Is it really mind over matter?
Wow, it's been like 4 months since my last post. My books is coming slowly, it turned out to be quite complex and full on intricate details, almost like a fractal; for some this might be a little too much for a book, but for me it means everything, because the universe is just as intricate as the story.
Enough about that. I'm going to make a little digression on the whole "mind over matter" issue, mostly because is taken as a fact that the mind can do lots of interesting things and its responsible for the way we perceive reality. This position was discussed by Kant and German Idealism, it was the mind that gave structure to the whole universe, looking back at what Anaxagoras has once called "Nous", the "mind" that gives order to the chaos that is the universe.
This whole concept survived long enough to permeate psychology too. Therapy is based on changing the way the mind perceives reality to offer a cure to a certain illness. As we know, the mind is where consciousness lies with all of its layers; however, the mind can control only matter and that is the body that it dwells, nothing beyond that point.
Many shows in the seventies showed people who could bend spoons with their mind or move things (telekinesis) but so far nothing has been scientifically tested, yet if you look other aspects of life, people who have illnesses can trace them back to certain aspects of the mind such as emotions. Hypnosis proved its benefits by altering the way the mind operates. So, how far can reach the mind? Plato might have been right after all: the body is nothing but a prison for the mind, which cannot escape due to the heavy imposition of the senses. We have found a way to tap into the mind, but it is definitely not over the matter.
The second thing we need to understand is exactly what is the mind and how it can be over matter? Does it lie in our brain? Is it an electrochemical reaction? Is it located somewhere in the brain? I'll get back on this later.
Enough about that. I'm going to make a little digression on the whole "mind over matter" issue, mostly because is taken as a fact that the mind can do lots of interesting things and its responsible for the way we perceive reality. This position was discussed by Kant and German Idealism, it was the mind that gave structure to the whole universe, looking back at what Anaxagoras has once called "Nous", the "mind" that gives order to the chaos that is the universe.
This whole concept survived long enough to permeate psychology too. Therapy is based on changing the way the mind perceives reality to offer a cure to a certain illness. As we know, the mind is where consciousness lies with all of its layers; however, the mind can control only matter and that is the body that it dwells, nothing beyond that point.Many shows in the seventies showed people who could bend spoons with their mind or move things (telekinesis) but so far nothing has been scientifically tested, yet if you look other aspects of life, people who have illnesses can trace them back to certain aspects of the mind such as emotions. Hypnosis proved its benefits by altering the way the mind operates. So, how far can reach the mind? Plato might have been right after all: the body is nothing but a prison for the mind, which cannot escape due to the heavy imposition of the senses. We have found a way to tap into the mind, but it is definitely not over the matter.
The second thing we need to understand is exactly what is the mind and how it can be over matter? Does it lie in our brain? Is it an electrochemical reaction? Is it located somewhere in the brain? I'll get back on this later.
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