Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenny  Thanks for trying Jeroenvm, this has just confused me more. I think it is the wacky and fairly unclear division between what is happening in the brain versus what is happening in the mind that gets me stuck...  I should go back and read Steve's post again and maybe things will make more sense. |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Lapierre Tracing those threads to either form, or recall a puzzle set, is what goes on in the mind. The puzzle pieces and threads themselves are the brain. |
I completely agree with Mark, but... I feel that his explanation sheds more light on the brain part than on the mind part of consciousness. This may be (at least in part) caused by a bias in the way the question was put. Especially the phrase "what is happening in the mind" implies the assumption that something
happens in the mind. It is my personal conviction that stuff only 'happens' in the brain. These happenings
are observed by the mind. If you like the verb "to happen", I believe that 'choice' can be defined as "whatever the mind happens to observe". Why choice? Because there appears to be a certain amount of freedom in how the brain responds to its environment.
Basically this is the old mind/body problem. If the mind controls the body, and the mind is 'spiritual' or 'metaphysical' rather than physical, then any influence that the mind has on the body will violate physical 'laws'. Either that or the law must be extended, which only moves the boundary between the physical and the nonphysical and doesn't solve anything. Of course, when the so called physical 'laws' don't uniquely determine the path of a physical stucture like the brain, there is a certain freedom for a nonphysical entity like the mind to trace a path just by choosing what to observe.
To use another game metaphor: the mind is like a game of memory: at every turn it looks at a two cards. if they are the same it gains a point, otherwise it gains knowledge, there is always a gain
. To make this really similar to what the mind does, there should be no actions involved, only attention. So imagine that all cards are lying open, the pictures clearly visible to the 'player'. The player focuses her attention on two cards. If they are the same she is happy, otherwise she knows where those two pictures are. The only way to keep this game interesting is with zenlike mental dicipline!
This is still all about 'maps'. Only you can understand your own mind. Please share... what do
you think?
Jeroen