What is a mind without a body? The body holds the mind, gives it borders and a position in space. It stops the mind from floating away or dissolving. If the body disappears, the mind has to find another way to fix its position. It has to form its own borders and its own sense of where it begins and where it ends. It has to create its own self.
To create a self, first it has to perceive a self for it to create. Can it simply gather in on itself? Even that question can't be answered without and itself for it to gather in on.
They say outside perception is an integral part of the formation of self. How others perceive you informs how you perceive yourself. If others cannot see you or feel you, that piece is missing. They can hear you, yet what others hear is too subjective. It can't contribute to forming one's self.
How do you form yourself by yourself? A body is complex--it's more than a shape, more than the sum of its parts. I can say this is an arm, this is a hand, but do I know how an arm and a hand work? These are my legs and my feet, do I know how it is they walk? Do I know how my face changes to express what I'm thinking? Do I know how my mouth and tongue, my throat and my lungs form the sounds that are words? Do I have to remember how my heart beats? I don't think about it when I have a body--some part of my brain takes care of it for me. How much of my brain is my mind?
If unconscious things continue, maybe it's enough to remind myself that I have a heart and lungs and other insides. Maybe I only have to concentrate on things that I control. Re-create my body on a surface level.
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An Existential Crisis
To create a self, first it has to perceive a self for it to create. Can it simply gather in on itself? Even that question can't be answered without and itself for it to gather in on.
They say outside perception is an integral part of the formation of self. How others perceive you informs how you perceive yourself. If others cannot see you or feel you, that piece is missing. They can hear you, yet what others hear is too subjective. It can't contribute to forming one's self.
How do you form yourself by yourself? A body is complex--it's more than a shape, more than the sum of its parts. I can say this is an arm, this is a hand, but do I know how an arm and a hand work? These are my legs and my feet, do I know how it is they walk? Do I know how my face changes to express what I'm thinking? Do I know how my mouth and tongue, my throat and my lungs form the sounds that are words? Do I have to remember how my heart beats? I don't think about it when I have a body--some part of my brain takes care of it for me. How much of my brain is my mind?
If unconscious things continue, maybe it's enough to remind myself that I have a heart and lungs and other insides. Maybe I only have to concentrate on things that I control. Re-create my body on a surface level.