Who are we? And how did our universe come into being?  There is one seemingly obvious fact we must consider in our search for rational answers to these two questions before we can answer them.  That question is: What is the mind?  We are using our minds at this very moment to read and understand what we are reading and to think about such profound abstract issues.  Scientists, of course — and every other occupation — depend on using their minds every moment of the day.  We can’t live and function successfully without a mind.  Just try!  We certainly can’t pretend to develop a theory without one.  So, a proper understanding of the mind and intelligence is a prerequisite to finding rational answers to these questions.  An eternal marriage links mind and intelligence to each other.

Darwin Avoided the Question “What Is the Mind?”

Darwin developed a theory that (unfortunately) avoids, first and foremost, tackling the problem of how the mind and intelligence came to be.  He sold it to minds that were willing to believe anything that dismissed even a scent of the divine.  Yet most of the materialists’ (people who believe all is matter and came from inert particles) explanations of the mind are vaguely disguised forms of magic.  In an attempt to defend Darwin, we could say it was outside of the scope of his investigation. 

But if our theory is about how all things came to be and evolved, that’s an inexcusable error, is it not?  Why would it not be the first item of his concern?  That is what I would like to know.  And if I could not adequately explain (without resorting to non-evidenced assumptions) how an intelligent mind that functions at our command originated, how could I claim credibility for anything else my mind was producing?  Without an intelligent mind, Darwin nor any of us can write or think anything.  It is compelling to start with the mind.

Does Our Mind Make Us Significantly More Valuable?

Do molecules rattle around without purpose inside our skulls and suddenly magic happens: we become thoughtful, intelligent, even wise creatures?  Rather, is it not obvious that our minds function intelligently and according to their intelligent design?  I rob myself of all personal value if I believe otherwise.

Dictionaries Struggle to Answer “What Is the Mind?”

We can’t understand, think about, or talk about ourselves or the universe without an intelligently designed mind. Our mind is even more mysterious to us than the rest of the universe.  Have you seen how the dictionaries struggle to explain the word mind?  They end up having to report its functions, not its nature: “that which reasons; the aspect of a biological organism that is not organic in nature; intellectual work,” etc.    

What Accounts for the Origin of Our Mind and Intelligence?

The mind must be a result of the creative actions of whatever formed us.  Therefore, we are forced to conclude that mind and the intelligence it exhibits must have come from some source that can adequately account for its origin.  It makes me think that the conclusion of Descartes, “I think, therefore I am,” is only the beginning.  It demands the answer to many more questions.  What is it to think?  If the mind thinks, what caused the mind?  Why can I think?  Is thinking a mere robotic action, the amazing fortune of some natural selection?

The Materialists’ Answer Is the Most Improbable

What we experience of our minds every moment of every day says it’s crazy to think that our minds evolved from some source that lacked intelligence, such as a spec of inert, inanimate, thoughtless matter.  “Everything is matter,” says the materialist, “nothing else exists.”  If anything is impossible, for many of us, the materialist’s answer is the most improbable of all.  Science is based on the best explanation of the evidence.  It does not resort to unexplained jumps from inanimate elements to the marvelous intelligence that we and those who have gone before us possess.   

It is hard to conceive of our lives as operating without the constant use of an intelligent mind.  We are left with using intelligence to understand ourselves and our world. You and I must decide how we came to have a mind. In doing so, we will be in proud use of our intelligent minds.

A Fascinating Titbit

Where is your mind located?  The early word for mind in Greek is phenec.  Homer, the famous Greek poet, used it in the 9th century BC in his great works, such as the Iliad and Odyssey.  Oddly, it means “diaphragm.” The Greeks used the word for diaphragm when speaking of the mind because the diaphragm controls the breath, which they saw to be “spirit” in nature.  And the mind was also seen to be spirit.  Hence, the connection.  Even back then, they thought of the mind as being more than matter.