ABSTRACT
Cultural influences have set up the assumptions about the mind, the body, and the universe with which we begin; pose the questions we ask; influence the facts we seek; determine the interpretation we give these facts; and direct our reaction to these interpretations and conclusions. “Mind”—at least in one of its versions—is one of those “things” in the world that everybody is willing to talk about but nobody has ever seen or touched. In that respect it is even more intangible than consciousness—about which some remarks later—that at least most people are willing to say that they have in some sense “experienced”. The notion of having a “mind” seems to apply exclusively to humans, as only few would apply it to nonhuman animals, with the possible exception of extending it to other hominids.
