Wednesday, August 18, 2010

What are some of the problems with this solution to the mind-body problem?

Most people tend to lead towards materialism or dualism as I understand it. Obviously dualism can't be fully explained (a non physical matter exerting influence on a physical matter) and materialism doesn't do well for those hoping for an afterlife. What if you were instead to view the brain as a computer tower or the hard drive? The actual brain would be the hardware, the mind would be the software or operating system. An operating system obviously consists of code and data, which cannot be held or seen such as a rock on the ground. Obviously I'm talking about the physical matter that data really is, not a C.D. or memory stick.





Anyways, the mind would be our own Windows 7. It would exist within the brain, telling the brain what it should do physically (as far as sending signals to your arm to get it to move, for example). However, it wouldn't BE the brain. And, just like data can be transferred, your mind could leave the brain itself. This would lend itself to a possibility of life after death, with the mind still being a physical thing. In a sense, you would almost be joining the afterlife via a wireless file transfer :) This could also explain the possibility of reincarnation (for those that believe in such a thing).





I know this has had to have been proposed before, as I thought of it almost immediately as we went over the basics of the mind body problem in philosophy class. We're also only halfway through the course, but we seem to have left this particular topic for now. So forgive me if I sound ignorant of new theories (or this one). However, I can't seem to find a problem with it myself, though admittedly a beginner in philosophy. Can anyone else tell me how this theory has faired when weighed with modern philosophers?What are some of the problems with this solution to the mind-body problem?
I agree with Aaron that it's a good analogy but to me, that's all it is.





I thought you might find this article interesting





10 Important Differences Between Brains and Computers





http://scienceblogs.com/developingintell鈥?/a>What are some of the problems with this solution to the mind-body problem?
Yes Aaron should of got B/A although I'm not complaining. I enjoyed your question and made me go searching the net for further information on this subject, so thank you and also for the B/A.

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What makes you think there is an afterlife?
I think the main problem with this solution as presented here is that it's too metaphorical. While its fine to draw an analogy between the mind and computers, all you seem to be saying here is that the mind is like an operating system. And because it obviously isn't identical with an OS, you need to tell us more about the specific characteristics or properties of the mind which make this comparison helpful.





However, if you were to flesh out this account I suspect that you would get something like Functionalism or Strong A.I.. Philosophers like Searle or Block offer a bunch of reasons for why this probably isn't a good theory. Check out Searle's ';Chinese Room'; thought experiment or Block's ';Homunculi Head'; thought experiment. Both show that these sorts of positions are very unintuitive and are poor descriptions of the mind.

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