M. is for Mind

Dear Parviz

I understand that you would like your puppies to "have minds". We always try to anthropomorphosize our pets. Which is funny in a way, since your puppies do their very best to try to turn you into a dog like them. Only when you behave in a "doglike way" will they pay attention to you. So the attempt to change reality is at least mutual, which is sweet.

However, consciousness is a product of language, nothing more, nothing less. This is why new-born children do not have a consciousness. Sure, puppies and little babies express "wills". But willing something is not the same thing as having consciousness and then in extension having a mind. A river "wills" its way down the mountain slopes towards the ocean. This does not mean that the river has a mind. At least, a human baby is born with the potential for a mind which is what explodes from the moment the baby picks up his or her first miraculous words. It is by talking "to ourselves" that we develop a mind. The memories of these very reflections are the stones we build our minds on.

Ushta
Alexander

2008/8/28 Parviz Varjavand

Dear Martin,

Even if you are not mad at me, act as if you are! Otherwise I will subjugate you to more of my stupid mails.

Your friend always,
Parviz (or Pervez as Musharaf would say it)

M. for MIND

>>> M. that stands for Mind also stands for Mazda.
If to have a mind is only limited to Man, then the only thing in all universe that has Mazda-power is Mankind. So M. would stand for Mazda, Mind, and Man. <<<

I have my serious doubts about the correctness of my above statement. My dog gave birth to ten puppies three months ago and I still have six of them on my hands. (Do you know anybody who might want puppies in Tehran? Please!!??) To find them good homes, I decided to train them a little also. These puppies each have a mind of their own and it is hard for me to say that they are not conscious and have no minds. If these puppies have no consciousness and no mind, then I would venture a guess that at least eighty percent of humanity also has no mind and no consciousness.

Animals use their brain to push away from what might cause them harm and go towards what can cause them benefit. This is exactly what the passengers on every car being driven on the congested highways of this planet are going to be doing all day. They are what termites are to wood, the planet is the wood and they are the termites. So in what way would they be having a capacity above and beyond what the animals have?

Parviz Varjavand


Alexander Bard wrote:

According to Wikipedia:

Mind collectively refers to the aspects of intellect and consciousness manifested as combinations of thought, perception, memory, emotion, will and imagination; mind is the stream of consciousness. It includes all of the brain's conscious processes.

Since animals are NOT conscious, animals do NOT have mind.
While I love animals almost as much as human beings - and consider them sacred in their own right - they do not have mind. This is an important distinction.

Ushta
Alexander/mind worshipper, wherever "mind" appears, it is sacred...

2008/8/27 Parviz Varjavand

M. is for MIND

Our recent discussions on the meaning of Mazda showed us that it is the Ma part that relates linguistically to words such as Mind and Mental. It would be good if we now try and discuss what "The Mind" is and how it functions. Do animals have a Mind?

" THE M. MANIFESTO " should be written.

Mazda and Mazdayasi key phrases will not cut it as we will have a whole group of religious Zoroastrians enter the game and dominate the discussions with their "After-life" preoccupations.

Parviz