godwynn]

I consider the mind and the brain the same thing. I don't understand where you are coming from saying they are different. Could you explain?

 

[Goober]

Originally posted by Godwynn
I consider the mind and the brain the same thing. I don't understand where you are coming from saying they are different. Could you explain?

What he said.

 

[cgannon64]

Originally posted by Dumb pothead
The brain is the movie projector, mind is the movie.

So can the mind exist outside the brain? (Just wondering about your thoughts.)

I personally think that the mind and brain are interconnected in our body, but don't have to be so. When the body dies, the mind moves on. Whether that is to heaven, or another body, or what, I do not know...

Mind and soul are the same thing, btw.

 

[Achinz]

Originally posted by cgannon64
Mind and soul are the same thing, btw.

That's an interesting view.

I'd thought that soul has to do with the spiritual aspects and the mind cerebral ones. While there is much connection between the biological brain and the mind at the present time there's no connection with an organ for the soul AFAIK.

 

[Voynich]

Dualism is the most probable. There are too many problems with the idea that a unified sense of being and control could somehow arise without a mind. The data does not favor materialism.

 

[hbdragon88]

In the words of Homer Simpson:

"What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Never mind! Heheheheh! Well, good night, Bart."

 

[Free Enterprise]

Originally posted by Godwynn
I consider the mind and the brain the same thing. I don't understand where you are coming from saying they are different. Could you explain?

I mean that in a dualist framework there is an entity other than the brain that is involved in the origins of thoughts, conceptions, and perhaps actions. The brain is still very important in this view however dualism is different from a materialist world view.

A materialist is one who believes that only material matter exists. Therefore I set an option to read: "The mind and brain are one and the same." That options represents the materialist position (primarily in regards to the mind's relation to the brain issue). Although I acknowledge there are some intermixed ideas that some hold (thus I kept the other option). For example one may believe there is only a brain (either no mind or they believe the mind is a part of the brain itself) yet still believe there are non-material entities.

The mind is often thought to be associated with the soul (a view I tend to think is probable). Sometimes people may perhaps believe that it is a mechanism connecting the soul to the body or brain.

This issue is often known as the mind-body problem.

There are many definitions of mind on this link. (especially important for this topic is the philosophical definition of the mind)

 

[Free Enterprise]

Originally posted by Achinz

That's an interesting view.

I'd thought that soul has to do with the spiritual aspects and the mind cerebral ones. While there is much connection between the biological brain and the mind at the present time there's no connection with an organ for the soul AFAIK.

Your post reminds me of Gottfried Leibniz's idea of Monads.
Also, I think of the idea of parallel perceptions of mind monads and the physical effects on/caused by the body developed by this great philosopher.

Your post is intriguing . Could you elaborate a bit more on the nature of the mind, the mind's connection to the biological brain and the connection of the mind with the soul?

 

[Achinz]

Originally posted by Free Enterprise
Your post is intriguing . Could you elaborate a bit more on the nature of the mind, the mind's connection to the biological brain and the connection of the mind with the soul?

I guess I've been a bit influenced by the work of neurobiologist Eric Kandel (a Nobel Prize winner) at a recent lecture he gave to the Howard Florey Inst here in Melbourne. It seems that they are getting closer to locating much of the activities of the mind in specific areas of the brain and their interactions.

I meant to imply in my previous post that I see little connection between mind and soul except when the mind is engaged with soul as a concept. For me "soul" always has religious (mostly Christian) theological baggage and doesn't tie in with discussions of the mind and brain.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Originally posted by cgannon64


So can the mind exist outside the brain? (Just wondering about your thoughts.)

I personally think that the mind and brain are interconnected in our body, but don't have to be so. When the body dies, the mind moves on. Whether that is to heaven, or another body, or what, I do not know...

Mind and soul are the same thing, btw.

^Thats pretty much what I think. Mind is like the elephants tail held by a blind man, who thinks all he's got is a snake. Mind is an aspect of the soul, not a seperate thing. What does the soul do after the brain (the blind man) dies? Dunno, but Im sure its fascinating.

 

[Pongui]

I'm a materialist in this, with a heavy concession to group consciousness.

 

[Dr. Yoshi]

The mind is simply the electromagnetic transmissions of our brain.

They are one and the same.

 

[wlievens]

Originally posted by Dr. Yoshi
The mind is simply the electromagnetic transmissions of our brain.

They are one and the same.

I agree with that. And I see no empirical evidence to argument against that, as one poster stated!

 

[Achinz]

Originally posted by Dr. Yoshi
The mind is simply the electromagnetic transmissions of our brain.

They are one and the same.

That's a bit of over-simplification.

How can you tell from the emr when a person is thinking about his wife, about Kant and when he's thinking about Buddha, assuming they are all positive thoughts?

 

[Guildenstern]

The mind is not the brain, but the mind is the action of the brain; that is, the mind is an abstraction which combines everything the brain does into a single entity. A collection of signals interchanging.

My personal ontological view is that what exists is mathematical abstraction; i.e., the state of the Universe, combined with all physical laws, can be represented as some mathematical system (which we have yet to fully uncover, of course). But in fact, it is not just that this system represents the Universe, but that it is the Universe; i.e., they are fully equal in structure and complexity.

I also tend to agree with Tegmark's "Level IV Multiverse" concept, that all mathematical systems are Universes; even that a Universe is simply identical with a mathematical system. This is the ultimate generalization of the idea of "other Universes with different laws of physics", allowing these "different laws of physics" to be anything that is logically coherent.

Basically, I believe that electrons, brains and minds are ultimately just collections of numbers.

 

[Free Enterprise]

I should have set an option in the poll that considered the mind a part of the brain or the sum components of the brain yet that allowed for a dualistic (both non-material and material realities) metaphysics.