Mind, Brain, and Epistemologically Different Worlds

Abstract

The reason why, since Descartes, nobody has found a solution to the mind-body problem seems to be that the problem itself is a false or pseudo-problem. The discussion has proceeded within a pre-Cartesian conceptual framework which itself is a source of the difficulty. Dualism and all its alternatives have preserved the same pre-Cartesian conceptual framework even while denying Descartes' dualism. In order to avoid this pseudo-problem, I introduce a new perspective with three elements: the subject, the observed object, and the conditions of observation (given by the internal and external tools of observation). On this new perspective, because of the conditions of observation, the mind and the brain belong to epistemologically different worlds.We have to remember that what we observe is not nature herself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.Werner Heisenberg

Rethinking “Dark Matter” within the Epistemologically Different World (EDW) Perspective

“…The main force was gravitation that "acts and isolates clumps of matter on all scales" ( [14], p. 334). This idea mirrors one of Gabriel Vacariu's main principles from his works ( [2,21], 2008, etc. ): in this case, the main principle is "The interactions constitute the entities, the entities determine their interactions."…”

“…So, your "rejection" (a statement that is a thought, a mental state, anyway) would be meaningless. A huge amalgam of neurons cannot produce thoughts but only chemical and electrical reactions (for the mind-brain problems, see [2][3][4][5][6][7]).…”

“…We constantly believed that the greatest problems of particular sciences are philosophical problems that require a new framework of thinking. 2 In this chapter, we rethink one of the most important notions in cosmology today, the "dark matter," within the EDW perspective. Therefore, let us introduce, very shortly in this section, the EDW perspective.…”

The Mind-Body Problem Today

“…with its framework. As it is showed in Vacariu (2005Vacariu ( , 2008Vacariu ( , 2011 and Vacariu and Vacariu (2010), this wrong framework is the idea of the "world" or the "universe" (or, as I called, the "unicorn-world"). We have always thought that we exist in a unique world or universe.…”

“…It is the knowledge acquired by any human subject during the whole life. We are able to survive in a "standard environment" because of this implicit knowledge furnishes the stable status of the "I" that inVolves the "representational perceptual constancy" (Merzenich & deCharms, 1996;Vacariu, 2005Vacariu, , 2008). …”