Understanding of the Mind and Its Processes - Essay Example

Cognitive Science Developing an understanding of the mind and its processes is a much more complicated process than it appears at first glance. Thus far in class we have discussed topics such as sensation, perception and imagination; memory and attention; consciousness and mind; and will and action, yet none of these topics are completely independent or completely dependent on the others. For example, our understanding of the world around us, our perception, is shaped first by our sensations, or the messages that our bodies are able to send to the brain.

However, even this simple-sounding step is problematic because our sensations can’t always be trusted. Our vision, for instance, is based upon a two dimensional image despite the fact that it is attempting to perceive a three dimensional world. As a result, we depend to a great extent upon our imaginations to fill in any missing elements of the visual puzzle we are confronted with, which may be accurate or inaccurate and it is up to other areas of our mind to decipher the truth. Perception, then, is what we first believe we have seen and then becomes adjusted as we begin to process this information through other areas of the mind based on information we remember or understand from previous experience.

In addition to what we perceive through our fallible senses, we are also struggling to understand the world around us through what we can pay attention to, which has been proven to be limited, and what we are able to remember, which is limited by what we can imagine and further shaped by our perception of the event. As if this weren’t enough information to try to juggle around, how our perceptions are governed by our sensations and our memories and how these interact and combine to reshape our perceptions, there is another element that must be considered in cognitive science regarding what it means to be conscious and where the link is between the biological, material processes of the brain and the immaterial untraceable processes of the mind.

Many people have made the connection between the brain and the computer and the mind and the software that runs the computer, but science has demonstrated that these processes are much more complex than the relationship between the newest Dell model and Windows Vista. While we attempt to define what it means to be conscious, we realize that we are only aware of ourselves as conscious because we can compare ourselves to something else – we are like something. This is further complicated when it is realized that the brain can be divided into two separate entities, one that is more spatially oriented and the other that is more logically oriented.

With this division, it is possible to do something with one side of the brain without truly being aware of it on the other side. Dream states and other states where the mind is active but unaware or not in complete control of what is occurring further blur the picture of what it means to be conscious.