Skip to main content

Does Star Trek solve the Mind-Body problem?


For those of you who are unaware of the mind-body problem, it is basically trying to determine how the mind connects with the body, and can lead on to 'what is the mind' and whether it is a physical object (note - this refers to the mind not the brain). As in Star Trek, one can use the transporters to transport a person from one position to another, and the person is perfectly intact, this implies that Star Trek solves the mind-body problem. Is this the case and, if so, what is the solution to it?



Answer




Star Trek embraces whatever philosophy is required to tell the current story.




  1. In the TOS episode "The Lights of Zetar" Enterprise encounters extant members of a dead civilization who existed for millennia as acorporeal minds searching for a suitable body in which to live out the remainder of their corporeal lives. This is an example of Cartesian or substance dualism.




  2. In the TNG episode "The Schizoid Man" cyberneticist Ira Graves flees his dying body and causes his mind to run on a new substrate, the positronic brain and body of Lt. Cmdr. Data. This is an example of monism, in particular, physicalism.




  3. On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, we learn on the existence of the Prophets, acorporeal entities that exist at least partly outside time itself, though they do inhibit material bodies from time to time. This is (probably) an example of idealistic monism.





  4. In the TOS episode "Turnabout Intruder", Janice Lester swaps ids with Captain Kirk, inhabiting his body while he inhabited hers. Substance dualism again.




  5. In the TOS episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" Roger Corby transfers his mind to run on a new substrate: an android body. Physicalism again.




  6. In the movie The Search for Spock we learn that Spock's katra, whatever that is, was deposited into Dr. McCoy to be later extracted by some mystical process. This is an example of property dualism.





If there's a mind-body philosophy that Star Trek has not yet embraced, give them time.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Do the Kwikspell courses work?

In Harry Potter we are introduced to Kwikspell course in The Chamber of Secrets (and never hear about it again). We see Filch taking courses, presumably by mail. The descriptions of Kwikspell make me think it is for people who are weak in magic (kind of like how Neville was supposed to be when he was younger), but had magic in them nonetheless. However, Ron's comments later in the chapter make it sound like it is mainly for Squibs to learn magic. However, it is strongly implied through out all the books that Squibs are essentially Muggles, and will never be able to do magic. How then is a Kwikspell course supposed to work? Do we have any information to know if it works at all? Is it a scam? An answer from any level of canon is welcome. Answer Kwikspell courses are (probably) useful to some wizards, but not to squibs. The Kwikspell course literature comes with two testimonials. Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes: ‘I had no memory for incantations and my potions were a family joke...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

languages - Do we ever see written English in the Star Wars films?

In Empire Strikes Back , we see a transcription of what R2's beeps and bloops mean, but it's not English (sorry for the low quality, it's from the 2004 DVDs): I'd assume it's what Basic looks like when written, but is there some point in the the Star Wars films we see written English instead? (This sort of spun off from a discussion in How do people understand astromech droids? .) Answer At one point there was English but it has been phased out in subsequent versions of the films. Chris Gould at DVD Active did a comparison of all versions of each of the Star Wars films, and in his comparison of Episode 4 , there are a couple of screenshots showing how the power gauge for the Death Star tractor beam was changed. I imagine there are probably more to be found in his other comparisons but I haven't got around to reading those yet.
Post a Comment
Read more

Was the "pure soul" of Harry's what had really hurt Voldemort?

In the Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort possesses Harry, and it hurts. Greatly. I think that Dumbledore explained that it was because Voldemort's rotten soul was incapable of assimilating Harry's pure soul, that Voldemort didn't understand the love and friendship etc that Harry has in his heart. But, I think it was a lie. Remember that in Deathly Hallows, while looking for information regarding Horcruxes, it is discovered that it is in fact possible to merge a soul fragment back, but that the process was extremely painful. Now then, if Voldemort tried to possess Harry, and Harry had a fragment of Voldemort's soul, I think that it could have been the true cause of Voldemort's pain: the fact of having his soul so close of another fragment. I think that Dumbledore knew that fact, but had to lie to Harry because it was inappropriate to let him know that he had one of Voldemort's soul fragments at the moment. Is that right? Or was it truly the pure soul of Harry's...
Post a Comment
Read more