The Brain, The Mind, The Spirit, (What is the Self?)

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Time for more philisophical thoughts and musings for today. This discussion focuses on the self and the existence of the self in general. The easy statements of this musing, I know I exist since I think, therefore I am. That's simple, but there could be more to it. I'll review each item I highlighted in subject and compare my thoughts on them. First, the common item, the brain. Well, maybe its not the common item since its incredibly complex and scientists still have no clue how everything fully works. Of course the brain does fully work but there are scientific and non-scientific theories that provide more growth and potential for the brain itself. These same groups also place all interest, all activities, all being into the brain itself. Others claim higher theories based on the existence of the mind. The mind being something intangible, traced back to nearly the very beginning of true thought and civilization (and some origins in ancient philosophical thought). Some circles, philosophers and scientists put an emphasis on the existence of the mind as a formless item, one that is pivotal to human existence. The mind is a collection of personality, thoughts, beliefs, some traits, strengths, weaknesses, fears, and much more. There are also those who place more emphasis on the "spirit" or "soul". Some tie in the spirit with the mind itself but others separate the two as distinct entities. The spirit used in more religious terms and the distinction between it and the mind is also emphasized in this particular context. The brain. The only one of the three items that can be physically detected through scans, dissection and the like. Some scientists, philosophers and people all think of this as the whole when it comes to "self" and human existence. Depending on the scan in question one can map the entire brain by hemisphere or whole; or they can monitor life signs and specific brainwaves (Electroencephalography/EEG). Additionally, changes to the brain yield changes in thought, personality, pretty much changes in the self. When the brain is influenced by endorphins or relevant neurons, there are light personality changes (slight or moderate mood changes). If the brain is damaged or injured, the self also takes damage. A piercing or damaging to the brain (usually the frontal lobe) can cause memory loss, personality disorders, headaches, confusion. A person that was bright as a flower would end up bitter as a brute in a brain damage situation (or something different can occur with personality change). Slow damage and even addictions can cause subtle but noticable changes in a self. Irritability, false euphoria, dependence, memory loss, confusion... they can all occur here too due to the effects of alcohol, substance abuse or slow internal damage to the brain. Its quite a lot and more can be described, but basically a good case can be made that humans are only the brain and not anything intangible. It could indeed be fact that you and I are just physical matter, and by some circumstance or chance, "we" exist as we are... simply to live, learn, die, and fade from all of reality. A different possibility is that the brain does not really "exist". It could all be a fabrication, a vagary of perception to ease a person into what reality truly is. I stroke my temple and head, thinking they may or may not really be there. I do know that if I was to simply destroy my brain, it would no longer "exist" and likely neither would "I". Again, only facts and experience really point this out, there is no true way to know unless its done to me. Things could be right...or completely incorrect. The mind... other philosophers, scientists and people believe in this. One classic example of this is Descartes describing the self and mind: the famous quote I highlighted in the beginning... "I think therefore I am". A person knows they exist because they can think, they are aware of the thought, and nothing anyone says, not even this posting can change either of that. As far as you can think, feel, remember and know... "you" "exist". Another example is self-perspective. The mind itself can gather information about the world through senses; it can make judgments based on this information and observations; it can think, deduce, imagine, remember, predict. The mind is also capable of creating things both tangle (art, science, literature, houses) and the intangible (thoughts, ideas, beliefs, imagination). A third example tying into this is the hypothetical about a mind controlling the brain and body like a machine (arguments for the spirit or soul also point to something like this or similar). Basically the mind is intangible and has control over the brain and hence dominion over the physical body. Items highlighted in the second example relate to this. Take this example with the brain mapping. No technology can truly decipher the entire mind itself due to its intangibility and intricacies. Downloads and copies of an entire person's mind are impossible as technology stands. Even its full analysis is only based on partial information of science. Other pieces of the cerebral puzzle are still left to interpretation. With these combined examples a different picture of the mind creating thought, validating the existence of the self, the "You", and the inexplicable explaination of the entire process. Still, there is also a chance the mind does not exist either. Its possible even thinking is just all part of a chain of matter, sequences and events (similar to the brain arguments or traditionally "passivist" arguments). Another example is the mind is still physically intangible, meaning it cannot be touched, measured, held or seen. It is beyond senses and no scientific method exists to distinguish this "object". Psychology tries to measure this item along with philosophers and some scientists... yet all of these people cannot truly measure the "mind". It has nearly infinate in measure, collectives, thoughts, beliefs, emotions, memories... a physical measure of this in any sense would prove fruitless easily. The mind seems to define the self, but some thought processes require a mind to be aware of the self so it can shape the mind into various thought, beliefs, hopes. Without either, "human existence" would be futile, an extrodinary impossibility if thought of properly. There is also another possibility the real world and your entire self do not truly exist. Like the last example, it could be the thought of another, an atom, a building block of life interpreting its role in "true" reality. Its more of a mystery than people realize. The Spirit... to some its just another name for the mind and the self, but to others its something completely different. Religious circles and some scientists consider this entity as an existing "object". It is intangible like the mind and requires "faith", belief or some sort of validation from the self (sometimes others are needed to "confirm" this or enforce similarity). As mentioned, to some the mind and spirit are interchangable. The mind-brain-machine example is a basic example of this. The self or soul is exchanged for the mind or used as part of the mind to explain the example and the existence of the soul. Even some religious thinkers and faiths place the spirit and mind as the same item or a unified item. Meaning, you are born, you experience what you experience, you live, you die, and somehow the self/soul(or spirit-mind) continue on to a different plane of existence (or to another life, or some sort of "endpoint"). Others view the spirit much differently. They place it as an intangible item like all others, yes, but these believers claim the spirit is detached from the mind and may or may not be accessible by the mind. In this example, one is born, lives, dies the same as before. Only now, the spirit accends to referenced "endpoint" or to another life, while the mind and brain simply fade from existence. The spirit keeps a fragment of the mind while travelling to said endpoint, but if that endpoint is another life or other imperfect "end" then that spirit continues on in the rules of the new realm with no memories of the past mind, only a very small fragment of it...something to remind the person they are still "human"...perhaps. In this example of the "end" is actually eternal life, then that may mean the spirit has enough fragments of the minds of many "lives" and can share them with the "Creator(s)", lost loved ones, other ethereal kindred... its endless. Same as the other examples, there is a chance the spirit and everything associated with it do not exist at all. The spirit is intangible like the mind, and just like it by physical standards the spirit does not "exist". Like the mind (and "reality") the spirit/soul could be a construct of our "self" to understand what our role in "reality" truly is. Speaking of the "self" it seems that this item is needed in order to confirm the spirit (maybe similar to the mind's case too). With this, we end up with a paradoxical frame of thinking. Did the spirit create the mind to control the brain and body... or does someone need a mind to create a spirit (to have faith or connection to the idea/item)? Is there some other intervention in the spirit's creation, or again, is it another construct of human thinking. Following many of the premises, either could be true... or both could be false. And finally, what is the self? Is it just a collection of neurons firing off via autonervous and central nervous reaction; a floating "image" in or above our heads; or a spirit bequeathed to us by "Creator(s)"? Could it be something completely different? Or could this be a combination that perfectly creates the self? The brain solution is likely from the scientific sense since its the only item out of the list that can be measured in some physical capacity, but not completely in current senses.