The Nature of Mind

The word “mind” refers to a particular pattern of brain content and activity, which includes not only the input and processing of data (sensation), but also the recognition of patterns in that data (perception), the analysis of relationships among those patterns (reason), and above all, the ability to recognize a particular pattern: that of a self. Hence we say we are “self aware,” a fact that distinguishes us from possibly every other animal on earth. This would appear to be the only thing people can really mean when they say humans have souls and animals do not. But to imbue this ability with supernatural powers, powers beyond the mere fact of generating self, is unsupported by any reliable evidence, scientific or otherwise.

Our ability to perceive and construct a “self” bestows on us magnificent though perfectly natural powers generally not shared by other animals, such as a self-reflective sense of identity (the ability to comprehend and study who you are), a rational will (the ability to deliberate from facts and values to personal goals and consequences), and a self-referencing memory (in short, a past that you can call “yours,” which plays no small part in the other two activities: creating and understanding your identity and deliberating rationally about yourself and the world).

The brain serves two functions. First, as a storage medium, its arrangement preserves everything that we are, our memories, abilities, and qualities, like personality and desires. And, second, as a living mechanism, its activity generates our continuity of perception and thought, our “consciousness.” This is as true of animals as of people. Many animals have unique personalities, memories, and mental abilities, and can be “conscious” of their surroundings, even to a certain extent themselves. But to be able to fully perceive themselves—as a mind, as a person—requires a special organ capable of such a computation, and an organ capable of perceiving a whole pattern of such a size and complexity would have to be vastly complex itself, far more than any other sensory organ like, say, the human eye.

It just so happens that we have one of these: a cerebral cortex, the most complex biological organ in the world—in fact, as far as we know, the most complex thing in the whole universe. Animal brains are simpler, lacking this organ. But once a brain has one, and can perceive itself with it, that brain acquires an unprecedented feedback loop: its self-perceptions generate entirely new kinds of information that, in turn, like all information, affects the behavior of the whole being, changes that are in turn perceived. And so on. That is a mind.

Videos refuting ideas of non-physical minds:

Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS4PW35-Y00

Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZTCK8ZluEc