This short article presents a simple perspective on the subject of the mind and its relation to the brain and consciousness. The mind is a non-physical entity distinctly different from the brain and its processes. There is a wealth of studies and research findings on the subject in the field of psychology, which the reader is encouraged to explore. This article, on the other hand, is simply a personal perspective.
To start, I like to establish the platform on which non-fact-based ideas, such as spiritual concepts or entities, should be discussed; in other words, providing the distinction between a scientific procedure that leads to scientific findings and theories and spiritual/non-physical framework of thoughts that are founded on the premise of absolute truth. In this context, the mind is an abstract concept that predominantly falls into the non-physical category; therefore, any assumptions surrounding it must be declared clearly.
In natural science, before a concept or finding is asserted as fact, it has to undergo a rigorous procedure of scientific examination. A non-comprehensive blueprint of such processes may start with the following steps and evolve into a more elaborate one depending on the complexity of the study. In the end, you should be able to determine whether the study of the mind can undergo such a procedure and, if so, how the study should be structured.
1- Identifying and describing a subject of interest in the format of a well-defined problem. This problem is either a practical issue, such as curing cancer or a purely discovery-based endeavour, such as understanding the mechanisms and dynamics of a neighbouring galaxy. In either case, the problem must be well-defined within the confines of the current understanding and posed in a manner that can be systematically explored and tested.
2- Identifying the input and output parameters to the best of our knowledge and presenting the governing laws that can assist the researcher in building a methodology for the study. For instance, to study the probability distribution of electrons around an atom, one can only use quantum theory and the governing laws of physics for the realm of subatomic entities and quantities.
3- Propose a preliminary hypothesis to examine the original problem or the simpler versions of it.
-4 Presenting the assumptions which do not require proof at the onset of the study. For instance, what would you consider as assumptions if you were to study the mind, its content, interactions, and dynamics?
5- Present a methodology based on previously proven scientific methods. A comprehensive presentation of the methodology ensures the study is repeatable by an independent researcher and the findings reproducible.
6- Setting up the required experiments and data collection processes and declaring the acceptable margins of error.
7- Defining a systematic approach for modifying the parameters and the iterations through the above stages to approach the research objectives.
As mentioned earlier, the above procedure is a simplified guideline for more sophisticated blueprints depending on the scale and complexity of the problem. The procedure varies between natural, social, and behavioural sciences.
Assumptions are initially considered independent entities in the process and may or may not have prior supporting proof. For instance, the special theory of relativity, which later evolved into the general theory of relativity, assumes the speed of light is constant. Nothing prohibits a scientist from making an assumption, even if it may appear unreasonable initially. What matters is the validity and credibility of subsequent inferences based on that assumption and the declaration of the assumptions made.
What stands out in spiritual and religious beliefs is that often the concepts are declared as facts, and no assumptions are declared. For instance, take the holy books of major religions. Have you encountered any assumptions? In fact, the fundamental faith statements presented in each of those books are taken as the absolute truth. If one claims that certain truth has been revealed to them through their quest for enlightenment and declares it as fact, that would be outrageous. One can only assume their revelation, vision, or dream as a possibility, examine it as such, and predict or observe its implications. Therefore, it is imperative to distinguish assumption from fact.
Often in spiritual and religious belief systems, assumptions are absent. Subsequently, they develop a framework of doctrines for the followers to adhere to, which one shall not question or challenge. A physicist can challenge and question the theory of general relativity if they have the evidence and methodology to state their case, but one could never doubt the revelations of John in the bible or visitations of some other prophet with god in a cave. The issue is never the framework itself; it is the declarations that the entities and the doctrines are the absolute unquestionable truth. For instance, the problem is not that a Christian or Muslim God doesn’t exist or that the beliefs and concepts therein are fabricated, distorted, misrepresented, or outdated. The problem is when religion becomes the ultimate doctrine portraying the absolute truth and declaring that those outside the circle are subject to punishment, and faithful could conditionally or definitively be rewarded.
The above argument has provided the ground to say that the following ideas and concepts about the mind and consciousness are speculative and may or may not be proven through a rigorous scientific exposition. In other words, the following merely considers an alternative possibility that could improve someone’s perspective on life and result in a more meaningful and healthier state of being. Therefore, I encourage the reader to be skeptical when encountering a declaration in a spiritual or religious circle.
Abstract concepts, such as mind and consciousness, are inherently speculative and subjective due to our inability to record and observe them with current scientific tools and methods. To emphasize, religions and spiritual paths have every right to exist, expand, and evolve; however, they should not claim uniqueness and absolute certainty. As individuals and collectively as communities, we can build inclusive and graceful environments if we learn to accept that spiritual doctrine, frameworks, institutions, and their diverse schools of thought are speculative, at least in our current state of understanding, and could potentially be fact-based and proven by observation. By accepting the non-uniqueness of spiritual beliefs, we allow ourselves to coexist and evolve in harmony. What I like to present is based on a personal fascination with the mind and consciousness. I do not claim any of it is a unique discovery or fact. Nothing in the realm of the unseen is certain nor absolute; however, considering certain possibilities may have the potential to improve the quality of life by changing perspectives.
Assume a human entity is composed of three components, the consciousness or the so-called soul; the mind, which I refer to as the construct; and the body, the physical form which encompasses many organs and processes, with the sophisticated brain as the primary organ making us distinct from other living organisms. In physics, mass and energy are conserved in a sense that irrespective of the coordinate system, neither of the two is ever lost, but one can transform to the other or its derivatives, for instance, energy to mass and vice versa, or energy from one form to another, or mass from one state to another. When we consider the human body, we can assume it was formed and grew using matter and energy from its surroundings; and upon death, it transforms into other forms and states. Based on this basic concept, there will be no need for an unobservable entity such as consciousness that requires a pre-existing state or cease to exist after death since it hasn’t been observed to be a form of matter or energy; therefore, no continuity for before and after and no basis for its current existence.
On the other hand, on the premise of pure speculation, we can assume the possibility of the consciousness as a unique non-physical entity having been assigned to a person at the moment of inception and further consider this entity had existed before the formation of one’s physical body and will continue to exist in some set of dimensions after death. The uniqueness criteria refer to the distinction between your consciousness from mine, but the distinction does not mean a disconnect between the two.
What intrigues me about this assumption is the continuity of some form of life. An entity that is unique and has the capacity to evolve to other versions. How consciousness evolves and the states to which it may develop are outside the scope of this article. According to this idea, consciousness takes on a bodily form to conserve its continuity, and in order to evolve, it needs interaction with the surrounding world. The interaction is ensured through the experiences and the choices made throughout life by the person.
But how does the consciousness interact with the assigned physical form, primarily the brain? I like to consider the so-called mind as the interface between consciousness and the brain, which I like to refer to as the construct because the sophisticated and intelligent brain creates a non-physical environment and constructs it into a framework of thoughts, perceptions, and interpretations; in other words, based on everything that the person has ever experienced, the mind is formed and encompasses the sum of all perceptions and ideas. A person’s mind is an ever-changing environment built by the brain through time. The essential need for the brain to create this construct is to develop an interface for the consciousness to interact with the physical form and its surroundings.
The brain is the instrument that acquires data from its environment through the five senses, processes the data, uses the existing perceptions in the mind to interpret the data, and makes predictions on the new data. As a result, perspectives, belief systems, patterns, and processes are hosted in the mind- the construct; the mind constitutes everything that you and I consider non-data, non-visual, non-audible, and non-sensible. The mind is the interface- the platform on which the consciousness interacts with the physical realm. Any changes in the mind affect the interaction and the degrees of freedom by which the consciousness operates; in other words, the mind can limit or facilitate the expansion of the consciousness.
The strength of the connection between the physical world and a person’s consciousness highly depends on the functionality and performance of the brain. The moment the brain dies, the construct collapses, and the interface ceases to exist, which is when the person’s consciousness detaches and departs from the body, but it continues to exist in a different realm as the continuity criterium requires.
The physical brain operates on chemical substances and biological processes, all of which have been studied rigorously through scientific methods. The brain constructs the mind and its contents. The constructed mind is the hosting environment for the sum of all structured and nonstructured thoughts, ideas, dreams, perceptions, perspectives, interpretations of physical events, and perceptions of self. The mind is capable of impacting the way the brain processes incoming data. In other words, the two constantly interact, one affecting the other. On the other hand, the mind is the channel through which the consciousness interacts with the brain; it connects two distinct realms of physical and non-physical. The mind is the ground on which we plant the seeds of reality, the visions of how things can or should be, and the ideas and dreams that can potentially be realized in the real world.
The contents of the mind are analogous to files of different formats and directories. How would you organize, update, and modify this content? One of the tools for maintaining a healthy mind is meditation. During meditation sessions, we influence the processes in the brain by examining the mind’s contents or examining nothing at all. Depending on how meditation is performed, one can create clarity and transparency in the mind, analogous to calming the ripples on the surface of a pool that has resulted from raindrops and being able to see through the water. Meditation can remove the opacity of the mind such that thought processes are examined without bios and corrected or modified if needed. Meditation helps identify destructive and non-constructive content and replace it with new content effectively. The effects of meditation on the mind subsequently affect the state of consciousness connected to it. It is in the construct of the mind that we create blueprints for the consciousness to work with. Meditation is a powerful tool with various practices that can improve the productivity of the brain processes and significantly reconstruct the mind’s environment and content constructively.
As stated earlier, the idea that the mind is a construct of perceptions and the interface between the physical realm and the consciousness is an intriguing speculations worth further exploration.
Payman Janbakhsh, Ph.D.