The Nervous System
To understand consciousness we need to understand the systems upon which
consciousness is most directly dependent. Learning about the nervous system not
only offers insight into the nature of consciousness, it will also suggest the
best practices for developing and maintaining good mental health. Just as a
physical therapist must understand the form and function of the musculoskeletal
system to grasp conditions of the body, we must understand the nervous system to
appreciate conditions of the mind.
Now, the distinction between the "physical" and the "mental" is not at all
clear. Philosophers have wrestled with this since time out of memory. Monism,
the philosophical view that there is nothing over and above physical reality,
takes the position the universe is made up of only one kind of stuff, and that
stuff is physical. In contrast, "Dualism" takes the position that a
non-physical mind exists apart from the rest of physical reality. Though the
debate continues, the nervous system is clearly a physical structure, and all
reliable evidence indicates mind and body are inexorably connected. People
speak of "the mental" with terms like "spirit," "mind" and "soul" as if they
could exist independent of the body, but there is no reliable evidence for the
existence of mind without a body. The mind, if it exists, almost surely resides
within the body....
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