Mind has a material basis

Definitions: According to Princeton's Wordnet, "mind" is "that which is responsible for one's thoughts and feelings." [1] Also according to Princeton's Wordnet, "matter" is "that which has mass and occupies space." [2] Burden of proof: What does the resolution ask each side to prove? My opponent says, "The debate is about the notion that Mind is made up of matter." I (pro) choose to prove the above statement true by proving that thoughts and feelings originate in the brain. Since the brain both has mass and occupies space, this is a valid affirmation of the resolution. My opponent (con) must prove that thoughts and feelings originate somewhere incorporeal (that has no mass). My case: The easiest way to prove that certain functions originate in the brain is to look at individuals with brain damage or genetically-stunted brain development and see which functions are impaired. Emotion: The ability to recognize emotion in others is heavily dependent on the right side of the brain and injuries to this area result in emotional agnosia (agnosia means "loss of knowledge"). According to Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D., "In some instances, patients may be unable to recognize faces, including the faces of friends, family, or even their own face in the mirror--a condition referred to as "prosopagnosia." In some cases, the agnosia [can] be quite circumscribed and limited to emotion and social signals. These latter disturbances, collectively referred to as a "social-emotional agnosia" may occur with prosopagnosia and are also stereotypically associated with right cerebral injuries." [3] In addition, stroke patients (whose brains have been damaged by lack of oxygen) often lose their ability to feel emotion. According to the Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health, and Medicine, 23% of stroke patients experience an inability to feel emotions due to brain damage. [4] Lastly, 85% of people with autism display Alexithymia, which is an inability to recognize emotional states in others. [5] It was once thought that we understood emotions by using our prefrontal cortex to understand rationally what emotion someone else must be feeling based on the situation. For example, we think "John's dog just died, therefore those must be tears of sadness, not happiness." This was known as the "theory of mind." However, a number of researchers soon discovered a new type of neuron called a "mirror neuron." Mirror neurons fire when we observe someone else; for example, if someone else moves their hand to pick up a spoon, our mirror neurons activate the same neural pathway that we would use if we were picking up the spoon ourselves. We can thus understand intent and emotions by pretending we are in the same situation as the person we are observing, by virtue of our mirror neurons. [6] Mirror neurons are how we deduce that the spoon will be used for eating (as opposed to throwing at it someone) and that John is crying because he is sad (as opposed to happy). Thought: The frontal lobe of the brain is responsible for most of our complex thought and injuries to this area affect a wide variety of human behaviors. "The frontal lobes are considered our emotional control center and home to our personality. There is no other part of the brain where lesions can cause such a wide variety of symptoms (Kolb & Wishaw, 1990). The frontal lobes are involved in motor function, problem solving, spontaneity, memory, language, initiation, judgment, impulse control, and social and sexual behavior." [7] Frontal lobe injuries can also result in a loss of humor or a loss of abstract thinking. [8] [1] http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu... [2] http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu... [3] http://brainmind.com... [4] Andrew Baum, page 598 [5] http://en.wikipedia.org... [6] see Marco Iacoboni, Mirroring People [7] http://www.neuroskills.com... [8] Ezine, Frontal Lobe Injuries