This week we watched three different episodes from very different series that deal with the implications one’s mind and body deal with. Although each episode was so different in its setting and story, they all seemed to deal with the question of whether or not the mind and body work in tandem or on the contrary that the mind(brain) creates its own cognition. This was my first time watching any of these shows and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed each episode.
In the first show Star Trek “Return to Tomorrow” the mind is depicted as something that stands on its own. At 10:00 minutes the crew comes in contact with the sphere that holds the mind and essence of a past physical being of Sargon. Furthermore, Sargon reveals that he was once a physical being just like the crew. Although it seems that the episode is opposing the idea that in order to be truly cognitive one must have more than just a mind, viewers quickly see that Sargon only feels truly alive and
conscious once he enters the body of the captain. It seems that this episode resides on the side of 4e cognitive beliefs. In order to be fully cognitive, a being needs more than just a mind. It needs to be immersed in culture, relationships, physical senses etc.
On the contrary the episode of Futurama “The Day the Earth Stood Stupid” depicts the brain as a stand alone entity. As the brain invades Earth, Fry must defeat the essentially “mother brain” and through doing so the brain reveals that them and their kind have evolved past the point of needing a body. Meaning that the brain itself is the physical being and therefore tells Fry “we have long since evolved beyond the need for asses”. Because the brain doesn’t have a body Fry can’t physically fight it, he instead has to fight it with his brain and his thoughts. I found this to be a very cool theme. It helps viewers to understa
nd and differentiate the mind and body. The episode ends with Fry trapping the brain in a book even further supporting the notion that the brain itself was the entirety of that being.
Lastly, Altered Carbon on Netflix deals heavily with cybernetics. This show was quite freaky. Moreover, it delves into the possibility of a society where your consciousness is contained in a chip-like device. With that, so long as the chip is not harmed, you can switch bodies. The main character, Takeshi, goes through just that. In the beginning of the episode we see this character played by a different actor in the past scenes than the current scenes. This show seems to follow a belief different than that of the Star Trek episode and more similar to the Futurama episode. The belief portrayed in this show depicts cognition as something that is contained in a chip not a body or a brain. I felt that cognition was being shown as something that is tangible.
5 thoughts on “Cognition: Mind and Body”
Hey Ceili,
I really enjoyed your blog post and noticed we had similar ideas when watching these three episodes. When you talked about Futurama and about how the brain commented about not having an ass, and you said “Because the brain doesn’t have a body Fry can’t physically fight it, he instead has to fight it with his brain and his thoughts. I found this to be a very cool theme.” I actually never thought it like that. I just thought he was putting them down on saying that I don’t need a body, I’m better than you. I never thought of it like that before, but I can definitely see how you came up with that.
Glynis
gcoito
Hi Ceili,
I love that you begin your blog post by highlighting the theme that runs through these episodes: the relationship between mind and brain and body. Though, as you note, they are very different in tone and plot, this is a thematic through line.
Very good close reading of the Evil Brain’s line about evolving past the need for “asses” (and, presumably, the rest of the body as well). As you note, this line suggests an elevation of the brain and mind over the body. And you’re right that Altered Carbon has a similar—though more cybernetic—division of mind and body. The Star Trek episode, though, as you note, suggests that we need a body to complete ourselves—though the mind can exist independently. Your comment about cognition being tangible in your final line of this post is also interesting in relation to the Star Trek episode. I am thinking, for example, about that moment when Kirk explains that he felt Sargon’s consciousness as they switched places—and did not feel any ill intent from him. That would suggest that the mind, even when disembodied, is in some way tangible.
Ps. I am glad that you enjoyed the shows for today (even if Altered Carbon was a bit freaky!). That is excellent to hear.
Jessica Hautsch
Hey Ceili,
I agree with you when you say that the episode from Altered Carbon was a bit freaky! Even though it was, it was super interesting and definitely was my favorite one. You said that Star Trek and Altered Carbon were a bit different, but I thought they were a bit similar because seeing how Sargon was able to become “alive” in any body is similar to how any body can be “activated” by the chip in Altered Carbon. In both shows, bodies just act as a place for cognition to exist and experience life fully. In all three episodes actually, I saw that a body and brain or some sort of mind were needed to live a real life.
Alexandra Nunez
HI Ceili,
I enjoyed reading your post! As Professer Hautsch said, I liked how you described the similarities each story had in beginning of the post even though each story was so different than one another. I also liked how you described Sargon by saying he’s the essence of a past physical being. This can be compared to Altered Carbon’s storyline in that Kovacs mind is sort of like the essence of past physical beings that he once “inhabited”. I think those two ideas go hand in hand when discussing the relationship between the mind and the body that both shows portray.
tpenske
Hi Paul,
I love the connection between the texts that you are making here! This idea of a past self connects to something we will be talking about in more detail later this semester–how we construct an autobiographical self.
Jessica Hautsch