Mind-Body Problem

Mind-Body Problem

When you change your story, you change your life.  –Freddy Martini

The Setup

“It is all in your mind.”  “You are just imagining things.”  “You are living in a dream world.”

You have heard it.  You have said it.  And, that, my friends is the danger.

What is Real

It is not a question, “What is real?” but a statement “What is real.”  Since Descartes came on the scene around 500 years ago, this problem has been with us – Je pense; alors, je suis (I think, therefore I am).  It is the Mind in a Vat.  It is the Ghost in the Machine.  It is The Matrix – yes, the famous movie.  How do I know if I am dreaming right now?  How would I know if I were inside the matrix like Neo, Morpheus and Trinity? 

The Problem

You don’t.  You cannot know whether or not you are in The Matrix. 

How do external physical objects get into the mind?  Perhaps through the sensory organs.  And, this creates other problems such as, how much distortion happens when perception passes through the sensory organs.  How much of this woman I perceive in front of me corresponds to something physically out there?  This leads us to Immanuel Kant, and perhaps even to Berkeley.  Do we verify that what we perceive is actually out there?  Well, anything we perceived as “out there” has to be perceived through something, like an eye or an ear, so, no, we cannot get to the difference between what we perceive in the mind and what is “really” out there.

Do unicorns exist?  We may be tempted to say, “No.”  However, there are two problems with this answer.  The first is the Problem of Induction – observations cannot prove propositions – one discovery of a black swan destroys the proposition that all swans are white.  The other problem is the nature of reality.  If I can conceive something, then I can count it as real.  The unicorn is real – it is in my mind, my mind is real, thoughts are real, and thus, this unicorn is real.

What is the answer to this?  You may say I am using my imagination, and that I have never seen a unicorn in reality.  But – slow down – what is real again?  Are the contents of my mind real?  If the answer is yes, then unicorns really exist.  Now, this sounds bizarre, perhaps to some.  But, let us take this one step further into the Philosophy of Mind.

Numbers and Reality

So, the contents of the mind are real, but we are doubtful that we can say that unicorns are real, right?  I mean, this is just for crazy people right?  Well, read on.

The square root of 2.  √2  What is this?  It is a mathematical concept.  I find a number and multiply it times itself and get the number 2.  The square root of 2.  Simple mathematics.  If you are still with me, let us now go one step further.  Is this number real?  Not many would deny the reality of the square root of 2.  However, where does this number exist?  Is this number out there in external reality outside of our minds?  Think carefully about this.  The answer is “no.”  Nobody can point with their finger to something out there in reality called the square root of 2. 

If you are still with me, we have established that there is this real thing called the square root of 2, and it does not exist as a physical object.  It is a mathematical concept – it is a relational concept.  It is just a concept.  It is not an object.  It is not physical.  You cannot perform an experiment to determine the physical characteristics of the square root of two. 

And, if you are still following, we can go one more step into the abyss and declare the same thing about all numbers.  How does this work?  Well, point to me in physical space the number 127.  Nobody can.  Point to me in physical space where I can find the number 5.  You cannot.  Numbers are not physical existents.  Here is the shocking take-away:

Numbers exist only in the Mind 

If you have trouble wrapping your head around this, a little trick to bring you back to the idea is as follows.  Always remember to think about the square root of 2 and try to point to it in the physical world.  That will bring you back to clear thinking about the concept of physical existents versus existents that can only be in the mind.  Try to get this clear in your mind before going further.  When you have this clear in your mind, you are ready to dance on the edge of the abyss!

The Mind Body Problem

If we have no way of connecting something as simple and real as numbers to physical reality, then how do we say that unicorns do not exist?  How can we say that dreams are not real?  How can we separate fantasy from reality?  You have now jumped into the abyss and are now dancing with me in the abyss.  Come join the party.  It is fun down here!  Okay, let us get back to the discussion.

What is it like to see the color red?  Can you perform experiments to determine how I see the color red?  Can you hook up wires to my head and observe how I see red?  Can you hook up wires to my head and observe how I experience a cool fresh glass of pure pristine water?  Can these wires and this equipment determine how this woman sitting at the edge of the bar experiences that elegant taste of Martini in her glass?

No.  Absolutely not.  You cannot get to the interiority of the mind except your own. 

But this interiority - this experience of ours - is absolutely real.  It is often more real than external physical reality.  People with depression can testify to this.

The Problem of Science

Modern science focuses on the Objective – an object external to the subject.  Modern science cannot get to my experience – the Subjective.  However, the Subjective is perhaps even more real than the objects science measures!  When people dismiss things as purely Subjective, they are making a critical and perhaps fatal mistake: the mistake of blindness.  One cannot know the various hues, themes and variations of reality by excluding “Subjective” reality.  The Philosophy of Existentialism has a lot to say about the Subject.

What does science say about the Subject?  Nothing.  Science deals with objects.  It deals with people as Objects.  It deals with emotions, desire, and love as an object of study.  This is where it is incomplete. 

Here is the core issue of science: Science only deals with half of reality: The Objects.  Science cannot deal with the other half of reality: The Subjective.

With a scientific worldview, you are only getting things half right.  You are blinding yourself to most of reality to fit the methodology of investigating physical objects. 

Here is the shocking truth: In the Mind-Body Dichotomy, Science has chosen to look at the Body, and has closed off all investigations of Mind as illegitimate. 

This is where people make a fatal mistake of dismissing religion, literature and art – the other half of human reality.  And, this other half of human reality is where the Soul resides – the identity of who we are, why we are here, and where we go from here, and why we get up in the morning and choose the hard life of Existentialism instead of the easy life of comfort and ease.

Physical science cannot explain Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, Napoleon, or Louis XIV, because the Mind – the other half of reality – explains these things, and not physical science.  Where is the equation for Steve Jobs?  What hypothesis can we put forth that produces another Thomas Edison? 

Stories

Humans relate to each other by telling stories.  We pretend to reason with one another and discuss things.  However, in all cases, the things we say must meet a certain expectation.  Think about the English language.  Subject ->Verb –>Object.  Often, western languages are structured for cause and effect relations.  The Subject ->Verb –>Object structure is based upon cause and effect, but also tells a story.  What is cause and effect?  A story.  When I flip a switch and then a light comes on, this is cause and effect, but it is also a story.  When the laws of physics tell us that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, it explains cause and effect, but at the same time fitting the narrative of a story.  Even science is a narrative – a story.  We cannot think or communicate outside of narratives and stories.

But stories can be rewritten.  We can write our own stories.  As long as they sound plausible and fit the structure of a story, they work.  The Greek and Roman gods were grand narratives and stories.  The Old and New Testaments are full of stories that have survived the test of time.  These stories are printed on pages, yes, but they only come to life in our minds.  On page, these stories are paper and ink – physical artifacts of no value.  When they enter our minds, they come alive – and give us life in the process.

Your Story

The only thing that matters is what you believe.  You can rewrite a lot of what you are thinking.  Steve Jobs rewrote a lot of our scripts for what we want in interpersonal communications.  You are probably not Steve Jobs, but you can rewrite a lot more of your scripts than you perhaps give yourself credit for.

So, what is your story?  Which stories sustain you?  Which ones give you life? 

Change your narrative – your story – and change your life.

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Freddy Martini