Psychology

What is mind? »Its definition and meaning

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The study of the mind is a type of cognitive science that encompasses a series of characteristic elements of humanity, including thought, imagination, memory and perception. Each of these elements manage to shape or create the personality of all the subjects that inhabit the world. When there is a fault in the mind, some mental illnesses develop that make life difficult or deteriorate for people. It should be noted that the mind differs from the mental state because it is born from the aforementioned cognitive faculties. Mental states are pain, desire, beliefs, and feelings.

What is mind

Table of Contents

In psychology, the mind feeds itself with its material systems, as it analyzes itself, that is why psychologists speak of it as a different matter from the brain even when it is born from this organ. It is treated by three different processes, which are procedural, conscious and unconscious. On the other hand, there is a considerable number of people who maintain the faithful belief that the brain is a completely necessary organ in the human body, but it is still not enough for the body to perform all the daily functions that it should do.

From the point of view of neuroscience, cognitive sciences are considered as experiences that are created by daily brain activities, only these are taken at a subjective level, since it is believed that this can produce the focus of a specific movement. What do you mean by that? That the mind is another of the many functions that the brain has and that its main objective is to keep people's behavior organized in front of other subjects, animals and objects. These kinds of experiences are considered the inner "me".

For most scientists, it is considered as the result of all the activities carried out by the brain to have localized some of the processes whose regions are specific in people, one of these is the hippocampus, which directly affects memory when it presents damages, no matter if they are minor or serious. Now, this theory is not completely accepted by the scientific community because although the mind can encompass some processes and corroborate their due existence, it does not mean that it can cover all of them, that is why psychology has adopted its study.

Psychologists such as Howard Gardner affirm that it has a series of mechanisms identical to those of a computer, since they are totally independent and specific. For example, intelligence is born from the mental superstructure which, in turn, is made up of a series of independent elements perfectly aligned or grouped by the mind itself. These structures can be externalized or maintained within the cognitive sciences through thought and all these functions are potentially fulfilled, unless there is a direct failure in the brain that directly affects the cognitive area. But the psychologist Jean William Fritz Piaget had a different opinion.

He said that the mind is managed through schemes and differentiated its functions and operations in order to achieve a clear distinction of the components that make up the cognitive sciences, which are: concrete, practical and abstract mind. The first is the one that performs all the primordial or basic processes of human thought, these are the bases of synthesis or analysis, comparisons, observations, classifications and relationships. The second component is based on the processes of thought direction, that is, the causes and effects, the means that are used to achieve a certain end.

That is why it is said that the practical mind is the genesis of intelligence, it is there where the logic of people is found. Finally, the third component called abstract, is especially related to reason, since it keeps reflecting on its actions daily and modifying its thinking from time to time. With all this it is very clear that the main priority of the mind is to keep everything under control, generating minimal levels of pain at an emotional level, since it also generates a series of emotional patterns that characterize humans. The cognitive sciences are the genesis of human thought.

Functions of the mind

The mind can become quite complex and reacts to everything that is seen, heard, touched or smelt. These external experiences are evaluated or reflected by the internal self, which refers to the ego, to compare them with other situations that the person has previously experienced. This can be interpreted as a defense mechanism to achieve human survival, so, at first glance, it can be noticed that people use the cognitive part of the brain without realizing it, in this way everyone can think in different ways according to all existing inner selves.

The cognitive area of ​​the brain has strongly special functions that must be fulfilled to keep the individual under control, one of these functions is the understanding, which is considered as the faculty that every human being has to think or analyze certain situations and lived experiences. Understanding is a tool that people use daily to understand where they are, their conditions, the subjects they interact with and all kinds of information they receive on a daily basis, so that they can structure everything and create their own meaning. or concept.

Likewise, there is reasoning, another of the elements or functions that the human mind has and that is a fundamental part of daily life. It is a faculty of humans to question or accept the concept of something or someone, with it you can discover, accept or discard ideals, meanings, opinions and even information that are found anywhere. It is individual because not everyone can reason in the same way and although there is a social pattern, each person decides what they want to adopt in their knowledge and in their life, as long as it is consistent.

On the other hand, there is the function of perception, which is linked to the 5 characteristic senses of the human being: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. All these provide the mind with a fairly physical reality of the environment in which it is found and, thanks to it, we have the saying of the powerful mind, because with perception stimuli can be interpreted and selected and later make sense of something. Perception tries to find the meaning of something, process it and, finally, store all kinds of information. This is where the cognitive area works the most.

The excitement is also part of the functions of the mind, they are psychological reactions that establish or adapt to the individual to certain stimuli or situations, either in the perception of something, knowing a person, etc. Emotions are often very intense and an individual is almost unlikely to have a blank mind. Memory is part of the functions of the brain and together with those of the cognitive area of ​​the same, because with it all the events that happened in the past and that can be used later are encoded, schematized and stored.

It is said that memory makes individuals have a positive mind, this is because they are aware of the things they did years ago and that can be verified through memories. Now, another of the functions of the mind is to maintain imagination, which generates alternate realities through the information that the individual takes and that after this he manipulates at will in a negative or positive way. All people have imagination, in the case of artists, they have millionaire minds because they create stories, songs and all kinds of art.

Finally, there is the will. It is one of the faculties aimed at coordinating and organizing human behavior, so that it can carry out certain actions in order to obtain a result, this can be positive or negative, all according to the mechanisms that it takes. Will is considered as the capacity of people that motivates them to do activities voluntarily, governing their actions, decisions and choices, adopting the personality that best suits them with the help of conscience, reasoning and perception. The will turns the cognitive zone into an indomitable mind

Characteristics of the mind

One of the main characteristics of this is that it works automatically, sustaining thoughts and emotions in record time. The brain is constantly working and with it, its cognitive zone. She will never stop thinking, idealizing or feeling on an emotional level. The mind works by means of contrasts, that is, classifying things as positive or negative and comparing them with each other, so that it can make a choice considering the pros and cons. The cognitive area is as material as the human body, only it is more subtle than the anatomy.

It is a structured energy that improves the mental capacity of the human being. Finally, the mind is part of the nature of the human being, each one has a cognitive area and this can remain healthy or present damage and although these can be treated, they reflect a cognitive deterioration difficult to cope with. Nature can be wild and in this category, the mind is no exception. She cannot stop and tends to get tired, so it is important to keep a balance with the body and try to calm everyday emotions and feelings.

Mind disorders

It is a severe deterioration of the mental state or an abnormal development of it, generally this type of pathology is due to external causes such as the environment, society or severe trauma, but this does not exclude the fact that the pathology is congenital. The rational area of ​​the brain can collapse from one moment to another and present severe failures in the minds of people, these disorders have increased over time, however, the most prominent or common ones around the world will be mentioned below..

Anxiety

It is nothing more than the irrational fear of daily situations or experiences and although it may seem normal when there is stress involved, it becomes chronic when the episodes occur on a daily basis. The feeling of fear is present all the time and that makes it impossible for the patient to live in a normal way, in fact, it even affects the people around them.

Obsessive compulsive disorder

It is a repetitive behavior that is done to reduce anxiety and although many see this as a good thing, the disorder can become quite uncomfortable. Its main characteristic is the fear of certain things, for example, the panic of germs, this makes the person become obsessive about cleaning. OCD can also present itself as an obsession with maintaining order at home, the workplace, and even with people.

Post traumatic stress

This disease is generated by a traumatic situation, it can be an accident, experiences of extreme violence or witnessing terrifying situations. The main symptoms are nightmares, thoughts about the event and anxiety. People who have this disease tend to have suicidal minds and that is why it is necessary to see a doctor who can control the episodes with special drugs.

Personality disorders

They are abnormal states in the mind of the patient and are generated at the emotional, motivational, affective and relationship levels. A person with this condition can have between one and three personalities when it comes to multiple personality disorder. This disorder presents a somewhat inflexible pattern in the behavior of the patient, in fact, some may have criminal minds, such as the case of Billy Milligan. There are other disorders that make it impossible for diagnosed individuals to have a full life and to integrate into society. With this it is clear that the mind is part of a very complex brain structure and that it should not be underestimated, since it is the basis of human knowledge and thought.