Dualism vs. Monism

People have wondered for a long time: are the mind and body two different things, or just one thing? Some think the mind is like a ghost in a machine (Dualism). Others think the mind is just what the brain does, like how a song is what a guitar does (Monism). When you feel happy, is that just a chemical, or is it something more? Thinking about this helps you decide how you want to see the world and yourself.

Is the song the guitar or the music? Is the mind the brain or the feeling? Maybe the question itself is the answer. They were never separate.

The Mind-Body problem: consciousness (mental) versus brain (physical). Cartesian Dualism: mind and matter are distinct substances. Physicalism (Monism): everything is physical; consciousness is emergent. If Monism is true, mapping every neuron would theoretically solve the person. If Dualism has merit, qualia may always escape physical description. Central to neuroscience and AI.

SOUND: A song: is the music the physical vibrations or the feeling you get?

SMELL: A rose: is the scent in the flower or in your mind?

TASTE: A lemon: the physical pucker versus the mental thought sour!

TOUCH: Pinch your arm: the pinch happens in the body, but the ouch happens in the mind.

SIGHT: A mirror: do you see a body or do you see yourself?

BODY: Try to feel your mind: you can only find it by feeling your body. Where does one end and the other begin?

Music: All At Once by The Fray

Music: Atlantis by Donovan

Part of Mind & Body — PHILOSOPHY — Education Revelation