I think therefore I am

Descartes is known as the father of the mind/body problem, which goes a little deeper than trying to persuade oneself to go to the gym regularly.

He claimed that human beings are made up of two kinds of substances, mind and body. The mind is a conscious or thinking being, understanding, willing, sensing and imagining. The body is a being extended in length, width and breadth.

Minds are indivisible. Bodies infinitely divisible.

The ‘I’ in ‘I think therefore I am’ is the mind which can exist without being extended. Therefore it can in principle survive the death of the body.

Mind and body interact - the mind causing motions in the body by moving a small part of the brain. Motions in that same part of the brain produce sensations and emotions.

Got that? Thought not. That’s probably why the existence or not of this duality still preoccupies present-day philosophers and psychologists. So you are not alone.