Mind

As an abstract noun referring to no physical entity, 'mind' refers, in human beings, to a set of structures and activities in the brain in its dynamic connectivity with the body and the external environment, through stimuli from and to receptors and effectors, that enable the activities of thinking and conscious, non-conscious, and self-conscious experience.

As a verb, 'mind' refers to activities and behaviors whose meanings are captured in such phrases as "minding the baby", "mind your manners", "mind your own business" — activities and behaviors that reflect "...activities in the brain in its dynamic connectivity with the body and the external environment, through stimuli from and to receptors and effectors, that enable the activities of thinking and conscious, non-conscious, and self-conscious experience."

Thus, though 'mind' today is used both as noun and verb, before the sixteenth century, people had souls, not minds, and 'mind' was used as a verb, 'minding', 'to mind' (Szasz 1996).

References

• Szasz, Thomas. (1996) The Meaning of Mind: Language, Morality, and Neuroscience. Westport, CT: Praeger. | Google Books preview. | Thomas Szasz: Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus, State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, New York. | Citizendium article: Thomas Szasz.

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