Re: Definition please

From: William Benzon (bbenzon@mindspring.com)
Date: Fri Dec 07 2001 - 13:11:09 GMT

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    Date: Fri, 07 Dec 2001 08:11:09 -0500
    Subject: Re: Definition please
    From: William Benzon <bbenzon@mindspring.com>
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    on 12/6/01 9:08 PM, Dace at edace@earthlink.net wrote:

    >>> Since the brain and the mind are the same thing, I would have to say
    >>> that their occupation of the same space is necessity not accident.
    >>
    >> They're the same thing viewed from different perspectives. Mind is
    >> brain from the point of view of time, while brain is mind from the point
    >> of view of space. It's possible to distinguish heads from tails while
    >> recognizing that ultimately there's only one thing-- the coin.
    >>
    >
    > William Benzon wrote:
    >
    >>>>
    >> From *Beethoven's Anvil* (pp. 71-72):
    >
    > I want to approach to this problem in the manner of Gilbert Rylešs
    > The Concept of Mind. Rather than wonder how the mysterious and
    > ineffable mind can connect with the mysterious but concrete brain,
    > I propose a definition:
    >
    > Mind: The dynamics of the entire brain, perhaps even the entire
    > nervous system, including the peripheral nervous system,
    > constitutes the mind.
    >>>>
    >
    > If that's so, then why shouldn't it be true of every known organic system?
    > Do the dynamics of an entire eco-system constitute a mind? Do the dynamics
    > of an entire cell constitute the mind of the cell?

    Why would you want to say such things? My definition spoke to nervous
    systems, not systems in general. I don't see why anyone would want to leap
    to such a conclusion.

    BB

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