Thinking, Fast and Slow (Part 1)

Intro: The Brain vs The Mind

The brain is the pinnacle of nature’s ingenious engineering, with the human brain being over 200,000 years old. The organ that gives an organism life and consciousness of its surroundings. A complex network of different neurons that intertwine and connect to pass electrical signals through the brain and the rest of your body. It tells your heart to beat and your diaphragm to relax and contract so that your lungs can inhale and exhale oxygen. But is that truly why the brain is seen as the pinnacle of biology? Maybe it is not the biological aspect of the brain that allows its true beauty to shine, maybe it is the psychological and philosophical aspect that allows for it to truly be applied.

Here is where the mind comes into frame, something much more complex than the brain. Something that allows you to experience the emotions that your brain produces. Something that enables you to be reasonable and have morals. Something that makes you stick to those morals and sometimes bend them to achieve what you want. The mind is truly phenomenal. The brain is also affected by how your mind works and in a way is shaped by your thoughts. For example, participants in one study showed reduced activity in their limbic system as they told more lies, which suggests that lying becomes easier with each lie. So people’s mindsets and habits allow people to change the physical structure and composition of their brains.

In essence, while the brain controls our physical functions, it's the mind that shapes our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours, truly defining what it means to be human and adding to our individuality.