Mind-Body Problem

Hi again!
Today I was reading about the mind-body problem.  Generally, i prefer to think of it as the  mind-brain problem, since that is what is boils down to in my experience.  I'm getting ahead of myself though. Skip the next three paragraphs if you are familiar with the mind-body problem.

To summarize, the mind-body problem is concerned with what makes up your average human.  Specifically, its about the relationship between the mind (that part of us that is sentient and conscious) and the body/brain (the physical organ).  How do they interact?  Does the mind control what the body does somehow, or it is the brain that controls and the mind is an illusion?  There are many schools of thought on this, more than I can describe and probably more than you want to hear about, so I'll move on.

This belief controls how we think about each other on a daily basis (or does it?).  A common example, Adam asks Bob for help.  Bob, being a decent fellow, tries to find out what the cause of Adam's problem is.  Adam says "I'm feeling suicidal" (that went dour quickly).  Now Bob is faced with a decision that involves the mind-body problem.  There are two extreme cases. If Bob believes that the mind is an illusion, he might attribute Adam's distress to some physical interactions, like environment, or diet.  If Bob believes that the body is an illusion, he might attribute Adam's distress to his self-worth, or recent ideas that Adam had heard.

Now, most people don't go so far as to believe either side is an illusion.  At the very least, you have to admit that people use both models to think about themselves and eachother.  Indeed, while philosophers seem happy to argue back and forth about which is the one true cause of a given action, you and I can live happily applying both as seems appropriate.

Okay, so that was a very long summary.  I'll try to cut back on the word count next time.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that the body and brain are the 'cause' of the mind.  The mind is merely an abstraction of mental state that flows along with the state of the brain itself.  You're likely wondering "So you believe your thoughts can't interact with your body, change how it acts" to which I reply YES.  I don't believe my thoughts in any way dictate what my body does.  However, I DO believe that they are a useful method of measuring it's state, as they represent a simplier version or it's state.

I don't believe that the mind can predict the bodies reactions, either.  There is simply too much data incoming to the brain for it to be able to model itself.  Think of the cross-section of neurons that enter the brain containing the senses.  For the brain to model itself, it would need to designat at least a portion of its own neuron to simulating that input, and the lost neurons would affect the accuracy negatively.  It would be like a study in which 20 of the 100 patients pretended to be the doctors, and the other 80 patients pretended to be 100 patients. It simply won't be accurate.

(Side thought; what if you consistently removed neuron from your reactions purely so they could act as fake input.  Oh wait, maybe that's why our brains are big? I need to research more.  Now I'm questioning my assumptions, but I'll finish this letter for you anyhow.)

Does this mean we are all machines, doomed to be something since birth?  Well, yes, but there is a rather big qualification to all of this.  Just because I believe that my mind is a function of my body's state does not mean I can, or should, go off thinking whatever I want.  "But thinking things won't effect reality at all, you said so!" yes, BUT the body's state can change.  By reading this, you've allowed me to interact with your brain (holy shit, right?).  I want your body to be as good, or even better, than it was before.  If you starting thinking about things that are unrelated to what your body is doing, there is a problem with your brain (hopefully minor, we all have them) and you should treat it as such.

This is why a statement like "Don't think about it too much and it will go away" has some worthwhile meaning.  Not because it is giving an instruction to your mind and the mind can fix the problem.  Rather, it is worthwhile because the mind that is the window to the brain, and that command will be parsed in such a way as to effect the brain itself.  Thinking about it anyway is just an indication that current inputs haven't fixed it.

Also?  Talking about everything in terms of the body is difficult, but using the simplifications of the mind and sentience allow for faster communication and clearer thought.  Yes, I said it.  USE the language that you know as it is specifically because it is the best, most efficient organization of your brain thus far!  Even if "I want ice cream" assumes the existence of a sentient "I", it's still a HELL of a lot more useful than alternates (I'm unable to think of an alternate right now).

Anyway... I don't know if any of that made sense.  If I was a perfectionist, I'd redo it from scratch, but... mreh.  You know me, trying to cover too many topic with too little information.

Anyhow, Best of luck in all you do,
Fillyosopher

PS I'm going to try to use more pictures in my future posts, because I know this wall of text produced boredom and fear.