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The Power of the Mind

  • 08-10-2013 08:20PM
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,061 ✭✭✭


    Mind over matter. Do you believe in it?

    I have heard loads of anecdotes about people suddenly developing super-human strength, lifting cars to free people trapped underneath? Is it all nonsense?

    I know of friends who have seemingly overcome the odds against illnesses such as MS, all because they have the ability to "fight it".

    Of course, the phrase has many more interpretations, what does it mean to you, and have you witnessed it in action?

    Do you believe in mind over matter? 66 votes

    Yes, anything is possible with sheer willpower
    0% 0 votes
    Maybe, I'm a bit skeptical however
    39% 26 votes
    No way, our mind cannot overcome physical / other obstacles alone
    31% 21 votes
    Who is will power? And why is he stealing the fourth poll option commonly known as Atari Jaguar?
    28% 19 votes


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo


    Does the body rule the mind
    Or does the mind rule the body?
    I dunno


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,449 ✭✭✭Call Me Jimmy


    I believe the mind through misuse or manipulation can often cause illnesses, physical and mental. I do not include genetic illness or predisposition in this.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo


    I believe the mind through misuse or manipulation can often cause illnesses, physical and mental. I do not include genetic illness or predisposition in this.

    Like the Orange Order? :)


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 18,184 ✭✭✭✭Lapin


    Is your surname is Barry OP ?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8,061 ✭✭✭keith16


    I believe the mind through misuse or manipulation can often cause illnesses, physical and mental. I do not include genetic illness or predisposition in this.

    Interesting point there James (can I call you Jimmy?).

    So if our mind is susceptible to negative influences, surely it can also exert positive influences on its surroundings?

    May I also call you "surely"?

    Thank you please.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,440 ✭✭✭✭El Guapo!


    Lapin wrote: »
    Is your surname is Barry OP ?

    I think it's Chegwin.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,889 ✭✭✭✭For Forks Sake




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo



    They're about as funny as brain cancer. Brain cancer in the literal and spiritual way just to stay on topic. :)



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8,061 ✭✭✭keith16


    Lapin wrote: »
    Is your surname is Barry OP ?
    El Guapo! wrote: »
    I think it's Chegwin.

    Allow me to put an end to the speculation regarding my appellation.

    It is in fact "sixteen" but I use "16" instead cos it's shorter to write. My mind came up with that. Pretty poor, right?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,377 ✭✭✭zenno


    Does the body rule the mind
    Or does the mind rule the body?
    I dunno

    The Central nervous system rules the world, and your body, the processor can be overclocked using mind over matter ;)


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,956 ✭✭✭Doc Ruby




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,041 ✭✭✭Seachmall


    The phrase "Mind over Matter" implies the mind is not an abstraction of the material world but instead a separate entity that can override the rules of the material world.

    This is of course bollox.


    I do believe you can, with some degree of success, accomplish tasks that may appear impossible by being certain that you can, or by merely being desperate (such as the case of lifting cars off of others).

    I remember reading somewhere that the average person theoretically has the muscle-power punch through a solid concrete wall (the downside being they would break their arm before being able to fully exert the necessary force to get through the wall).

    This would seem like a feat of superhuman strength should someone be stupid enough to attempt it and succeed but in fact it would not be.


    EDIT - This post reads like one of David Mitchell's rants. I need to stop watching Would I Lie To You.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,449 ✭✭✭Call Me Jimmy


    keith16 wrote: »
    Interesting point there James (can I call you Jimmy?).

    So if our mind is susceptible to negative influences, surely it can also exert positive influences on its surroundings?

    May I also call you "surely"?

    Thank you please.

    Can I be Frank? :P

    The mind is of course a label for the concept that is our experience of 'it', Seachmall. I don't think anyone believes it can do super-human things, ours are bound by the vehicle of humanity. But the definition of super-human is obviously just human.

    Yes, I think it can exert positive influences on its surroundings just as much as it can cause negative symptoms in the body. Because it relies on the body for its health, and the body relies on the functioning of the mind, neither can be ignore and when both are put at the forefront of consciousness they can do seemingly extraordinary things imo. Only extraordinary because of how unconsciously the majority of us live.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,554 ✭✭✭Pat Mustard


    Here is a demonstration of Japanese Aikido Master Yanagi Ryuken demonstrating the power of chi.


    Here is the same Yanagi Ryuken against somebody who looks like he woke up mid fight and eventually decided to hit back:


    It's hard to watch a senior citizen getting his ass handed to him, but it's wrong that he made money from peddling that kind of nonsense, at the same time.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,956 ✭✭✭Doc Ruby


    It's hard to watch a senior citizen getting his ass handed to him, but it's wrong that he made money from peddling that kind of nonsense, at the same time.
    That's all very well, but you still haven't addressed Wim Hof.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,554 ✭✭✭Pat Mustard


    Doc Ruby wrote: »
    That's all very well, but you still haven't addressed Wim Hof.

    If he climbs Everest in his shorts, I'll eat mine! (Or a safer bet, if he climbs Nanga Parbat.)

    I can explain Uri Geller though.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,956 ✭✭✭Doc Ruby


    If he climbs Everest in his shorts, I'll eat mine! (Or a safer bet, if he climbs Nanga Parbat.)
    True enough, he only made it three quarters of the way up in his shorts, sadly the rest was denied him due to an injury suffered while completing a full marathon (42 kilometres), above the polar circle in Finland, in temperatures close to -20 °C. Still, I feel he made up for it by covering the same distance at forty degrees celcius heat in a desert in Namibia at age 52.

    Seriously I've lost track of all the world records the man holds. He is the living incarnation of mind over matter (note that differs from breaking the laws of physics).

    We are limited by choice, not by design.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,034 ✭✭✭✭It wasn't me!


    Essentially, the most useful interpretation of the phrase is that your mind is what's telling you to stop, to rest, to slow down. It's the go-between for your body and your ambition. It tells you the body wants to stop, but it doesn't rule you either. You use the mind to tell the body not to stop, not to slow down, to work more. People can push themselves to the point of injury by overruling the warnings of their body. Lifting that car off the person might come at the expense of torn muscles, even broken bones, but you can make it happen by drowning out the protests. The same applies wherever there's drive to succeed. A world class athlete is mostly a world class athlete because they believe it and so characterise themselves. Their mind is where they keep the idea that they're the first to training and last to go home, that they can take a bit more pain for an extra fraction of distance or time or strength. The body is a dumb instrument. Make the mind strong and you can make the body do a lot more than you could just by making the body strong.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,269 ✭✭✭Piriz


    Doc Ruby wrote: »
    True enough, he only made it three quarters of the way up in his shorts, sadly the rest was denied him due to an injury suffered while completing a full marathon (42 kilometres), above the polar circle in Finland, in temperatures close to -20 °C. Still, I feel he made up for it by covering the same distance at forty degrees celcius heat in a desert in Namibia at age 52.

    Seriously I've lost track of all the world records the man holds. He is the living incarnation of mind over matter (note that differs from breaking the laws of physics).

    We are limited by choice, not by design.

    not necessarily, some people have genetic and/or physiological abnormalities or characteristics that benefit performance in certain areas..

    also the environment can facilitate performance at times...think Kenyan long distance runners..

    also the fight or flight syndrome can release chemicals into the body to aid performance


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,303 ✭✭✭Temptamperu


    I try to pick up my cup with my mind... I just get a headache though.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,034 ✭✭✭✭It wasn't me!


    Piriz wrote: »
    not necessarily, some people have genetic and/or physiological abnormalities or characteristics that benefit performance in certain areas..

    also the environment can facilitate performance at times...think Kenyan long distance runners..

    also the fight or flight syndrome can release chemicals into the body to aid performance

    These are true, but the thing is, the champions are defined ultimately by what they're prepared to do to be champions. Not like there's a lack of East African runners either to provide competition even within a group noted for their genetic advantages.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,754 ✭✭✭Itwasntme.


    I've seen people accomplish incredible feats through sheer will power alone so for me, it's definitely the first option.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,563 Mod ✭✭✭✭Amirani


    That's just your mind playing tricks on you OP. Your mind is hardly going to downplay it's own abilities is it? You should punish it for its indiscretion through a cocktail of alcohol and intravenous drugs. That'll shut it up.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,754 ✭✭✭Itwasntme.


    These are true, but the thing is, the champions are defined ultimately by what they're prepared to do to be champions. Not like there's a lack of East African runners either to provide competition even within a group noted for their genetic advantages.
    Itwasntme. wrote: »
    I've seen people accomplish incredible feats through sheer will power alone so for me, it's definitely the first option.

    Whoa...what just happened there? Did I subconsciously will this to happen? A meeting of two minds in the spirit of the thread. It's like twins - the good, grammatically correct one and the errant badass :).


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,173 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    I guess it depends on what a person means when they talk about mind over matter. Wim Hof isn't exerting any control over external forces; everything is clearly still cold. But he could be exerting force over his own body; changing blood flow, etc to maintain a specific body temp.

    We can override control of a number of autonomic systems in the body; the simplest being breathing. So there's no reason to think it would be impossible to control other systems, such as those which control temperature regulation.

    But whether anyone can do this is another question. Wim Hof could be a genetic freak, like some who can wiggle their ears. No matter how hard I try, I will never be able to wiggle my ears.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,034 ✭✭✭✭It wasn't me!


    Itwasntme. wrote: »
    Whoa...what just happened there? Did I subconsciously will this to happen? A meeting of two minds in the spirit of the thread. It's like twins - the good, grammatically correct one and the errant badass :).

    Which is which? :P


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,754 ✭✭✭Itwasntme.


    Which is which? :P

    I laugh in the face of apostrophes :D. Hello goody two shoes :).


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,461 ✭✭✭--Kaiser--


    Can people do amazing and incredible things? Yes
    Are these things beyond the realms of physical possibility? No


  • Posts: 24,867 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    What is mind? No matter.
    What is matter? Never mind.


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