Topics Mind

Question In my world history class, we dedicated some time to learning about the Boxer Rebellion in China, which took place in the 19th century. My teacher had mentioned that the Boxers believed they had magical powers, and that bullets would not injure them. Bullets did indeed injure them, but my teacher said they withstood more bullets than usual, because of their belief. I'm not sure if that is true, but I was wondering if a mind over matter type of thing is possible. Perhaps it's linked to what the Redcoats did in the Revolutionary War, how they wore red so that when they were hit, they wouldn't have noticed the blood and could have lived longer. I have an illness of some sort, where I can harm myself depending on my state of mind. It really does sound like something in a sci-fi movie, it's unbelievable. There's been many times where I would feel some sort of pain somewhere, and associate it with an illness I learned about in health class, or somewhere. The more I learned about the illness, the more symptoms I would encounter. When I went to the doctor, he assured me it was nothing, and after that I no longer felt any worry, or pain. It's incredibly weird, and has happened numerous times. I was wondering if this is a mind over matter type thing, can the mind effect the body in such ways?

Accepted:
October 17, 2005

Comments

There's nothing mysterious about "mind over matter", is there? When you had second thoughts last night and eventually decided you wanted your grilled black bean burger with cheese and therefore called after the waitress with "Could you make that with cheese, please?" -- well, that was "mind over matter". You had the desire for cheese (mind), decided to do something about it (mind), believed that you could do something about it by calling after the waitress (mind), and then found yourself with vocal chords, diaphragm, tongue, etc. appropriately engaged (matter).

Or at least, there's nothing uncommon about it. Philosophers are divided about how mysterious they find it; and those who don't find it mysterious are divided about why it's not mysterious. But once you wrap your mind around the mind's ability to cause behavior, the cases you point to are small potatoes. The hard part is understanding how events in your mind can cause your actions. That sometimes those effects are quite spectacular, for instance the kinds of physical feats you describe, does not induce nearly the same kind of philosophical headache as trying to explain how such causation is possible at all.