{"id":65,"date":"2019-01-30T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T12:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adrianharris.org\/blog\/?p=65"},"modified":"2020-05-07T10:18:37","modified_gmt":"2020-05-07T10:18:37","slug":"an-interconnected-whole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adrianharris.org\/blog\/2019\/01\/30\/an-interconnected-whole\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cAn interconnected whole\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr. Dan Siegel\u2019s conclusions about the mind support the core theme of this blog: Mind is extended. But Siegel emphasises the importance of human relationships: 
\u201cMind is shared between people. It isn\u2019t something you own; we are profoundly interconnected. We need to make maps of we because we is what me is!\u201d (2010).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Siegel is developing a new area of cognitive science called interpersonal neurobiology that\u2019s focused on understanding the mind and mental health. Siegel\u2019s ideas seem to me to be both intuitively true and radical. For example, he claims that \u201crelationships, mind and brain aren\u2019t different domains of reality\u2014they are each about energy and information flow\u201d (2010). That means that our relationships are an integral part of the bodymind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To some extent this recaps what many others have already said \u2013 the mind \u201ccannot be separated from the entire<\/em> organism\u201d  or the \u201coutside environment\u201d (Varela, 1999, authors emphasis), but Siegel develops this understanding and applies it to our mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although I very much like his emphasis on human relationships, we need to remember the other than human world. What do Siegel\u2019s insights mean for our relationship with animals, forests, mountains and the rest? As Siegel himself says, \u201c\u2018We\u2019 are indeed a part of an interconnected whole\u201d(2010).<\/p>\n\n\n\n