# Body and mind



## TonyL (Aug 23, 2003)

I recently read an article inspired by a psychologist-philosopher William James; his theory is that our moods, expressions and their responses are governed by our bodys senses. He believes the mind canvasses our bodies to gather information to see how we react to outside stimulus. James believes the bodies autonomic (independent) response, not the brain determines the emotion we think. He tells us the brain can assesses information so quickly that there is not enough time to become consciously aware of how we should feel about a given stimulus that we have already begun to respond to. So this means our conscious emotions do not control our autonomic body response, our autonomic responses control our conscious emotions that we feel. 
So if this theory is true and we develop heightened physical sanctity during training this well create superior defense awareness.


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## arnisador (Sep 1, 2003)

I expect he would have been surprised to see his writings used in a self-defense context! I've read a fair amount of C.S. Peirce but no James yet.


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