Nick’s Granddad died yesterday. It reminds me that even a long life isn’t very long. If I live to be 80 then I’m almost 30% of the way through the journey.
Since most of our life is experienced internally in our head and a relatively small amount of it contains physical actions or verbal communication, who I am has little to do with my body (excluding my brain). For the most part, life is made up of my own thoughts and dreams and discussions… all which take place in my head and with myself. So I assume that when I’m 30 or 40, my self-perception won’t have changed much. My ideas about the world will no doubt have changed with additional information and life experiences, but who I am (which is the part of me that is ageless) will essentially stay intact my entire life; perhaps that’s why you hear older people talk about how they don’t feel old. Do our minds age, or just our bodies?
I think the Cartesian concept of dualism is interesting and it trips me out to think about the separation of mind-body and the obvious dilemma of interaction between the two. Some make an altogether additional distinction of mind-body-soul. Then the question is, which part of you is the soul and how is that different than your mind if your mind is not your brain?
Hmm… I need to think about this some more…
11 Responses to “Thinking about life & Descartes”
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Twitter: EstherCrawford
- @jeffreine that bridge gives me chills
- @jeffreine yep! and watched tv ... I'm pretty sure every night should end like that
- @soccerhaus it was pretty hilarious... then another couple came in and started making out too.. it never ended
December 26th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
Choose one of your best photos and use it to join ItsJustLooks.com for FREE! :-D
December 17th, 2006 at 11:04 pm
Concerning the mind-body problem, I’m somewhat partial to physicalism. It solves a lot of the problems (but it might create another one or two).
What do you think? Why do you think that most Christians seem to make some sort of commitment to Cartesian dualism?
December 16th, 2006 at 3:07 am
What about the concept of the Universal Mind? Does it age as well? What if it gets Dementia? Are we all screwed? On the whole age 30 thing, I can tell you that one does not necessarily get wiser or more knoweldgable. I’ve seemed to have decompensated through the years. I knew everything about everything back then and now I know virtually nothing. I’m about 80% body and 20% soul. After checking my BMI, I checked my BSR (Body Soul Ratio.)
December 16th, 2006 at 2:53 am
Hey, Esther….you are wise beyond your years. I can’t believe you were 14 when Jonathan and I got together and now you’re the same age I was back then. Enjoy every moment – it goes by fast! I miss you!
December 15th, 2006 at 6:04 pm
Chris says:
send me the new pics of Esther, por favor. and let her know (based on her Xanga entry) that the teenager’s brain isn’t anywhere near maturity. they have incomplete frontal lobe development, which is part of the reason that they say “like” all the time.
December 15th, 2006 at 12:56 pm
“So I assume that when I’m 30 or 40, my self-perception won’t have changed much.” ~~~~~
Hate to brake it to you but you will definatly change a lot through your 30s & 40s, after marriage, and a baby. Truly, your life changing events haven’t even happened yet! Your perception, ideas, truths, and views may all change even if a fraction.
When you are married you are no longer your own. You are a part of someone & they are a part of you. Then when you have a child your views change again. The world looks different & somehow you become someone you never imagined. That will change you inside & out. You are now a mother! Ohhhhh yes….you will change MUCH!
So hold onto you seat…….life is just begining for you!
xoxox sis
December 15th, 2006 at 9:12 am
Yes the brain and the mind ages, and I’ve determined that I would rather sense my physical capabilities slipping away rather than my mental capabilities because of the sadness that I’ve seen in the people that I’ve met in nursing homes and elsewhere. Situations where they knew they were losing it but felt powerless about it. In that case, what good is it to have the physical. Ideally, it would be like my granddad, where he was mentally fit to the very end, and his body was right there with him until shortly before the end. And for 89 years! That’s more than most and a pretty good way to be old. See you in a week!
December 15th, 2006 at 8:25 am
Maybe for YOU “most of [y]our life is experienced internally” but that’s cuz you’re always thinking. That’s certainly not the case for me.
December 15th, 2006 at 5:15 am
I think the mind resides in the brain, as you can damage any other part of your body and be able to mentally function just fine. Yet the slightest damage to the brain can bring a whole manner of mental maladies.
As for the soul, I think it is like your physical body, but instead it exists in the spiritual realm. People who have near-death experiences are able to think and see, so it seems that the soul must contain the mind. At the same time the mind is also affected by the physical body. Maybe the brain is like a (I want to say conduit) for the soul to interact with your physical body. Maybe the mind is the link between body and soul.
It’s a lot to think about, which, Esther, I have noticed many of your posts cause me to do :D
December 14th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
Yeah, I was also thinking about physical diseases that damage the brain. I think you’re right that certainly brains age, it’s been proven than teenagers are only able to access limited portions of certain regions because they aren’t fully developed. I was thinking about how dualists are able to get around that because they don’t think the mind and brain are synonymous. Btw, thanks for the very nice compliment. =)
December 14th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
I do think that the mind ages as well. My thought patterns are quite different now than they were when I was 18. And the mind, at least, is definitely tied intimately to the body. Altzheimers is a physical disease, yet it has profound effects on the mind. Brain damage can fundamentally alter a person’s personality. Who we are and how we identify ourselves as human beings is dependent largely on brain chemistry.
Uh oh. Fire drill. Gotta go. More later.
You’re good people, Esther. Folks ought to hear that more often. ;-)