The Mind-Body Problem Solved

The mind-body problem is the central issue in the subfield of philosophy known as philosophy of mind. The basic issue is this: How are the mind and brain related? Are they two different things? Are they the same thing? If the brain is physical or material, and the mind is not, then how do they interact? There are a host of positions that have been developed on this issue over the centuries. Traditionally, philosophers and religionists of all sorts have been dualists, which is to say that the mind and brain are separate things. This tradition stems in large part from both Christianity and the work of philosopher Rene Descartes. This position is usually tied a view of the mind being in a sense immortal, i.e. the mind = the soul.

The modern scientific world has brought a reversal of this position. The dominant position today is some form of materialism or physicalism. This view posits that the mind/brain are essentially one thing, the physical brain. One’s experience of mental life is simply a subjective and intersubjective process of the brain in action. The activity that we call mental is just that, the activity of the brain. There is no extra mental “stuff.” There is no immortal, immaterial soul. Everything is material.

This latter materialistic view seems counterintuitive to most. People wonder “How can what I experience inside my mind, from pain to colorful imagery to my whole sense of self, be merely the epiphenomena of a bunch of chemicals and electrical impulses in a few-pound lump of meat inside of the head? How can consciousness arise from a completely physical, biological organ?” It does seem rather absurd.

But then one remembers: if a physical drug is taken, which is clearly going to affect the brain, then one’s mental life can drastically change. How can a chemical compound change your supposedly immaterial mind? It clearly does. Or what happens if someone undergoes some sort of brain damage or disease? We’ve all the seen the kinds of mental changes that can take place there. If the mind is a spiritual thing, how does it get so screwed up by the physical world?

We seem to be stuck with a really hard problem. Following psychologist Matthew Lieberman’s work, I claim that the mind-body problem is not so much a problem as it is an ILLUSION. I’ll explain why.

Neuroscience and psychological research show that there are two different parts or networks of the brain that cause humans to think of minds and brains as different things. When one thinks of the body and the physical brain, prefrontal and parietal regions of the outer surface, or lateral regions, of the right hemisphere of the brain are activated. Yet on the other hand, when one thinks of one’s mind, prefrontal and parietal regions in the middle of the brain, or medial regions, are activated. (1)

The reason for this seems to be that we humans evolved to see other minds and intentions in the world that are different than physical objects. This is currently know as Theory of Mind, or ToM. It is a part of us that sees minds as different things. It is what those with diagnoses along the Autism Spectrum lack in varying degrees. They have trouble understanding other people’s minds and intentions.

Theory of Mind links up with the discovery of mirror neurons. Mirror neurons are those parts of the brain that, upon seeing some other being doing something, we neurally do it ourselves, whether it remains internal or manifests in our behavior. Seeing someone else do something and actually doing it yourself activates the same parts of the brain. This is a direct link to the power of imitation in human life. Behaviors and expressed thoughts and emotions are contagious. We imitate each other often and do so automatically, and this is a core process in cultural evolution.

From a materialistic worldview, there really wasn’t ever anything “mental”, just physical things, ranging in complexity from a grain of sand to a human being. But it was useful for us to perceive other humans or animals in a different way than rocks and plants, as conscious beings with their own agency, their own free will. Rocks and sticks generally didn’t come eat you or steal your mate, so we needed to distinguish psychologically the things in our world that would.

Look at human behavior today. We put minds and agency in everything. We act like inanimate objects are conscious creatures. Consider children’s toys, cartoons, and stories. Everything is alive! From Bob the Builder’s tools to Dora the Explorer’s map and backpack, they all are concious beings. Children naturally understand, enjoy, and gravitate towards this.

Adults are not immune to this, either. Usually all it takes is to add a face to anything. Two eyes and a mouth will suffice. And immediately one will chuckle, because we perceive it differently. We instantly feel like it has a mind, a personality. We ascribe traits to it. When we see faces, which we are very sensitive to, the part of our brain used for facial perception lights up and connects up with these networks that perceive mind and agency. We see faces in the clouds. We perceive the work of ghosts and spirits and even God. We see minds everywhere.

Whether minds and brains are different things is a separate issue that will continue to be debated. We can’t say that dualism is true just because our brains naturally make a distinction. And we can’t argue away dualism by saying that it is all in our heads. That would essentially be committing the fallacy of psychologizing, i.e. claiming that a position is wrong just because of the psychological state of the person arguing it.

For a materialist, one is going to continually be stuck between one’s intellectual positions and one’s natural intutions. Basically, you know it isn’t real, but you do it anyway. Dualists are far more in aligned with the innate tendency of how we see the world. There are minds, beings, agents, spirits. etc. And then there are physical objects. Two different types of things.

Research by Thomas Mussweiler has shown that people with strongly dualistic views tend to less healthy. This may be due to the fact that they believe the body is merely a shell, and hence they do not take care of it as well as others with differing views. (2)

The take-home message is that it is a part of human nature to see minds and brains as different things. That is why the mind-body problem is so difficult for us. We are essentially intuitive dualists. The scientific, materialistic view may be something that is intellectually understood and believed to be true. But people will continue to at least act as if minds and brains are different things. The traditional religious and philosophical dualistic views are still prevalant today and they will probably continue to be, considering the source of the dualism is deeply embedded in our own nature.

References

(1) Lieberman

(2) Mussweiler