Four dimensional mind: a solution to the mind body problem
The mind body problem is a topic debated by philosophers over centuries. With the rise of neural science, psychology, and various functional brain imaging techniques, some new solutions to this century old problem are able to emerge based on multiple cutting edge research. This work attempts to generate a new view on the mind body problem by firstly incorporating spacetime diagram into the solution process. Each region of the combined spacetime diagram is then categorized by their unique features that were selected based on recent psychological and neural scientific discoveries. Finally, the potential problems solved by this perspective of the mind body problem are discussed. 1. Spacetime diagrams Spacetime diagrams are two or three dimensional representations of events happening in the actual four dimensional universe with the horizontal axis being space dimension and the vertical axis being time dimension. In Fig. 1, space is compressed into a planar, two dimensional representation, the three dimensional spacetime has been divided by two opposing cones named light cones. The light cone is constructed by multiple light rays originating from the origin labeled the observer, each individual path traveled by a photon is named lightline. Due to the invariance of light speed, the slope of each lightline is the light speed. The light cone resided on the positive side of the time axis is named the future light cone and the opposite light cone is called the past light cone. Inside the region bounded by the future and past light cones are a set of events that can be accessed by the observer when traveling less than the speed of light. Inside the future light cone region it is called absolute future and the opposite region absolute past. Because the observer at the origin has a smaller time value when compared to the events in absolute future, the observer can have a cause and effect relationship with any event within the boundary imposed by future light cone. Likewise, events in the absolute past region can also have this relationship with the observer (Penha, N. and Rothenstein, B) The rigorous mathematical formulation of the light cones and other prominent features of spacetime diagram are interesting topics but are beyond the scope of this work. The basic construction and understanding of the spacetime diagram are enough to initiate the discussion about the connection between the mind body problem. Fig.1 A three dimensional spacetime diagram 2019 International Conference on Cultural Studies, Tourism and Social Sciences (CSTSS 2019) Copyright (c) (2019) Francis Academic Press, UK DOI: 10.25236/cstss.2019.043 215 2. The mind body problem The mind body problem can be regarded fundamentally as the problem arising from the inconsistent properties of the physical world and the mental world. Humans are animals, with a physical body existing strictly as a three dimensional object. We are capable of perceiving other physical properties such as weight, color, shape, etc through the medium of spacetime. On the other hand, we also possess an inner life, our subjective experience of emotion, intentionality, desires, and so on. The physical properties of the external world are objective, meaning that they can be perceived by everyone else. Mental properties, however, are purely subjective and can not be directly experienced by others. The distinction between the two realms of perception is the fundamental incongruity explored by the mind body problem. There are mainly three types of view on this subject. The first view is named the materialist view. Materialists view this distinction as a false dichotomy because mental states are also a form of physical state. All the apparent nonphysical properties of the mind can all be explained by physical processes. The second view is the idealist view, which states that the physical world is an empirical world and everything physical about the world arises from the collective mental states of all observers. Finally, there is the dualist point of view, which states that both aspects are essential perspectives making up the perceivable reality and they can not be reconciled consistently (Robinson, 2017) This article will take on the dualist perspective of the mind body problem, referred to "interactionism" which is more precise due to its intuitive nature. Interactionism is a variety of dualism that stresses the interaction between the mental and physical realm. There are obvious counterarguments to this view such as how can the two drastically different properties influence each other? Many philosophers and physicists have gone to great lengths trying to offer a rebuttal with no definitive result. The technicalities of this point of view are beyond the scope of this article, rather, this work attempts to utilize this view of the mind body problem to point out the fundamental discrepancy between the body and the mind and how spacetime diagrams might offer a solution to this conundrum. Fig.2 Mind and body inside a three dimensional spacetime diagram 3. The body and the mind in a spacetime diagram Based on the dualist perspective of the mind and the body, each portion can be analyzed separately. We can start by exploring the place of the body if we were to place it inside a spacetime diagram. The body is considered to be a material object, in other words, a strictly three dimensional