Stories of people who have suffered loss of brain matter and lived to tell about it shows that there is a very real link between a material brain and a mind. The oft-cited story of Phineas Gage comes to mind.
I think a lot of discussion about minds and brains gets entrenched in merely the language that is used, in other words: arguing semantics. We can, with tools, make an impact on brains and thereby the mind with electrodes; brain surgeons do this before operations to make sure they're not cutting into vital cognitive systems of the brain - not to mention we've mapped a great deal of the brain. How does that fit into the idealist thinking of the subjective experience being something special, as-if apart from physical brains, and that's what it usually falls back to: solipsism and brain-mind duality.
I mean, how can anyone have a Theory of Mind, if they can't even internally agree with that ones subjective experience is real or not?
I think a lot of discussion about minds and brains gets entrenched in merely the language that is used, in other words: arguing semantics. We can, with tools, make an impact on brains and thereby the mind with electrodes; brain surgeons do this before operations to make sure they're not cutting into vital cognitive systems of the brain - not to mention we've mapped a great deal of the brain. How does that fit into the idealist thinking of the subjective experience being something special, as-if apart from physical brains, and that's what it usually falls back to: solipsism and brain-mind duality.
I mean, how can anyone have a Theory of Mind, if they can't even internally agree with that ones subjective experience is real or not?
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool." - Richard P. Feynman
