Scientists and intellectuals continue to struggle with defining exactly what mind is, but for me – in simple terms anyway – mind is something like the main software, the Operating System, of the brain, similar to how driving is the activity of a car.

Like a car, your mind (driving) is generally going to be as good as your brain (car) is.

Perhaps you have heard sayings similar to “Healthy Body, Healthy Mind”. Well, it turns out that there is a lot of truth to this.

All of the topics of last week’s musings, on what is ‘Good for the Body’, are also beneficial to the brain, and, by extension, improve our cognitive “driving” experience. Sleep, diet, exercise, clean environment, and relaxation, are all critically important to having, and maintaining, a healthy brain.

Fuel vs Parts

However, just as fuel is necessary in order for the car to be driven, mind requires it’s own kind of fuel for it to be useful. Without fuel all you have is an assembly of parts – a machine.

Information is the fuel of mind.

Or, let’s use the example of a kitchen – You might have all the cooking utensils necessary to prepare any one of many delicious meals – the sharpest knives, the best quality pots, pans, stove and oven, etc – but until you acquire the ingredients, you merely have potential without possibility.

Not all ingredients are equal

Anyone who has spent time in the kitchen cooking or baking their favorite dishes or cakes knows what it’s like to find that certain blend of spice, brand of cake mix, or source of fresh produce, which makes their food taste just that much better.

Information, too, comes with it’s various blends and brands, and, just as quality fuel/ingredients benefit the drive/dining, likewise quality information benefits mind.

In the near future we will explore what “quality information” might mean in practical terms.

Healthy Brain

The human brain – a 1.4kg machine equipped with 86 billion neurons which constantly require about 20% of the body’s energy to create 1’000 trillion connections – understandably requires care and maintenance.

Having already mentioned those things which are healthy for the body and which therefore are also healthy for the brain, there are specific elements of diet, sleep hygiene, exercises and relaxation techniques which are especially good for cognitive performance and resilience.

In the near future I hope to delve into the details and tease out the useful information on this.

In Conclusion

In order to have a healthy mind we need:

• A healthy body
• A healthy brain
• Quality information

I fully realize that what I have written here is an over-simplification of what mind is and what it does. Rest assured that we will revisit the topic of mind again in the future, but, for now, this will have to suffice.