Do minds exist?

[MJGraham]

I'm skeptical about minds. As I see it...

We think, feel, and remember, but we do not have thoughts, feelings, or memories. We experience things, but do not have qualia. We perceive, but not have perceptions. There are no minds. There is no mental content.​

Can you change my "mind" about minds?

 

[Kharakov]

Nothing changes in a k-hole.

 

[MJGraham]

I had to look up k-hole. Now I know a little about it, I am still confused. Would you be willing to explain what you mean by "Nothing changes in a k-hole".

 

[ryan]

Then what experiences, perceives, etc?

 

[rousseau]

The term 'mind' has arisen as a term which specifies our ability to pay attention and care to specific problems that we find in the environment. Here, give the definition a read:

mind - to look after; take care of; tend:

It doesn't specify a real, physical thing, rather than the totality of a living thing's ability to solve external problems towards the end of survival. Here, give another definition a read:

mind - the totality of conscious and unconscious mental processes and activities.

 

[fromderinside]

The term 'mind' has arisen as a term which specifies our ability to pay attention and care to specific problems that we find in the environment. Here, give the definition a read:

mind - to look after; take care of; tend:

It doesn't specify a real, physical thing, rather than the totality of a living thing's ability to solve external problems towards the end of survival. Here, give another definition a read:

mind - the totality of conscious and unconscious mental processes and activities.

Mind is a folk psychology term attempting to explain organized awareness over some interval of time.

 

[Togo]

I'm skeptical about minds. As I see it...

We think, feel, and remember, but we do not have thoughts, feelings, or memories. We experience things, but do not have qualia. We perceive, but not have perceptions. There are no minds. There is no mental content.​

Can you change my "mind" about minds?

Ok.. Well let's start from the basics. The mental content that people you claim people don't have are reported with amazing consistency across the globe. By asking people to think or not think about certain things, you can manipulate the activation patterns in their brain, and their performance on certain tasks. How are these physical differences arising if there is no mental content?

 

[Speakpigeon]

The term 'mind' has arisen as a term which specifies our ability to pay attention and care to specific problems that we find in the environment. Here, give the definition a read:

mind - to look after; take care of; tend:

It doesn't specify a real, physical thing, rather than the totality of a living thing's ability to solve external problems towards the end of survival. Here, give another definition a read:

mind - the totality of conscious and unconscious mental processes and activities.

At least we know of our conscious activities so they exist as we know them and therefore the mind exists at least as our conscious activities as we know them. Excellent!

Personally, I don't think of the possible unconscious activities of my brain as part of my mind, which make things simpler still.
EB

 

[Speakpigeon]

The term 'mind' has arisen as a term which specifies our ability to pay attention and care to specific problems that we find in the environment. Here, give the definition a read:

mind - to look after; take care of; tend:

It doesn't specify a real, physical thing, rather than the totality of a living thing's ability to solve external problems towards the end of survival. Here, give another definition a read:

mind - the totality of conscious and unconscious mental processes and activities.

Mind is a folk psychology term attempting to explain organized awareness over some interval of time.

Are you at all organisedly aware?

Monday Mindfood -Today I Begin week 3 of Oprah & Deepak Manifesting True Success Meditation series.....These meditations have strengthen my personal meditation and my teaching of meditation....today I received clarity on the power of my organized awareness. Have you ever felt like you could not move beyond a certain feeling, emotion or thought? I have.....I've held on to things without awareness allowing it to stunt my success......No More!


Day 15 Success Organizes Itself
CENTERING THOUGHT
I use the organizing power of my awareness.


SANSKRIT MANTRA - Shree Gum Namah (I open my awareness to unlimited possibilities).
Get Organized!

And more!

Let's organise our awareness! Let's do an Awareness Organised Day!
EB

 

[Speakpigeon]

I'm skeptical about minds. As I see it...

We think, feel, and remember, but we do not have thoughts, feelings, or memories. We experience things, but do not have qualia. We perceive, but not have perceptions. There are no minds. There is no mental content.​

Can you change my "mind" about minds?

Ok.. Well let's start from the basics. The mental content that people you claim people don't have are reported with amazing consistency across the globe. By asking people to think or not think about certain things, you can manipulate the activation patterns in their brain, and their performance on certain tasks. How are these physical differences arising if there is no mental content?

If you go all objective I'm not sure how you could prove anything at all. All you actually know is precisely that which you probably call your mind. The rest is inference to the best explanation, i.e. beliefs, and people can always argue that brain processes are all that's required to explain the facts. I would even agree with them if I could get my mind to know that there is such a thing as a brain, let alone brain processes.
EB

 

[Speakpigeon]

I'm skeptical about minds. As I see it...

We think, feel, and remember, but we do not have thoughts, feelings, or memories. We experience things, but do not have qualia. We perceive, but not have perceptions. There are no minds. There is no mental content.​

Can you change my "mind" about minds?

Is there anything at all then?

What is it that you wouldn't be sceptical about that you wouldn't have any idea of save for your own mind?

Or is it that you don't have one? That may happen you know...

Also, when you say "we think", what's the "we" exactly that's doing all the hard thinking? Is that a subset of our neurons? The whole brain? Our bodies? The whole universe? Whichever, why any of these things should be said to exist at all as opposed to just one thing, say, reality, running smoothly as many processes as necessary to give us all this sweet illusion that there are a universe, galaxies, stars, people, your own body, and maybe your brain and a few neurons? If you can do away with the mind, surely you can do away with all the rest, except whatever exists which our hallucinatory minds could not conceivably start to fathom!!

Some minds do have very strange ideas...
EB

 

[DrZoidberg]

I'm skeptical about minds. As I see it...

We think, feel, and remember, but we do not have thoughts, feelings, or memories. We experience things, but do not have qualia. We perceive, but not have perceptions. There are no minds. There is no mental content.​

Can you change my "mind" about minds?

I think you need to add a definition of what you mean with "thoughts", "feelings" and "memories". Based on my definition I can prove all this easily, and I'm sure you can to. So my conclusion is that we have different working definitions. Same goes for "perceptions". As far as I'm concerned you've just listed singular and plural usages of the terms. If you have one you have the other.

"Mind" is a notoriously vague term. It's a bit like "soul". It's a metaphor for inner workings somehow. Nobody believes it's an actual physical thing.

 

[Speakpigeon]

"Mind" is a notoriously vague term. It's a bit like "soul". It's a metaphor for inner workings somehow. Nobody believes it's an actual physical thing.

I'm sure many people believe there is something physical that we take for, or somehow perceive as, the mind.

Do you not believe that for example there is something physical that you would take for, or somehow perceive as, a wooden table with four legs and two drawers?
EB

 

[DrZoidberg]

"Mind" is a notoriously vague term. It's a bit like "soul". It's a metaphor for inner workings somehow. Nobody believes it's an actual physical thing.

I'm sure many people believe there is something physical that we take for, or somehow perceive as, the mind.

Do you not believe that for example there is something physical that you would take for, or somehow perceive as, a wooden table with four legs and two drawers?
EB

I think a better analog is furniture to interior decorating. The mind and the brain occupy the same real estate, but they are not synonyms.

 

[Speakpigeon]

I'm sure many people believe there is something physical that we take for, or somehow perceive as, the mind.

Do you not believe that for example there is something physical that you would take for, or somehow perceive as, a wooden table with four legs and two drawers?
EB

I think a better analog is furniture to interior decorating. The mind and the brain occupy the same real estate, but they are not synonyms.

Hey, watch out, your metaphor just broke down at "but they are not synonyms". What do we do?

"Nonsensical" comes to mind, possibly to the brain as well, my mind wouldn't know of course.

English anyone?
EB

 

[Tristan Scott]

I think the mind is more of a process. I agree with DrZoidberg that the mind isn't synonymous with the brain, but instead is a process that our brain uses to respond to sensory input as well as the process of reasoning, the process of memory recall and emotional response and regulation.

 

[Speakpigeon]

I'm skeptical about minds. As I see it...

We think, feel, and remember, but we do not have thoughts, feelings, or memories. We experience things, but do not have qualia. We perceive, but not have perceptions. There are no minds. There is no mental content.​

Can you change my "mind" about minds?

Again it depends on what you mean by "mind", and "think" v. "thought" etc. That there are thoughts cannot be doubted by the thinking thing, only their nature is in question.

Of course, if you try to specify thoughts as physical or material things it doesn't seem to work so, as far as we know, physical or material thoughts don't exist but that's quite irrelevant to thoughts as they are experienced by the thinking thing. Of course, according to this, a thought is whatever you experience and want to call "a thought". That may make thoughts too elusive to become objects of scientific investigation but that's just something for scientists to worry about and I'm not sure they need to waste their time and budget on that.
EB

 

[dx713]

I think the mind is more of a process. I agree with DrZoidberg that the mind isn't synonymous with the brain, but instead is a process that our brain uses to respond to sensory input as well as the process of reasoning, the process of memory recall and emotional response and regulation.

Agreed. Mind seem to be the name we give to the emergent properties and/or the processes they enable, that the composition of our physical bodies (including the many neurons in our brains) create for perception, reasonning, communication, and interaction.
Thus, whether minds "exist" depends on the OP definition for "exist".

 

[aupmanyav]

SANSKRIT MANTRA - Shree Gum Namah (I open my awareness to unlimited possibilities).

"Shree Gam Namah".

The mantra on my wedding invitation card (48 years ago, selected by my parents. Was it my marriage or my son's marriage? - card selected by my wife. I do not exactly remember):
"Om Gam Ganapatye Namah"
Did not like it a wee bit.

 

[Speakpigeon]

SANSKRIT MANTRA - Shree Gum Namah (I open my awareness to unlimited possibilities).

"Shree Gam Namah".

The mantra on my wedding invitation card (48 years ago, selected by my parents. Was it my marriage or my son's marriage? - card selected by my wife. I do not exactly remember):
"Om Gam Ganapatye Namah"
Did not like it a wee bit.

I can explain it to you (or to your younger self).

This mantra integrates your awareness with the infinite organising power of Nature.

"I open my awareness" just means that you need to realise that something awesome is happening to you, you little brat of no worth.

“Unlimited possibilities” just refers to the DNA of one's potential future progeny as it will evolve ad infinitum according to the arbitrariness of combination and mutation and the selective power of the environment.

Something not to be careless about.

Om Gam Ganapatye Namah indeed.
EB