That physical objects might not exist as we naively conceive them is one profound question. But the separate existence of mind and matter is equally problematical.
We naively think things are matter or they are mind. Mental things are thoughts, or ideas. They contrast with matter. The main difference, I suppose is that only I can experience my thoughts, but any material thing can be experienced by anyone with the sense organs, etc, to perceive it.
Real things have mass, size, locations, etc. Whereas mental things do not - although we do say:
'This thought is weighing heavily upon me',
'I imagined a big house', and
'I think in my head'.
this may be merely a way of speaking.
We do think in normal life about mind and matter as being ways to talk about thoughts and objects (or processes). But some thinkers deny the existence of mental events - believing everything is matter. And some deny the existence of material things - believing everything is mind.
The scientific theory of reality might lead us to believe that we can only know 'mental events', but, just as rationally it might also lead us to believe that these are really matter.
If mind and matter are totally different - how can one affect the other? How can we think 'I'll go to town' and our material bodies actually go to town? How can a thought which is totally different from a physical event affect my actions? Clearly, it could not. Furthermore, if mind and matter are totally separate, then how could we even know of the other? As 'mind' does affect 'matter' and we do experience both mind and matter, then they cannot be totally separate. That is, what we call mind and what we call matter cannot be totally separate 'substances'.
These are some of the reasons why many thinkers believe everything is either mind or matter but not both. Western society is materialistic, and denies the existence of mind; whereas Eastern society thinks everything is mind.
Many of us think wrongly that our thoughts, our mind, are sacred and hidden (protected) from the world, from others knowing more than we allow them to see. Those who know us well can see through our thoughts and poke holes in that theory. Our eyes, our body language and our actions speak clearly what is on our mind and it becomes matter visible to the world through our features...very few of us are really good at concealing our thoughts.
ReplyDeleteVery naturally and without cognizance, our mind impacts matter through all that we do...mind and matter are not separate 'substances'. You are correct in the Eastern societal focus on mind...Elkhart Tolle's book, The Power of Now, focuses on letting go of our mind's thoughts, harnessing the stillness within and living in the now...not something most Westerners are particularly good at doing.
I agree, again for me it all points back to QM and designing/making one’s own version of systemic reality.
ReplyDeleteAs said before, a human thought can travel so fast that it reaches the end of the universe and back. Meaning if this is true why do we think within boxes? - sad I say, sad.