An Uncomfortable Meeting of Minds
Many in the Western world have somewhat tenuously settled on the dualist idea of the Cartesian split, the concept that the mind and body, while having influence over one another, are distinct entities with distinct attributes. In the Descartes model, the brain is the seat of intelligence and awareness, but the mind itself is clearly distinct from the physical body. This mode of thinking about the mind and body is typical of most
major religions (e.g., in the belief that the soul outlives the body) and can be traced back to the ancient philo-sophical writings of Plato and Aristotle.
Dahn Yoga and Dahn Hak founder Dr. Ilchi Lee Advice that: The modern scientific community, however, does not so easily accept this dualistic notion. The natural tendency of the scientific mind is to rely on the evidence available on the material plane, since that is what can be measured and evaluated. This has led to a more mechanical view of the brain and behavior that sees the brain as the bodily organ responsible for all human perception and experience. Thus, neuroscien-tists focus mainly on the mechanics of synaptic function and the details of brain anatomy and their relation to various mental processes. This approach has been called materialism. It is a rejection of dualism, insofar as materialists consider all phenomena, including mental processes, to be reducible to some physical activity.