Mental Health Philosophy: You are mattering

Exploring the being of knowing

Anthropology, Aphilosophy, Philosophy

Theory of Mind

January 14, 2021

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From Wikipedia:

:

Theory of mind is a theory insofar as the output such as thoughts and feelings of the mind is the only thing being directly observed, so the existence of a mind is inferred.^[5] The presumption that others have a mind is termed a theory of mind because each human can only intuit the existence of their own mind through introspection, and no one has direct access to the mind of another so its existence and how it works can only be inferred from observations of others. It is typically assumed that others have minds analogous to one’s own, and this assumption is based on the reciprocal, social interaction, as observed in joint attention,^[6]the functional use of language,^[7] and the understanding of others’ emotions and actions.^[8]

—- Theory of mind appears to be the active and real default stance of denial that is required for a particular protocol of knowldge to procede to have credence.

“Denial” is in the sense of a common understanding that the argument to substantiate the theory is unneeded and its rebuttal moot or absurd because it is contradictory.

Since the ToM is assumed and not argued in order for it to be the case, it therefore is not inconsistent to conclude that…

…Conventional reality arises due to a faith. x

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A note on how I use AI. I write everything on this blog myself: the ideas, the arguments, the words. I do use AI, but as an editor, not a co-author. It helps me with grammar, formatting, and structure. That use is recent: AI has been part of my process only for roughly the past year’s worth of posts. Everything older was written without it, because there was nothing like it to use. What I have found is that AI most often misinterprets what I write philosophically, so its suggestions are usually wrong, and a good deal of my attention and editing goes into sculpting each post until it reflects the ideas correctly. The ideas are never AI’s.

For transparency, I keep a Word document of my original writing and the full exchanges, back and forth with the AI, that produced each post. If anyone is interested in how a piece came together, that record is available.

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About this blog

Essays in mental health philosophy—less “tips,” more why things work (or don’t). I look at the first principles under therapy, psychiatry, psychology, and everyday life, and occasionally share notes from papers and books-in-progress.

This space stands alongside—not inside—my counseling practice. If you’re seeking therapy in Colorado, there’s a link in the footer.

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