Sir, – If, in his answer to Prof Sheila Greene (January 15th), Prof Kevin Mitchell (January 16th) had stuck with "mental states arise from brain states" and that such brain states incorporate all the complexity of past experiences, I would be happy to declare him the winner in this exchange.
However, he exposes a narr owness in neuroscience by say ing that past experiences are “written in changes to brain circuits”. Since there is much about matter and consciousness and how they interact that we do not understand, such an assumption is just an unproven theory. So, for the time being, we might be wise to stick with the view of that other Trinity College academic, George Berkeley, who said: “What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Never mind.” – Yours, etc,
TONY CAREY,
Glencree Road,
Enniskerry,
Co Wicklow.