Nothing can't be something, something can be nothing. The mind

The mind and the brain. A complicated inter web of chemical processes that is desperately attempted at being defined as two separate entities. But is it really? Not necessarily, no. Think of a seed becoming a plant, only as an isolated event. Not how it got there, or why it got there. In order for a plant to exist, it must sprout from a seed. But a seed need not become a plant to exist. The brain is to the mind as a seed is to a plant. The brain can exist without a mind; a seed can exist without becoming a plant. However, a mind cannot exist without a brain and a plant cannot exist without a seed. One may bring up the point of clipping a plant and cloning it to become another plant. But that would fall back on the need for the initial seed to have sprouted. A mind only exists within the brain. It cannot be separated from it. If the mind were indeed separate, then where is it and why would it stay connected to us? We experience our mind behind our eyes, our perception, and our senses. So then would it not make sense for it to be in there, beneath the flesh and within the brain? Our vision comes from our brain, as do our thoughts. Our vision projects out onto the horizon, but it doesn’t exist or occur from without. It is a result of our optical nerve. Our thoughts are to our mind as vision is to the optical nerve. The abstract, the logical, and the radical thoughts that make us who we are cannot exist from outside of us. What’s keeping them separate? What would prevent other people’s minds from bumping into my own and merging mine with their thoughts? If that were the case, bumping minds, would I not feel it? My mind is a part of me; if it is spacial then it should press against things. To imply that the mind exists externally implies that it is something tangible. I can’t grab onto thoughts or emotions, I cannot hold “sad” or “happy” in my hand. If the mind truly was external, should I not be able to touch it? Should I not be able to feel its affects physically against my skin, or find it somewhere near me? The abstract thoughts such as "I wish I was a dragon" come from the same thing that something as simple as "I'm hungry, I want food" comes from. What is the difference between them? Just the complexity really, but they are coming from the same thing which is desire. Both those are expressions of desire. One is simply more blatantly cause and effect from a rumble in our gut. This is the complexity of humans. We go so far out into thought we come up with crazy, insane notions. That may explain why the next jump is that we have a mind separate from the body? Does it need to exist outside of the body? No, it does not. There is no logical conclusion that anyone could come up with for a mind to have to exist, as a necessity, separately from the body. For the mind to exist outside of the body it would have to be spacial. It would have to be something of nothing, in the notions it has been described to me. If it really is there, outside of the brain, it should be able to be seen. One might bring up the point that you cannot see oxygen. The only problem with that point is that the presence of oxygen is a testable situation. If I am breathing, and not turning blue, that is an obvious indicator of the presence of oxygen. If that is not enough, then let us light a match. Does it burst into a flame? Yes it does due to the presence of oxygen. The point I would make to further that it cannot exist externally, is nothing would hold it here. The opposition may state that ideas, thoughts, and memories can exist outside of us. Yes they do, but within a medium. Much like the brain to the mind. I can say “I once hiked on Long’s Peak when I was young.” That idea has no spacial qualities, and I cannot see it. However, I experienced it and other people experienced it. It has a memory to back it, and maybe even a visual document of this. This piece of writing, in fact, is an external representation of my mind. These are my thoughts finding a medium; finding a concrete existence from my brain to my nerves to the black plastic cushioned by my fingertips onto the screen. These phrases, words, and symbols are a result of my mind. In order for them to become something concrete, they are fully dependent on my brain function. If my brain does not work, then my fingers will not work and my ideas would never become ink on paper. These thought and ideas that come from the mind are a product of extraordinarily high brain functions that occurs in the frontal lobes of humans. A cognitive mind is a result of that. It is nothing holy, or supernatural. The mind existing outside the body has no means of being tested and confirmed that it is such, and no visual documentation to back that claim. It is simply a result of a chemical process from within our brain. Furthermore, have you ever noticed that the coma patient or severely mentally ill seem to have lost their mind? The coma patient is completely unconscious, and the mentally ill patient has gone completely into dementia. Both of them have their brains, but the mind is gone. There's no doubt about that. Where did the mind go? Did it not like its person? If the mind was indeed separate, it makes no sense for situations like the previous to be the only case for the mind to disappear. Why aren’t minds just getting up and leaving everyone? Where are they going? How can that be explained rationally along with the dualistic idea? It cannot be. The fact that the mind does not leave the completely healthy person shows that it is in fact dependent on the brains proper function. Therefore, the mind and brain are in fact one and the same and the mind must exist within our brain.

An Introduction

I am a first year student at Front Range Community College, I'm majoring in Anthropology. The reason I chose Anthropology was because I've always had a major fascination with the Ancient Egyptian culture. Eventually, I would like to examine mummies. Identify who they were, see what ailments afflicted them, so on and so forth. Another major interest of mine is Philosophy, I think that stems from the enjoyment I get from arguing and discussing heated topics. The discussions that spur within many a philosophical topic are always interesting. I want to use this blog to post writings I have spent some decent amounts of time on through research and contemplation, and to further my appreciation for science and philosophy.