[Aspaqlaria] Aspaqlaria

[Aspaqlaria]

Aspaqlaria

///////////////////////////////////////////
Atzilus and the Mind - Body Problem
 
Posted: 16 Nov 2006 04:00 PM CST
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2006/11/atzilus-and-the-mind-body-problem.shtml


The basic mind-body problem is figuring out the relationship between the two. Is the mind merely a product of the neurons in our brain? Does it exist as a separate entity?

I think the givens of Yahadus compell one to conclude that the mind is a function of the soul. After all, its the soul that is credited with bechirah chafshis (free will), and gets judged for mans decisions. And what is free will if not decisions consciously made, therefore intimately tied with the notions of awareness and self-awareness? Second, the entire concept of mussar is founded on the notion that perfecting ones soul is a function of correcting ones personality faults, that issues of patience, modesty, self-restraint, zeal are spiritual ones.

But if we say that the mind is something the soul does, how does one explain the relationship between brain injury and personality? How could a lobotomy change behavior? By what mechanism do decisions made by the mind cause the body to take the chosen action? How does one bridge the gap between our spiritual selves and our physical bodies?

The rishonim who deal with this question raise another example: How does food aid in keeping the soul in the body? After all, food is a physical object, how does it reach out and impact the soul. Rav Chaim Vilozhiner (Nefesh haChaim II) presents the typical answer, based on the concept of emanation. The apple is at the end of a beam of Light neetzal from the Source. Thus, there is spirituality within the apple.

What does this say about the relationship between soul and brain? Our question is based on a false dichotomy: either they are the same thing, or we have to ask about the causal connection between the soul and action, or between sensation and the soul. The concept of atzilus means that the brain itself is the projection on the wall of a beam of light that shines through higher levels of reality until it reaches this one.

The difference between soul and brain, it would seem, would be their closeness to G-d upon the same flow of shefa. The brain is merely the Light, once it reached the physical level of implementation.

In a sense, we can say the soul is therefore the pattern which the brain fits, encoded in the layout and attributes of its neurons, neurochamicals, glial cells, etc This doesnt mean the soul is only the pattern, or that the soul has no existence without the brain. The soul is the same thing, as substantiated in a higher world, one in which there is no need for a physical instantiation. The two are in sync in the same way a movie picture changes as the light from the projector flickers in its different colors.

Thus the mind is a product of the design and structure of the brain while simultaneously being a spiritual thing, our connection to a higher plane.



--
You are subscribed to email updates from "Aspaqlaria."
To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubcribe now http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailunsub?id=317024&key=izo%2Byu3%2FM71F48ktt9O6JA%3D%3D 

If you prefer to unsubscribe via postal mail, write to: Aspaqlaria, c/o FeedBurner, 549 W Randolph, Chicago IL USA 60661

This Email Delivery powered by FeedBurner.
	
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/aspaqlaria-aishdas.org/attachments/20061117/f4505883/attachment-0002.htm>