The Mind–Body Schism

Deeply installed in Westernised ‘folk psychology’ is a nest of assumptions about the mind and its relation to the body. Put crudely, mind and body are seen as separate, and intelligence is taken to be an attribute only of the mind. As Descartes summed it up, “There is nothing included in the concept of the body that belongs to the mind, and nothing in that of mind that belongs to the body”. These assumptions are usually only made explicit in the context of philosophical debate, so the mind–body relationship can seem merely academic. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. As we have said, people do not often think these things consciously, or agree with them when stated so baldly, and may even deny that they believe them. Some people actively resist these beliefs; others may indeed have shed them. But there are now very few cultures in the world that have not been colonised to some degree by this schismatic view of human nature. And to a greater or lesser extent this separation has continued to pervert the way we relate to our individual selves – for example, in determining what we should be proud or ashamed of, and in what we find valuable to do, be and learn. Here are some of the elements and corollaries of the mind–body split laid bare for all to see, alongside summaries of the different conclusion towards which embodiment science is pointing. Mind and body are separate (though they have to have some mysterious ways of communicating). Embodiment science (ES) strongly suggests they are aspects of the same set of intelligent processes. Mind is superior to body; its concerns are loftier. Body's concerns are lowly. ES says mind's higher reaches and capacities are rooted in and continually dependent on bodily activities. Mind is intelligent ; body is menial. ES says bodily structures and processes are essential and equal partners in intelligent functioning. Mind is pure (even spiritual or soulful); body is selfish, concerned only with its own survival and desires. ES says bodyminds are essentially, deeply ecological and social. Concerns for kin and habitat are baked into the bodymind (though there are other values that may trump altruism on occasion). Mind is knowledgeable and rational – it can weight evidence and draw valid conclusions through watertight reasoning; body is impetuous and untrustworthy, easily swayed by conditions from within and outside. ES says disembodied rationality is often specious or callous, and grounding reason in personal concerns is necessary and frequently beneficial. Morality has biological foundations. There are ‘eternal verities’ – important and reliable bits of knowledge – that mind is privy to, and body is not. ES says even arithmetic, algebra and geometry are grounded in bodily features and experiences. Mind's business is mostly conducted in consciousness . Body is often unconscious. ES says bodily awareness (e.g. ‘interoceptive sensitivity’) is essential for intelligent functioning and can be deliberately fostered in the growing child. Part of mind's job is to control body as best it can and stop it from being embarrassing and anti-social. This control is only partially or intermittently successful. Appeals to supernatural entities (‘God’, ‘soul’ etc.) may help. ES says this image of an ongoing internal battle (between, for example, Freud's hypothetical ‘Ego’, ‘Super-Ego’ and ‘Id’) is unnecessary, inaccurate and potentially damaging to health and well-being. Our very identity – who at heart we really are – is bound up with being Knowledgeable, Rational, Controlled and Controlling. ‘I’ is like the Chief Executive of the mind, gathering information, cogitating judiciously, reaching decisions and sending out orders for body to implement (which may involve doing something or inhibiting the impulse to do something). ES says true well-being and integration depend on a view of ourselves that embraces unconscious and ecological factors as well as conscious knowing and reasoning. Voluntary behaviour is action triggered and controlled by conscious thought. So knowing, understanding and deciding are necessary precursors of behaving. Being able to explain something (e.g. in a written exam) means you ought to be able to do it. By contrast, ES research shows that expertise often depends on the absence of any deliberate sense of control, and also goes along with not being able to explain what you are doing and why. Mind and Intelligence are personal activities; they are not essentially communal. The ideas of a collective mind or collective intelligence make no sense. ES says collective intelligence is often prior to personal thinking. Much of our bodymind's intelligence derives from the social transmission of smart strategies for thinking, learning, remembering and deciding.