The Master Mind

THE MASTER MIND

Laws remain the same. memory, and thought; nor would the laws of the association of ideas be changed, nor would the fact that interest and repetition aid memory cease to hold true. The man who thought his mind was a collection of little cells would dream, imagine, think, and feel; so also would he who believed his mind to be immaterial. It is very fortunate that the same mental phenomena occur, no matter what theory is adopted. Metaphysics handles puzzles. Those who like to study the puzzles of what mind and matter really are must go to metaphysics. Should we ever find that salt, arsenic, and all other things are the same substances with a different molecular arrangement, we would still not use them interchangeably."

Another well-known psychologist, speaking on the same subject, calls our attention to the custom of a celebrated teacher of psychology who usually began his first lecture by bidding his pupils to "think about something, your desk, for example"; Thinking about thinking. and who would then add: "Now think of that which thinks about the desk"; and then, after a few moments, concluding the remark with the statement that: "This thing which thinks about the desk, and The subject of study. about which you are now thinking, is the subject matter of our study of psychology."

The psychologist above mentioned has said further on this subject: "The mind must either be that which thinks, feels, and wills, or it must be the thoughts, feelings, and acts of will of which we are conscious—mental facts, in one word. But what can The limits of knowledge. we tell about that which thinks, feels, and wills, and what can we find out about it? Where is it? You will probably say, in the brain. But, if you are speaking literally—if you say that it is in the brain, as a pencil is in the pocket—then you must mean that