The brain and mind appear to be two separate entities. First, they have different names. References to these also imply differences. "Have you lost your mind?", not "Have you lost your brain?". "What's on your mind?","In your mind's eye", not, well, you get the idea. We all have brains. The mind relies upon the brain for information but it does the processing. "He has a brilliant mind". Most brains are pretty much the same but some unknown physical and/or chemical differences in each individual brain and its content, allow the minds of some to function at higher levels than others. Brains are different but minds are identical. Brains are material but minds are non-material, intangible. The ability of the mind to function depends upon the health, physical condition and content (knowledge} of the brain.
The mind is not measurable in a physical sense but we attempt to measure it indirectly by measuring its efficiency, its product. The notion that a non-material "thing" can use material things through which to manifest itself is hard to accept, but when the body dies, the brain is left intact but life and the mind depart. Sounds a lot like what many of us call the "soul". The mind makes choices and directs the behavior of the individual so the mind can take credit for the good but must take the blame for the bad. When we speak of Heaven and Hell, we can compare them to the human feelings when we do something good and the guilty feeling when we do something bad. (I know about that only because people have told me about it.)
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When life leaves the body and the brain remains but cannot function, we must conclude that "life" allowed the brain to function. To me, if the mind and life exit the body at the same time, it is probable that they are one and together made the body "human".
There is no reason to believe that something which is not material can "die" in the same sense as material things, but it is easy to make a case that "life/mind" continue to exist on a different plane after the brain is dead and that the life experiences in it's memory are its Heaven or Hell. If you've been mostly good, you remember only the good and are happy: if you've been mostly bad, you remember only, and are tormented by, the bad. Heaven and Hell are a " state of mind".
The mind is not measurable in a physical sense but we attempt to measure it indirectly by measuring its efficiency, its product. The notion that a non-material "thing" can use material things through which to manifest itself is hard to accept, but when the body dies, the brain is left intact but life and the mind depart. Sounds a lot like what many of us call the "soul". The mind makes choices and directs the behavior of the individual so the mind can take credit for the good but must take the blame for the bad. When we speak of Heaven and Hell, we can compare them to the human feelings when we do something good and the guilty feeling when we do something bad. (I know about that only because people have told me about it.)
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When life leaves the body and the brain remains but cannot function, we must conclude that "life" allowed the brain to function. To me, if the mind and life exit the body at the same time, it is probable that they are one and together made the body "human".
There is no reason to believe that something which is not material can "die" in the same sense as material things, but it is easy to make a case that "life/mind" continue to exist on a different plane after the brain is dead and that the life experiences in it's memory are its Heaven or Hell. If you've been mostly good, you remember only the good and are happy: if you've been mostly bad, you remember only, and are tormented by, the bad. Heaven and Hell are a " state of mind".
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