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From: throopw@rtp47.UUCP (Wayne Throop)
Newsgroups: net.philosophy
Subject: mind vs. brain
Message-ID: <233@rtp47.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 28-Oct-85 15:44:28 EST
Article-I.D.: rtp47.233
Posted: Mon Oct 28 15:44:28 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 3-Nov-85 08:38:39 EST
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Organization: Data General, RTP, NC
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> Let me suggest the following analogy: mind is to brain as digestion is
> to stomach.  [...]  for the noun "digestion" denoting activities,
> there is a handy verb, "digest", which denotes the same activities.
> The noun "mind", similarly, denotes some activities performed by the
> brain.  Unfortunately, our language doesn't provide us with a handy
> verb to denote these activities, so many people tend to sucked into
> thinking of "the" mind as a "thing".
>               David Canzi, an entirely physical phenomenon.

I think the verb you are looking for is "to think".

stomach, intestines;  digestion;  digest
brain, nervous system;  mind, cognition, "mentation";  think, "mentate"

I think all the parts of speech are there, it's just that

 1) the forms for mental activity (the ones in common use anyhow) are
    irregular, while those for gastric activity are (relatively)
    regular.
 2) There is a common, pre-existing notion that "the mind" is a "thing"
    rather than a process.

I don't, however, think that this notion "caused by" language.  I think
that the language simply reflects the deep-rooted notion.  To a thinker,
the mind simply seems more *thing-like* than the digestion, and this
seeming is reflected in the language.

I will also note that, in English, almost any noun can be verbed, so
there is no bar to the *notion* of "mind" as a verb.

--
"You find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very
 Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets
 into the open and has other people looking at it."
              Winnie-the-Pooh.
-- 
Wayne Throop at Data General, RTP, NC
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