” Are you a body with a mind or a mind with a body?”

W tym roku szkolnym grupa uczniów II klasy oraz IC KLO pracuje na lekcjach języka angielskiego razem z Joanną Lazar-Chmielowską. Oprócz realizacji materiału związanego z podręcznikiem, młodzież wykonuje dodatkowe zadania.

Obecnie w czasie zarazy, uczniowie zostali poproszeni, aby zastanowić się nad fundamentalnym pytaniem” Are you a body with a mind or a mind with a body?”

Kartezjusz orzekł „Myślę, więc jestem”, a kontynuację tego zagadnienia, podjęli się uczniowie, jak również starali się odpowiedzieć na następujące pytanie -  „The idea of integrating machines and living organisms might have been science fiction decades ago, but today we can control a neural prosthetic with our brains, bring the sight back to the blind with a pair of bionic eyes, and restore memory with a brain implant. What do you think about mind-body interaction and the change of brain structures as we enter this new era?”

Wypowiedzi uczniów są racjonalne, dojrzałe i błyskotliwe. Młodzież w czasie nauki zdalnej poświęciła czas i duże zaangażowanie w opracowanie swoich refleksji. To szalenie budujące obserwować dorobek tak kreatywnych ludzi.  

Zapraszamy do lektury!

As I always like to take a look at every matter from more scientific point of view, im my opinion both, body and mind are an entity and you cannot separate these parts, because the functioning of human's inner system would be disturbed. There are special connections that allow our brain take control of all the muscles that are responsible for your movement, etc. However, as a thinking creature, it is obvious that almost everything we do is based on our willpower.

Nevertheless, in comparison to the animals, the ability to think is not the main factor why we move and perform actions, but for sure, makes them more thought out and conscious. All human reflexes are caused by mentality, muscle memory and natural habits, but there are certain areas in our brain that are responsible for these reactions.

The other thing is, however, the matter of feelings whose origin cannot be precisely defined. I believe that to some extent it might be chemical reactions that make us feel in a certain way, but why do we cry when we are sad?

In what way do we become interested in something? What exactly is love? I'm not sure we will ever be able to explain these abstract matters properly.

Maria Franek, II klasa

In my opinion, the mind-body interaction is extremely complicated, but interesting and fascinating. What's more, in our brain it is enough to change, for example, the connection of neurons or their number, and our mind, brain works completely different.

Furthermore, I think it is important to say that our consciousness works thanks to the electrochemical connections in our body. Moreover, I believe that we can't try to separate the mind from the body, because they are cooperating together. For instance, everything is created twice, first in the mind and then in reality. I’m sure that the change of brain structures could affect our intelligence. Maybe we would be more successful, we would make decisions faster.

Nevertheless, despite the fact that neurology is a very developed field, we can go too far. We have to remember about humanity and that we aren’t programmed like robots, because we develop in natural way. 

Klaudia Gajda, II klasa

Generally I think that mind body interaction is so complicated that we probably will never be able to understand it clearly. Even though, we live in the 21 century scientist and doctors don’t know many things about how our brains work. Proccesses in the brain are so sophisticated that it is hard to analyze them. However, when it comes to changing brain structures I think it is really intersting, because we can be able to help disabled people or sick to recover.

On the other, hand exploring our brains is hard, becuase scientists have to work on living human beings. And when we think about this it is kind of against human rights.

What’s more, I thought about this rubber hand illusion, and I think it is so weird that our brains control everything and even though we see something diffrently our brains are manipulating us.

In addition, I thought about transffering our minds into a computer or a small device and I consider it is something that may happen in I don’t know 100 years or 200 years from now and maybe it will be an amazing idea to become immortal.

However, it won’t be that easy or even it won’t possible at all, but I think that it will be defininately something that will be against our humanity or maybe it will be only a temporary way to survive. In conlusion I think that I am a mind with a body becuase I am more attached to my mind and what I think than to my look and my body.

What’s smore I think that our minds are more valuable and they are something that can’t be stolen from us yet.

Sara Długosz, II klasa

So I think that body and mind are indeed connected with each other.

Moreover, you need both in order to live, however I personally think that our mind is superior to body. Thanks to our mind humans have the ability to form judgements as a conscious choice. Perhaps, all entities are composed of mind or spirit, because we need to notice that our mind or conscious engages in various activities such as rational thought, imagining, feeling and willing. It somewhat draw me to conclusion that human body is perhaps just affected by the mind. For example, when we want our arm to be raised it naturally will be raised. It doesn’t really matter if we’re doing it consciously or subsconsciously.

Furthermore, we could have broken arm without knowing about it, because the information didn’t get through to our mind.

Nevertheless, I’m not sure myself how it interacts with our brain though. 

Zuzanna Kąkol, II klasa

For me there's always been mind with a body. I think that mind is the centre of our whole system. We all know that without mind we wouldn’t be able to do anything.

Moreover, our mind is responsible for what and how we do different things. What’s more, because of our mind we are who we are and look how we want to. We create ourselves and our bodies the way we want because of our mind’s choice.

Furthermore, it’s our mind moving us forward because it tells our bones what to do at the exact time. What’s more interesting, after we die our mind remains longer than the body so it is the final proof for me that we are mind with body, not body with mind.

Julia Litowińska, II klasa

Mind-body connection is really involved. Firstly what exactly is meant by the word "mind?"

The mind most often refers to the seat of human consciousness, the thinking-feeling. What is more the mind consists of mental states such as thoughts, emotions, beliefs, attitudes, and images and should not be mistaken with brain. Brain is like  our hardware which allows us to experience mental states. Our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and attitudes can positively or negatively affect our biological functioning. In other words, our minds can affect how healthy our bodies are.

In my opinion body and mind maybe are separate things but mind and body cannot exist without each other(during our lives). Based on this video all of this is complicated because there are different statements said by different people. I think that we need body to let mind guide us through our lifes. If we had no body we would not even read this because mind is not just an empty space. It belongs to each person. Everything is connected and I do not comprehend this topic fully. What is more, I do not think someone does.In addition no one has credibly seen a mind without a body present. I am confused by how much we don't know yet.

However, I think that I am both: Body with a mind and mind with a body.

Maja Karosek, II klasa

It's quite complicated and still not clear because for years many philosophers and scientists have been thinking about mind-body interaction. Some of them think that we’re a mind equipped with a physical body, others think that we’re a complex organism that’s gained consciousness due to the millions of years of evolution. Frankly speaking, I believe that the physical body and mind work together to form one common whole, even though sometimes our brains mislead us.

However, when it comes to the change of brain structures as we enter this new era I don't think people can completely transfer themselves and their consciousness to new technologies. Maybe I just don't want to believe it, but I'd rather live with this kind of awareness than think that we could completely transfer ourselves and our lives into computers. Although, various technologies make our communication much easier, they cannot replace touch.

Justyna Kołder, II klasa

I think that mind-body interaction is possible only when  we talk about human. I believe that we cannot separate mind from body and vice versa. Moreover in my opinion we will never be capable of separating physical part from mental part of our body.

However, when it comes to mind and the rest of the body things can get really interesting. For example when someone is dying or is unconscious his or her mind is still aware of what is happening. So, that is why I find it interesting and little bit scary.

Furthermore, I think that change of brain structures is interesting too. If we change some nerves or even make them faster, more sensitive we can achieve something impossible, such as huge intelligence. The fact is that we only use 10 or 20% of the capabilities of our brain. If we change something maybe we will be able to use 50% or even more of our mind. I am really interested in this topic and I look forward to see it with my own eyes.

Paulina Kubielas, II klasa

First of all, it is worth emphasizing how powerful and mysterious our brain is. We live in the XXI century and we have not discovered yet all the abilities and functions of it. So here comes the question: are we a mind with a body or a body with a mind? I personally think we are a mind with a body. We can control each body part and if we lost one of them our mind is able to replace it by wearable robots or neural prosthetics without any problem. Moreover, I would say we experience the power of our brain everyday. Thanks to it, we can dream, think or ponder of something. Additionally, it may sound insane, but I am really sure we are able to part the mind from the body. Now, let’s move on the change of brain structure. First, it is still a part of science-fiction for me. Restoring memory with a brain implant or transfering a human consciousness into a computer scare me a bit. On the other hand, I am a hundred percent aware that all those changes are unavoidable. We have to move forward and develop.

Julia Lont, II klasa

Are you a mind with body or a body with a mind ? That question people have been asking themselves for centuries. Nevertheless they have never found the right answer. However I believe that our bodies and our minds are closely connected. Our bodies can’t really live without something that operate our vital processes. On the other hand there is no prove that mind can be seperated from a body. Although if I had to choose what’s more likely, I’d choose mind with a body.

Our civilisation is evolving, what’s more we discover new technologies as well. So maybe in a couple of decades or even years we will be able to create a being without a body by transferring a consciousness into a computer. That sounds like a science fiction, nevertheless decades ago people thought the same thing about integrating machines and living organisms. So who knows?

Marta Kawik Ic

Humans are extremly complex organisms. Through centuries we have tried to undestand our own bodies. Even our brain which is the main componet of our body is yet to be understood by us. That's why I

think that we lack proper knowlegde and technology to once and for all determine whether we are a body with a mind or a mind with a body. Basing on our current knowledge I would say that we are rather one complex organism which has evolved, adapted and changed over the years. Our brain and hence our conciousness isn't some kind of a machine or something that we could rip on a computer. Each part of our body is responsible of something crutial to our existance. For me it's clear that transferring conciousness into a computer is one of many futuristic theories.

However, we don't know what the future holds and in fact I'm sure that we would be astonished with the achievments of our grandchildern.

Finally, my opinion is that we can't fully understand our mind and so we can't determine which of those two statments is correct.

Maybe none but who knows?

Miłosz Głąbiński IC

I believe that I’m mind with a body. I think that my mind is a core of my existence. Moreover, In my opinion my body is just a temporary case for my mind. My thoughts, ideas and feelings make me who I am. Every healthy body works according to the same patterns, but every mind works completely different. This is what makes every single one of us unique. According to Plato’s theory, in contrast to the body, ideas are immortal. They can survive for eternity. Even my tiniest thoughts determine my bodie’s actions and control even the unnoticeable movements. My body is made only to keep my mind safe and to provide my brain shelter and nutrients. We can’t choose the body were born in, we also can’t choose our psychological features, but mind is flexible and it’s possible to change our mindset or mood in one second. Nevertheless, it’s crucial to take care of our bodies which are home for our brain- capital of thoughts and ideas. Without a healthy body, unfortunately our mind can’t function properly. It’s all connected just like computer- our mind it’s the computer disc with all the data, but the rest of the equipment such as computer case, monitor, keyboard and procesor are also essential for our computer to work.

Lena Czakańska, IC

When I think about the interaction between human brain and body I'm full of amazement. Nevertheless, at the same time I feel confused. For me it has always been a mind with a body. However, after having watched the video many questions and doubts appeared in my mind. I'm not so sure anymore if a mind could live without a body. Our brain is indeed made of neurons and other structures, so it's physical just like muscles or bones.

Nonetheless, I think our mind and consciousness is more than only a part of a biological body. In my opinion there must exist something else than just more brain cells, that makes us different from the animals. What's more, it can be true that humen have souls which are separated from a body. There are even philosophers that suggest that we live in an illusion, in that case wouldn't have any physical body at all. However, this idea makes me feel a little weird and uncomfortable.

On the other hand,  many scientists think that mind and a body are inseparable. The thought of our consciousness being a result of reacting to stimuli around us seems quite reasonable, nonetheless I'm not quite sure about it. Maybe it's because of my religion but I want to belive that our minds are something more than just millions of neurons. Finally, new technologies, like wearable robots which can replace some parts of a body show that our brain can be fooled and start to belive that the artificial hand for example is a real one (just like in the rubber hand illusion). Well, the thought of uploading our consciousness to the computer seems unbelievable to me and I'm rather sceptical about it. However, I know that these days, when technology developes so fast, many things considered as impossible become real and maybe in the future everyone would live in a computer? I can't even imagine.

Justyna Wawrzacz, IC