Rethink The Mind Analysis

In David Armstrong’s thought-provoking work titled, The Nature of Mind, he explains that the most convincing way to make sense of the mind-body problem is to approach it in a materialistic way. Specifically, Armstrong shows that the science of physico-chemical processes of the brain is the best way to explain the nature of our mind. He goes on to explain traditional and dispositional behaviorism, and states his own materialistic take on behaviorism. His arguments throughout his paper are very logical, and though there have been arguments against his explanations, he effectively justifies the materialistic view of the mind.

Despite the use of humor, the speaker of “Forgetfulness” establishes both a melancholic and deeply reflective tone in order to analyze both the inevitability of forgetfulness and the heartache that comes with it. Employing humor, Collins appeals to his audience and conveys the universal experience of forgetting memories as you grow older, “well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those / who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle” (18-19). The speaker humorously contradicts the old bicycle cliché that states that once you learn how to ride it, you never forget. According to the speaker, however, you do forget. And if you can forget how to ride a bicycle, you can certainly forget everything else. In no time, you will be blindly sinking into oblivion, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. On the surface, the speaker’s musings appear quite humorous. However, Collins’ words reveal an undeniable truth about the human condition -- that growing older and forgetfulness are inevitable. The speaker continues to emphasize this idea by comparing life itself to an individual trying to remember a book they once read:

Anyone reading Joshua Foer’s “The End of Remembering” can assume that he knows a lot about the brain and how it works. After all he graduated from Yale in 2004, and later went on to become the 2006 United States Memory Champion. With Foer’s interest in mental athletes he decided to do a journalism project to study them. This project would end up being the result of his book, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything from which “The End of Remembering” is one of the chapters. In this chapter Foer’s lays a solid foundation of the development of writing. He also includes historical views of remembering and how we learned in terms of our memory. Foer not only gives historical views but supports his claims with science

Per the theory, the mind is about mental processes, thought and consciousness. The body is about the physical aspects of the brain-neurons and how the brain is structured. The mind-body problem is about how these two interact. One of the biggest questions in psychology and philosophy concerns the mind/body problem: If they are distinct, then how do they interact? And which of the two is in charge? Many theories have been put forward to explain the relationship between what we call your mind, so defined as the conscious thinking 'you' which experiences your thoughts or spiritual being and your brain, part of your body. However, the most common explanation concerns the question of whether the mind and body are separate entities or the same thing. While asking and recording my responses for this particular exercise a few came up with the choice number 4 which stated, “Nonphysical things cannot casually interact with physical things “ when comparing it , your mind being able to interact with physical things in general was immediately shut down , that it was not possible, that you cannot casually interact , between the mind and the outside world at a whim, with-out some kind of training to understanding the non-physical things

For each, be sure and: (1) describe the area of study, (2) discuss the views of at least ONE major thinker associated with that area of study, and (3) explain what that area of study contributed to the attempt to reconcile the mind-body problem.

Researchers believe that if people hold on to negative feelings, melancholy emotions, and depressing memories it could reshape their brain to where their thoughts can have a damaging effect on their human cells and physical health (Harjee). If people stay attached to these miserable thoughts, they’ll never be able to experience anything remotely uplifting in the future. All they will be able to think about is the horrible mistakes and miserable consequences from their past and never learn from it. An example would be if a teacher made mistakes in the classroom and keeps reminding themselves of the mistake they made. Kevin Goodyear, a teacher who specializes on performance of fine arts said, ““If I let those mistakes govern my life and I constantly dwell on the negative consequences of those mistakes, I cannot improve and I become pessimistic and poor natured” (Goodyear). Hanging on to negative thoughts can destroy in ways people would have never thought were possible. It is like staying in a locked jail cell when having the key to open it in the lock of the door.

Puissant, complex, sinister, twisted, is the human mind. The human mind is that without a moon, dark and warped. The human mind is that without the stars, sinful and impure thus corrupting others. The human mind even considered ‘sane’ is in contrast unconscious. This depiction of the human mind is depicted through the governess, who has hallucinations of ghosts, in Henry James’ Turn of the Screw. The governess, the young protagonist of this novella, moved to Bly to be a governess of two children, Miles and Flora, whom are strangers to her. Also, upon her interviewing to be governess she fell madly in love with her potential employer. Due to the governess’ job and her sexual repression, the governess’ mind is unconscious due to Freud’s theory which thus enables the diagnostic of the governess to be that she has schizophrenia.

Memory – what it is, how it works, and how it might be manipulated – has long been a subject of curious fascination. Remembering, the mind-boggling ability in which the human brain can conjure up very specific, very lucid, long-gone episodes from any given point on the timeline of our lives, is an astounding feat. Yet, along with our brain’s ability of remembrance comes also the concept of forgetting: interruptions of memory or “an inability of consciousness to make present to itself what it wants” (Honold, 1994, p. 2). There is a very close relationship between remembering and forgetting; in fact, the two come hand-in-hand. A close reading of Joshua Foer’s essay, “The End of Remembering”, and Susan Griffin’s piece, “Our Secret”, directs us

Describe what evolutionary psychologists mean when they employ the term ‘theory of mind’. Use examples and research studies from Book 1, Chapter 2 to show why this theory is important in evolutionary psychology.

Naturally, life is a continuous cycle of experience and learning. Yet often times so much is buried in our lives that we fail to remember or recall what we have learned. Memories that range from miniscule facts to important emotions can often leave unknowingly from our mind. Billy Collin’s “Forgetfulness” shows how memories are delicate and fragile, and that the process of forgetting is one that is nonchalant. Billy Collins effectively blends subtle humor and irony with a dramatic tone shift to explain that ideas and facts that people think are important flee the mind, showing that nothing good can last. Although he refers to memories in a lighthearted, thoughtful manner, the poem gradually shifts (just

In everyone’s life there is a moment that is so dreadful and horrific that it is best to try to push it further and further back into your mind. When traumatized by death for example it is very natural to shut off the memory in order to self-defense suppresses the awful emotional experience. Very often it is thoughtful that this neglecting and abandoning is the best way to forget. In Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved, memory is depicted as a dangerous and deliberating faculty of human consciousness. In this novel Sethe endures the oppression of self imposed prison of memory by revising the past and death of her daughter Beloved, her mother and Baby Suggs. In Louise Erdrich’s

is and also who brought the mind and body problem to light. This will be done by

The Science of Mind philosophy is not an abstract spiritual theory, but rather, a study of Consciousness, and, specifically, our expression of It. Ernest Holmes considered this study of Mind to be a science, in that it correlates principles and practices that can be applied and proven to be effective. Even so, the correlation of principles and practices is not what makes the Science of Mind a practical philosophy to live by. Anyone can deduce principles and devise practices that enhance and advance their favorite theory of everything. Every religiously minded group has done just that. Science of Mind distinguishes itself as a practical philosophy because of its teachings on the nature of Law, and its emphasis on the application of the principles of this Law in our life.

The stability of the mind is uncertain in the medical field. Even though researches about how the mind works has helped us developed a better understanding about the human mind and its behavior, they have failed to give us a complete and knowledgeable concrete answer to all the questions of its deep studies. The human mind is still a very abroad subject to medicine. What makes a mind stable and what triggers mental illnesses is a question that will still be unknown to the medical field for more years to come. The understanding of the mind is a quest that has started since the beginning of human civilization and it has not stopped. The mind is an organ of its own, and it develops its own unique style of evolution through time. It is a very small organ that is responsible for the function of the human body. All our functions come from there, the way we speak, think and behave. As all other organs, it also has its own illnesses that for many centuries we have tried to understand. The illness of the mind still has no cure and what science has found only contributes to the temporary solution, but not the cure of the illness. One of the most severe forms of mental illness is Schizophrenia. This illness has tormented people since the beginning of history. Schizophrenia, the illness that is still very mysterious to medicine; the symptoms, the cause, diagnosis, types of schizophrenia and the medication are not the solutions for a lasting illness.

William Blake, a poet that strongly believed in the power of mind, once wrote, "if we see with imagination, we see all things in the infinite." The Romantic poets use their imagination when gazing at nature, and therefore see and feel the infinite through their poetry. William Wordsworth expresses the serene beauty that nature possesses and its calming effects on the mind. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, one of the poetic geniuses of the age, uses nature and his imagination to create surreal atmospheres. Another Romantic poet, by the name of Percy Bysshe Shelley, shows great longing for the freedom that nature possesses and the freeing effect it has on him. These poets of the Romantic period look at nature from a higher consciousness