Is the mind and the brain the same thing?

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   hubby7posted 14 years ago

   Is the mind and the brain one and the same thing or are they different entities? What do you think?
   
   If the world is a dichotomy, I would argue that, no, they are not the same. One is appearance, to borrow a term from Plato, the greek philosopher, and the other is reality. On the other hand if I were to argue that the world is composed of one substance, then I would argue the contrary, that both mind and brain are indeed one and the same. Question: What do you think? Are they one and the same or are they different? Or, do you think that there is only the brain and no mind or just mind and no matter (the brain)? What are your thoughts on the question?

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      EFPotterposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      If you so choose to interpret it in such a way, then your brain is an organ--there's no arguing that you have something called a brain in your head. Your mind could be interpreted as your psychology, your thoughts. Your mind wouldn't be possible without your brain, because the brain's structure is such to provide for thought. The brain, and the psyche.
      
      If you think of it differently, you don't label the psyche into a separate entity, as one is inclined to do simply because it is the absolute single biggest part of our functioning lives. Your psyche is created by impulses of the brain. In that way, they could be called one and the same.
      
      Different or same, they are without any doubt as fully linked as can be.

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         hubby7posted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Excellent thinking, EFPotter. I do, however, have a few questions for you: Which came first, the chicken (mind) or the egg (brain)? Does the mind depend on the brain for its existence? Or, could it be that the mind is like a body of data that uses the brain as its medium for communication? Last question: Are the mind and brain actually fully linked as you suppose or is it possible that they can both exist without the other?

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            EFPotterposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you, hubby. This is really a fun topic for me--I love learning about and discussing psychology. The mind does, in fact, depend on the brain for its existence. I hold this to be a simple fact. Therefore, the brain also came first.
            
            Using your data example, there can be no data in a system until that system is in place. Programs on the internet don't mean anything to you if you don't have a computer to download an use them. It is impossible for the mind to exist without the brain. I scientifically see no way that it could ever be possible, in any way. Different parts of the brain supply different parts of the mind. Without the brain functioning, the mind cannot function. For example, when the corpus callosum (the part of the brain linking the two hemispheres) is severed, information cannot transfer between them properly, no matter how strong a mind you have.
            
            There are patients that are brain damaged. This results sometimes in a coma--the mind is lost. Function is gone. But the brain and its controlling continues.

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      The Donkeyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      This is a really tough question. This kind of gets you thinking.
      Then again, if there wasn't a brain, do you think there would be a mind? How would we think? What would happen? I think the brain/mind can be related to the Trinity: The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are separate, but if one didn't exist, things would be much different.

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   Ohmaposted 14 years ago

   This is probably not the most educated answer you will see but I have always thought of this like the brain is the powerplant and the mind is the computer.
   The brain will continue to function on back up so to speak if the mind stops working but if the brain stop so will everything else.
   You see this a lot an comma patients.

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      hubby7posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Interesting analogy. So your position is--it seems--that the brain and the mind are different entities, and that the brain is the more important of the two.

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   Rochelle Frankposted 14 years ago

   I can give you a piece of my mind-- but not a piece of my brain.

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      EFPotterposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Ha. This response made me giggle.

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         Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Same here. I chuckled at it too.

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      hubby7posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Rochelle, your comment tickled my funny bone, too.

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   Cagsilposted 14 years ago

   The brain is the physical organ. The mind is made of thoughts, images, consciousness/awareness of life, subconscious and conscience.
   
   These two things are one in the same, per se, because of the brain's physical make up includes energy which creates thoughts, images and emotions.
   
   Your brain functions via energy impulses, which creates your mind(psyche).
   
   I'm not expert in the mind, like millions of others, but that is as simple as I can explain my understanding of what you asked.

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      hubby7posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Nice reply. So you believe that both the brain and the mind are the same thing, with the former generating the latter. The brain being the more important of the two since the mind depends, you appear to argue, on the brain for its existence. In other words, the brain is the cause, and the mind is the effect.

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   marinealways24posted 14 years ago

   I think the mind is the awareness of the brain.

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      hubby7posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      You appear to be arguing that the mind is a subset of the brain, that whenever the brain is aware, the mind is present.

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   jenblacksheepposted 14 years ago

   I studied this a little during my degree (philosophy). There's a theory called Epiphenomonalism (I'm only telling you this because I like the name), which suggests that the electrical impulses that your brain gives off are what creates your mind. I'm not sure what I think about this, because I really don't know what I think about the whole mind/body thing.

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      hubby7posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      To my fellow philosophy major--I majored in philosophy, too--you and I both know that philosophy is more about raising questions than about supplying answers. As one of my profs would say: "If you want questions, study philosophy. If you want answers, study religion."

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   blondepoetposted 14 years ago

   I will have to think about this one

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      hubby7posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Me too.

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   waynetposted 14 years ago

   Yes they are the same, because my mind sounds the same, same voice and everything!

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      hubby7posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Your position is that both the brain and the mind are one. Okay.

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   Denno66posted 14 years ago

   The brain is an organ driven by electrical impulses. The mind is an essence that is, to date, beyond definitive explanation.

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      hubby7posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Interesting reply. You see the brain and the mind as different. One is organ, the other essence.

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         Denno66posted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Correct. The two camps of Philosophical Thought are and have been dancing around that issue for a good span of time now.

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    Stacie Lposted 14 years ago

    In a nutshell--the brain is a physical organ and the mind are the thoughts in the brain.
    One can't exist without the other...unless you are braindead..

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       hubby7posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I gather that you feel that the brain and  the mind are the same with the brain being the more dominant of the two: It's the set, and the mind is its subset.

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    thisisoliposted 14 years ago

    I have always considered the mind to be the concious manifestation of my brain.
    
    It is however a subject I know nothing much about, so it is merely a personal thought on the subject!

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       hubby7posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Good thought. None of us are experts here. Welcome to the club..

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