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vavverro t1_j2d5m6f wrote

Reply to comment by FartyPants69 in ELI5: How did we realise the mind is in the brain? by theembryo

Ancient Greeks and ancient Egyptians believed the heart was the source of thought, emotion, body control etc. it’s called cardiocentric theory. The fact that we feel our head to be the vessel of our consciousness is the result of scientific knowledge becoming common sense.

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FartyPants69 t1_j2d6v5p wrote

Hmm, that's interesting but I don't know if that explains it exactly. I can recall being aware of the sensation of being "centered" in my head as a young child, long before I would have been aware of the physiology of my brain or nervous system.

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vavverro t1_j2dexay wrote

Well, I would argue that possibly at very early age there’s no yet fully formed concept of self consciousness, and by the time it develops, the child is already culturally primed to such an extent that it can’t help but have same mental concepts as all adults.

Its fascinating how sometimes things that we feel to be natural and innate to human nature are actually culture-based. There are societies where they don’t have notions for left and right, they perceive sides of objects and their own bodies in terms of global directions. And stuff like that.

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