Themind is a general term for the way apersonthinks,reasons, perceives, wills, hasideas, and hasemotion. For science, what others call the mind isentirely caused by workings of thebrain. The philosopherGilbert Ryle called mind the "Ghost in the Machine". He said the idea that it was separate from the brain was the mistaken "Official Doctrine".[1][2] However, some think that mind is separate from the body and is called asoul (seedualism).
Many people argue about what makes up the mind. Some say that only reason andmemory are part of the mind, because they are conscious. In this view theemotions likelove,hate,fear andjoy are different from the mind. Some people with this view say the emotions are part of theheart. Others argue that ourrational andemotional states cannot be separated and should all be part of what we call the mind.
People often usemind to mean the same asthought: the way we talk to ourselves "inside our heads". This is where the sayings "make up our minds," "change our minds" and "of two minds" come from. One of the important things of the mind in this sense is that it is private. No one else can "know our mind."
The original meaning of theOld Englishgemynd wasmemory. This explains the sayingscall to mind,come to mind,keep in mind,to have mind of, and so on.Old English had other words to express what we call "mind" today, such ashyge, meaning "mind, spirit".The word mind gradually grew to mean all conscious thought over the 14th and 15th centuries.[3]
Thought is when we absorb what happens around us so that we can deal with it effectively according to our plans and desires. Thinking is usinginformation, like formingconcepts,problem solving,reasoning and makingchoices.
Memory is when we store information in our minds, and can laterrecall it.
Imagination is the ability to invent worlds inside the mind, complete or not. The mind makes these by drawing on experience in the shared world.
Consciousness is knowing that we exist and the world exists, and being able to understand what happens around us.
Just like the body, a mind can be healthy. The measure of this is called mental health. According to theWorld Health Organization (WHO), there is not one way to measure mental health in all people, because there are many things in ourenvironment that might make what is mentally healthy different from one person to another. In general, most experts agree that "mental health" and "mental illness" are not opposites. In other words, not having a mental illness does not mean you are in good mental health.
One way to study mental health is by looking at how well a person lives. Signs of mental health include: feelingcapable and happy, being able to handle normal levels of stress, making and keeping friends, leading an independent life, and being able to recover from difficult situations.
Philosophy of mind is the branch ofphilosophy that studies the nature of the mind and how it is linked to the body. The main problem is how the mind is related to the body, but there are also questions about the nature of the mind that do not talk about its relation to the physical body.[4]
Dualism andmonism are the two main ways people try to solve the mind-body problem. Dualism is when people believe that the mind and body are in some way separate from each other. It can be traced back toPlato,[5]Aristotle,[6][7][8] and theSamkhya andYoga schools ofHindu philosophy,[9] but it was most precisely formulated byRené Descartes in the 17th century.[10]
Monism is the belief that mind and body are notphysiologically andontologically distinct kinds of entities. This view was first seen inWestern philosophy byParmenides in the 5th century BC and was later held by the 17th-centuryrationalistBaruch Spinoza.[11] According to Spinoza, mind and body are two parts of a larger being.
Idealists think that the mind is all that exists and that the outside world is actually made up by the mind. Physicalists think that everything can be expressed by what isphysical.Neutral monists believe that everything can be eithermental or physical depending how you see it. For example, a red spot on a wall is physical, because it is an actual thing depending on the physical wall, but it is mental because our brain responds to thecolour. The most common monisms in the 20th and 21st centuries have all been different kinds of physicalism, includingbehaviorism.[1][2][4]
Psychology is the study of the way we think, feel and act. It involves thescientific study of processes such asperception,cognition,feelings,personality, as well as things around us that might affect the way we think. From this study, psychologists try to form rules for why we act the way we do. Psychology also includes using thisknowledge to help solve problems of everyday life and treatmental health problems.
Social psychology is the study of how we think, feel and act in groups of other people. Most people who study social psychology are eitherpsychologists orsociologists.
The phraseMind's eye refers to the ability tosee things with the mind.
