The Mind and Body, a Team or Separate Entities?

In the three episodes we had to watch this week, the ideas relating to the body, mind, and soul are explored through the characters and plot. In the Futurama episode “The Day the Earth Stood Stupid”, the idea of the brain being its own entity was depicted throughout, demonstrating the different ideas relating to Cartesian Dualism  In one the beginning scenes (6:25), Leela is being chased by the brain spawn invading Earth. The brains did not speak, nor did they show any evidence of being able to communicate verbally (besides the Giant evil brain), they were still able to move around on their own accord without the need of a body. This ties in with the  “ghost in a machine” mentality when thinking about the consciousness/soul of a person, as we were seeing the ghost without the machine. In a scene later on in the episode (16:01), Fry and Leela find the big evil brain in the library. He says to them “ we have long since evolved beyond the need for asses”, showing how he is able to exist on his own and looks down upon the humans who are stuck in their physical bodies. This is similar to how Cartesian Dualism was described as the mind being separate from and elevated above the body, as we see the Brains tend to float above the humans in the episode. Fry is able to defeat the evil brain at the end of the episode by physically writing a new story and trapping the brain inside, which calls into question the limits of the so-called “ghost” or evil brain when it isn’t connected to a “machine”. 

In Netflix’s Altered Carbon, Kovac’s introduction to the world has him grappling with his past self and the new body that he now inhabits. In the scene (11:59) where he and the other people who received new sleeves are receiving an orientation on their new bodies, it gives us insight on how the characters view the mind and the body. The society built in this tv show expresses the importance of a mind/soul over a body. It seems that the physical bodies are not valued as a person’s consciousness is stored within a what they call a stack, located within a person’s spine.

The lady tells Kovac and the rest of the people that “inside is pure human mind, coded and stored as DHF: Digital Human Freight. Your Consciousness can be downloaded into any stack, in any sleeve. You can even needle cast in minutes to sleeve anywhere in the Settled Worlds. A sleeve is replaceable, but if your stack is destroyed, you die. There is no coming back from real death”. Death seems to only become a reality when the stack is involved, whereas the physical body, or sleeve, is replaceable. Similar to the Futurama episode, there is a distinction made between the body and the mind. The fact that people’s consciousness are not restricted to one sleeve, or in this case a singular lifetime, shows that the mind is able to function and continue on once its current body has run its course. In this scene, the show uses high technology graphics to demonstrate the complexity and mechanics behind the stacks that are placed within the bodies. This parallels the idea of Cybernetics, and how the stack, or mind, is the software and the sleeve is the hardware. Also, just as a computer stores information, the stack stores the memories of a person’s past life as well as the traits that make up their identity. 

In the Star Trek episode, they seemed to take a different approach on how the mind and body are connected, and explore how the body plays a bigger part than some may expect. When Sargon enters Kirk’s body for the first time to demonstrate his abilities (11:57), he notes the physical sensations that he experiences being back in the human form. He can feel the air in his lungs and his heart pumping, and explains that he misses experiencing those things. This is an example of Embodied cognition, as his consciousness and soul seemed incomplete when he was trapped inside the receptacle. This is seen again later on when Henoch is taunting Thalassa about placing her consciousness inside of a robot while she is currently inside of a human body (31:24). He tells her “In two days, you will have hands of your own again Thalassa. Mechanically efficient and quite human-looking. Android robot hands, of course. Hands without feeling. Enjoy the taste of life while you can”. The idea of Embodied cognition is being reinforced by Henoch, as he doesn’t view his existence as full without a live body to experience life through. In the lecture it was discussed that “ a body is not something you have; it is something you are”, and without that body your soul may not be completely whole. Later on Sargon states that  “We need your bodies so that we may live again”, leading us to think that living involves interacting physically with other life, and not just existing as a consciousness. From this episode, cognition is represented as extended as well, especially with the relationship between Sargon and Thalassa, who are husband and wife. Their consciousnesses remained together for many years, but they weren’t able to really connect until they were inside other people’s bodies and could physically touch each other again.