One of our most popular recent Facebook posts featured this image:
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
We often post infographics about Bilingualism and for some reason this one went mildly viral. How does that work folks??
Anyway, the infographic got me thinking about brains and people; specifically what’s the difference between a person and a brain?
Try Googling that phrase and you find that the world’s Great Information Hub has no immediate answer. Plenty of links to pages about types of brain, sure, but no answer to my question.
Okay, okay. If you think my question is a stupid one STOP READING NOW (-;
PERSON
Have you ever considered what this word means? Always taken it for granted?
I turned to the internationally renowned Collins dictionary in my search for a definition of ‘Person’.
1. An individual human being
Right. I need a little more. I need to know what a human is.
1. of, characterizing, or relating to man and mankind
Oh! Let me check ‘mankind’ then.
1. human beings collectively; humanity
OMG! The persons at Collins have got me going round in circles now.
BRAIN
1. the soft convoluted mass of nervous tissue within the skull of vertebrates that is the controlling and coordinating centre of the nervous system and the seat of thought, memory, and emotion. It includes the cerebrum, brainstem, and cerebellum
Nice definition! I was right not to give up on Collins entirely.
But if the brain is ‘the seat of thought, memory, and emotion’, can someone please tell me how those characteristics can in any way be separated from the ‘person’?
Maybe I’ll need this post to go viral to have any chance of a clear answer!
Until next time readers,
Jim
Jim Porter is a co-founder of Speekee®, home of the most comprehensive Spanish learning program for children ever to appear online
Jim began his Spanish learning journey in 1990. He has been a language teacher since 1994 and he lives in sunny southern Spain with his two bilingual children. Loves it! More…
