The Mind-Body Problem: Three Thought Experiments

This video addresses three thought experiments related to the mind-body problem.

Here is a related video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdxucpPq6Lc

Category:

Education

Tags:

• philosophy
• mind
• body
• problem
• thought
• experiments

[college12003]

Are you suggesting then that consciousness is an illusion?

[SentiencePhysics]

@college12003 Not necessarily that consciousness is an illusion, but that some common assumptions about the mind may be wrong.

I should mention that some of my thoughts on the matter discussed in this video have recently changed. These changes are connected to the idea from quantum mechanics that all fundamental particles of the same type (e.g. electrons) are, in a sense, the same particle. In any case, the thought experiments are still relevant.

[college12003]

@SentiencePhysics Interesting...How has the single-particle concept changed your view of consciousness?

[SentiencePhysics]

@college12003 It has given me doubts about the solution I mentioned in the video to the problem that the three thought experiments present. However, I haven't really thought about it or read enough to develop any strong views about what a good alternative might me.

[JohananRaatz]

@SentiencePhysics Might it make sense to resolve this problem by arguing that perhaps patterns are more fundamental than atoms?

[SentiencePhysics]

@JohananRaatz Yes, I think that the solution might be something along those lines.

[willbirful]

really informative and interesting

[Stayupfl]

Whatever the outcome may be, the mind is a terrible thing to waste.

[AnduinX]

@math989: I get it, thanks for the clarification. I'll respectfully disagree though. If one is to go so far as to say that the mind is not physical, then I see no reason as to why the mind should require something physical in order to exist.

[math989]

@AnduinX I'm saying the mind NEEDS something physical to exist, I'm not saying it IS something physical.

[AnduinX]

@math989: Well that is a materialist point of view, is it not? If you believe the swap could stop the existence of the mind you're saying that the mind is essentially something physical.

[math989]

@AnduinX From a materialist point of view, I agree.

But from my point of view, if it is swap in a way that the mind stop existing for a moment (ex.: swap very fast?), than it becomes a new person, otherwise it doesn't.

[AnduinX]

@math989: When you say #1 is the same person, but #2 is not would I be correct in assuming that your belief is that the whole must be preserved during the transfer? If so, what if you kept speeding up the process until the point where the whole matter swap happened in an instant? That would bare more similarity to a new body suddenly bumping theirs out of existence than a conventional swap. Would that still be them in your eyes?

[AnduinX]

@math989: "If you kill someone and then make a person exactly identical to this someone when s/he was alive, you still have kill someone." -I would certainly agree with that, as I don't believe consciousness to be a production of the brain, but from a conventional materialist perspective I see no reason why matter would not be completely interchangeable.

[AnduinX]

@JohananRaatz:  I understand now, that's an interesting possibility.

[math989]

@AnduinX With #1, yes, because you replace each atom one by one; but not with #2 since you start from nothing and then add atoms.