Spiked asked several scientists what they would say if they could teach the world just one thing about science.
Saksida gives a wonderfully straightforward explanation of why the mind and brain are just different reflections of the same thing, but why it’s also useful to describe them separately at times.
I wish people understood that there is no mind/brain duality. Specifically, I wish people understood that there is no such thing as a purely psychological disorder. Every event in your psychological life, and therefore every psychological change, is reducible in theory to events and changes in your brain. We should therefore not judge people differently, according to whether they are considered to have a ‘psychological’ as opposed to a ‘neurological’ problem.
Of course, a lack of mind/brain split does not mean that we should abandon all talk of psychology. Psychology and neuroscience are two ways of studying the same thing, and both are essential for understanding the human condition.
She explains this, and more, while practising yoga in front of a log fire, serenely circled by candles. Needless to say, it’s a thoroughly calming experience.