People overlap.

People overlap.

Many of you will not understand me when I say this. Perhaps it will conjure up images of kissing or having sex, but I refer to the fact that the minds of people overlap.

Brains, of course, do not overlap, so it means something different that minds overlap. That we can think the same thoughts and perceive the same objects is common sense, but for some reason perceptions are regarded as separate; ideas are regarded as separate. And therefore, minds are regarded as separate, and not overlapping.

The notion that minds do not overlap is reinforced by the objective view; it equates minds with brains. Minds as subjectively experienced, however, are the world itself. We experience the world; the neurons that make up our mind are subjectively significant because they represent the world, not because they exist within the space of our bodies. So in a very real sense, by identifying with our minds in addition to our bodies, we acknowledge that we literally extend beyond our bodies; and it is these minds that overlap with one another.

The fact of human overlap cannot be denied, although it can be obscured by a purely materialistic understanding. So for this reason, may we develop our understanding of mind, especially in times when everything appears fragmented and people behave selfishly.

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