@Deckard,
Deckard;153499 wrote:Is mind/body problem pretty much the same as the idealism/materialism problem? If not, what are the important differences between the two?
Hello Decker. Ideally there is a connection unfortunately this reality can't "touch" it and why we have difficulty associating them together. The body is a material of many materials and the mind is meta-materialistic as it relates to how it/us assimilate what the senses are presenting to it/us. We can have "too much and too little" in both mind and body.
When one has more, it deprives the other and the brain gets "disturbed". It's the intermediary. When there is disturbance in mind the brain becomes preoccupied and cannot see to the body and visa versa. Balance is the key.
How do we balance the two so they will not disturb one another? First there is a matter of priority. The Mind comes first. We must put it at ease,
To do that is allow it to focus in the moment on the moment at hand by just leaving it alone; let it do it's thing without interference. The brain can then concentrate what it has to do tending to the body.
What disturbs the mind? Offering attention to that we should not attend. That involves "force"' we have to force the mind to do that. If we didn't force it to do that, it naturally wouldn't itself. In other words it would go in one ear and out the other. What it needs, it would automatically attach itself to like a puzzle putting itself together. That varies with each and every individual on this planet. We say that all the time; "give it no mind". We are telling ourselves what the mind will do naturally.
Now imagine "static" between those ears when one forces itself to "hear" all that it shouldn't. Those represent "disturbing thoughts" that shouldn't be there and nothing can get through to pass out the other. They "hang around" and the brain tries to make some sense of it all, thereby focusing on these erroneous thoughts causing it to be inefficient in its tending to the body. It is the epitome of much ado about nothing pertinent to the one and why we are not communicating divinely with one another.
The mind and the body is the equivalent to the heavens and the earth and the balance in those two. If you think about it and what we do to achieve this balance that we are telling ourselves is what we do when one prays. They put there two hands together as one with fingers folded together.
Have you ever tried to pull apart those two hands when they are "clenched". Pert near impossible, huh! The right and the left are joined praying for unity. Ideally that would mean we were once able to use both hands equally. And we have just grown apart by all that mental disturbance. The two hemispheres of the brain have parted opposing each other rather than working more efficiently as one? Hmmm?
Now if you will notice if you are right handed your left hand is it's helper and visa versa. That is what we must do. Instead what we see is the right hand not knowing what the other is doing. That is disturbance and confusion personified.
Please give what I have offered a little thought before you respond. There's little static in you Decker so I know you will not have to think long, ha!:bigsmile:
William