I find that people operate under dualistic ideas about "the mind" being essentially software, and therefore ephemeral and easily changed. This belies the reality of everyday existence (and explains for example why people can be so intractible, even when they *want* to change; or why repressed memories cannot be consciously recalled even though they have a stealth affect on actions and feelings). This is in turn a result of the fact that mind is often mistaken about what is going on in the body and brain.
For me the beauty of this way of thinking is the elegance and explanatory power it has: many of the odd vagueries of human behavior can be explained by appeal to this idea, and many ideas can be tested this way.
no subject
I am a materialist, but not a reductionist, if you can grok that. I described my speculations on the matter here:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/sophiaserpentia/516619.html
I find that people operate under dualistic ideas about "the mind" being essentially software, and therefore ephemeral and easily changed. This belies the reality of everyday existence (and explains for example why people can be so intractible, even when they *want* to change; or why repressed memories cannot be consciously recalled even though they have a stealth affect on actions and feelings). This is in turn a result of the fact that mind is often mistaken about what is going on in the body and brain.
For me the beauty of this way of thinking is the elegance and explanatory power it has: many of the odd vagueries of human behavior can be explained by appeal to this idea, and many ideas can be tested this way.