What is a Mind?

University of Cape Town via FutureLearn

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Details

This course may be unavailable.

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Provider

FutureLearn
Pricing

Free Online Course (Audit)
Languages

English
Certificate

$129.00 Certificate Available
Duration & workload

6 weeks, 3 hours a week
Sessions

Finished

A Best Course of All Time

Found in

Psychology Courses

Overview

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This free online course will bring together learners and practitioners interested in how the mind works. It aims to build bridges between traditionally antagonistic approaches to understanding the mind.

What is a mind?

This question has perplexed philosophers, scientists, historians and ordinary people across time and cultures.

While advances in the medical understanding of how the brain functions can shed light on neurological functions and disorders, the essential question of what the mind is speaks to a different problem.

This problem cannot be answered by a purely scientific understanding of the brain, nor by a purely philosophical or psychological approach. Many disciplines have attempted to address the question, resulting in multiple and sometimes antithetical answers.

New understandings of the mind

On this course, Professor Mark Solms, Chair of Neuropsychology at the University of Cape Town, will adopt a multidisciplinary approach.

He will bring in perspectives from a range of disciplines, to explore four specific aspects of the mind- subjectivity, intentionality, consciousness and agency. Together, these will help us think about the fundamental questions: what it is to be a mind, why we have a mind and what it feels like to have a mind.

You can find out more in Professor Mark Solms’s posts for the FutureLearn blog: “What is a mind? One of the great mysteries of our time” and “Thinking and feeling: what’s the difference?”

This course is aimed at anyone with an interest in psychology and the mind. The course will also appeal to practitioners, students and researchers from a range of disciplines, whose work directly or indirectly looks at the mind and the brain. This includes, but is not limited to neuroscience, psychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, psychiatry and neurology.

Syllabus

Understanding the Mind

Welcome to the course
Defining properties
Thinking further
What's next

Subjectivity

Introduction
Defining properties
Thinking further
What's next

Consciousness

Introduction
Defining properties
Thinking further
What's next

Intentionality and the unconscious

Introduction
Defining properties
Thinking further
What's next

Agency

Introduction
Defining properties
Thinking further
What's next

Changing the Mind

Introduction
Defining properties
Thinking further
What's next

Taught by

Mark Solms

Reviews

4.9 rating, based on 288 Class Central reviews

4.8 rating at FutureLearn based on 235 ratings

Start your review of What is a Mind?

Anonymous

All my life I have wanted to do something that would really interest and excite me. I am now 82 and I found the course did both. Some people of my age and younger say that they do not mind dying now, they have enjoyed their lives and lived long enou…

All my life I have wanted to do something that would really interest and excite me. I am now 82 and I found the course did both. Some people of my age and younger say that they do not mind dying now, they have enjoyed their lives and lived long enough. I feel the opposite, courses like this make me want to live longer and learn and experience more. The course was made very interesting. Prof. Solms is not like some of the dry as dust academics of the past, his informal approach and use of words such as pee, buggered up and hell of made him sound like a cool guy. He made me think harder than I have ever thought before in order to understand the concepts and, later, to remember them and combine them to answer the quizzes and assignments. Anybody who does the course will owe him a debt of gratitude.
James O'Connor
Anonymous

The good: - The courses talks about a few interesting concepts, one does feel more knowledgeable after finishing it - Every end of the week, there is section where Mark answers questions from the audience - the material for each video can be downloa…

The good:
- The courses talks about a few interesting concepts, one does feel more knowledgeable after finishing it
- Every end of the week, there is section where Mark answers questions from the audience
- the material for each video can be downloaded
- there is no distraction to other people or other videos, all one sees and listens to is Prof. Solomon
- most chapters have a comment section, which creates additional discussions
- most chapters ask you a question and you can contribute by adding your comments
- you can review as many assignments as you can (I even had 12, for the second assignment, most of them were rubbish, people were not talking about something completely different)

The bad:
- there are only 2 assignments to be completed, sometime during Week 1 and sometime Week 5
- first one is asked to talk about confabulation and after one learns about what it means; I Googled and watched a video, as this term was brand new
- the tests, 3 or 4, have questions which, if answering incorrectly, one can try until they are correct; one can also choose to skip them
- there are some videos where the professor stutters (bad editing), compered to all the other videos
- after each week you will see "Buy the certificate" page
- in week 6, there is a page that even has a a video of people who got the certificate and talk about how they use it (one of the guys says that he added it to his LinkedIn and showed it to his mom)
- you can write anything in the assignment or comments; there is no grading system, it doesn't matter if you agree or disagree with someone

The ugly:
- there is no final exam - one could just mark every page is completed (never watching the video), skip or guess the correct answers to quizzes, write anything in the assignments (even in a language that is not English)
- there is no feeling of completing it - no congratulation, just a "Thanks" and "Now you can share what you've learned" - felt pathetic, disappointed
- i completed 6 weeks in 8 days (didn't take that much time to complete it; no need to wait for the next week to start)
- week 6 can be skipped entirely (no exam, no quiz), just some information on depression

Would have given it 4 stars if it had a final exam and made me feel gratified. Instead, I just feel pleased, good that I completed something that I started last week. Ehh...
Liz Court

This was an absolutely brilliant course from start to finish . It was extremely well put together and Mark Solms is one of the most engaging , interesting and accessible educators of all the FL courses I have taken part in. The course material , while complex , was utterly fascinating and even a complete lay person , such as myself ,was able to understand and engage with it fully. I cannot recommend this course highly enough . What a wonderful journey of discovery this has been , and I am so sorry it is now over. However there is so much recommended reading I shall be very engrossed for a long time. Brilliant.
Karla Cabrera

OK, I actually think this course was great! The professor engaged enormously to give interest in the student. He explained deeply the subject and also provided an opportunity to ask questions so he can respond to the 4 more rated. What I liked about this course is that he provided evidence of what he explained and also some additional sources like articles and/or websites (although in my opinion I'd prefer MORE sources so we can investigate more about the subject in question). Another point I would like to add is that the course gives scientific explanation of things I've never think before. Definitely, my favorite online class of all the ones I took before.
Anonymous

Overall; outstanding. Well structured with good balance of video lecture, articles, quizes etc. Transcripts available to allow reading and listening simultaneously. Well presented in a lucid and entertaining manner. Nicely linked to further info. The best MOOC I have done by a very large margin and one I shall use as a benchmark for the subsequent ones. Thoroughly recommended.
Anonymous

I really enjoyed this course. It was new to me but linked to thoughts like "what makes this body/mind me?" Having finished, it is possible to download much of the material so it can be reviewed in the future after mulling over some of the ideas and insights. Thank you to all the team who made this possible.
Margaret O' Doherty

This is an extensive subject and many people have devoted their lives to it without coming up with the answer. You won't have all the answers after doing this course but at least you will understand the question.
Presentation is clear and structured in a way that is easy to follow. There are many links to further study for those at a more advanced level and Prof Solm's is an outstanding communicator.
Gabriel Hoedeman

This course was well prepared, it had something important to say each week and the layout was easy to navigate. The interaction between class members was good and even if it seemed as though they had completed the course they could still come back and talk in the discussion sections. The assignments were fairly easy, you and your peers would then review each others work.
Nicole Fares @mygarnets

A chance to view the self at different states of who and what we are. I completely enjoyed this course. Loved that the professor is so passionate and able to convey the material in a way the makes it understandable.
Anonymous

This has been a fascinating and most useful introduction to an understanding of the mind . Unfortunately I came to it on FutureLearn just as it was being retired as an active course so I missed out on interaction with mentors and fellow students . Notwithstanding that , there was plenty of food for thought and links to sources of information for further study.
Jacqueline Richards

As a complete novice in this field I found this course really engaging and stimulating. Professor Mark Solms who presents the course is so enthusiastic about his subject, so that the whole complex subject comes across as entertaining rather than dry. I had to go over some sections again to fully understand them, but I was greatly aided by the comments section in the course where you could bounce ideas off each other. I was honoured to exchange ideas with other much more experienced and helpful online students which made the whole experience really uplifting. I highly recommend this course to the layman and professional alike.
Anonymous

Prof Mark Solms (Chair of Neuropsychology at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital inter alia) and his colleagues have devised a Top Course for FutureLearn! It is effectively mind-boggling: excellent videos, creative articles and readings and lists of other materials, direct interaction by Prof Solms each week with questions raised by learners, and an environment that spurs learners to engage in the very best way in the easy-to-use FL comments sections. This course is pure energy, pure magic and pure enjoyment. I'll have another go at it for fun.
Elisabeth Watkins

This course was structured really well, the content was presented very well, and allowed for discussion and disagreement. Professor Solms made no secret of his approach to this topic and it certainly provides a way forward for the future, although one or two participants preferred the approach of neuroscience alone.

Mark Solms showed undoubted learning and enthusiasm.He and his team were marvellous and supervised exceedingly well. This is the best FL course I have been on, other than Logical Thinking which ties with it. Thanks to all the team for a wonderful time.
Anonymous

I came to this course with little knowledge, expertise, or experience other than that of life itself. Engaging with the materials, completing the assignments and interacting with other students made this a rich and insightful experience that has increased my understanding of self and of those around me. Whilst I do not adhere to all that has been presented I am in a stronger place than I was before to more forward in confidence of having a sound basis of argument.
Anonymous

I have done many online courses, most by FutureLearn. I consider this the best course I have done so far. Of course it helps if you have a genuine interest in he subject; I have long found the human mind fascinating. Some of the concepts in the course are a little difficult to grasp at first but there are plenty supplementary links to videos which clarify matters. There is a lovely combination of seriousness and humour throughout. I don't think the course answered the title question completely, nor should we expect it to. This is such a huge subject and I can honestly say I am even more interested in the Mind now.
Anonymous

It is a brilliant course. Professor Mark Solms is there all the time and teaches with enthusiasm and one feels as if it directed to you personally. Having no experience of any kind of neuro-science I understood the new concepts he explained, but struggled with the vocabulary and should have written myself a glossary. Like any university course l need to revise and intend reading right through the course again. It was a privilege to "study" under Mark, who is such a leader in his discipline. Thankyou Mark!
Anonymous

What an amazing course, for practitioners and patients alike. For everybody who has a mind in fact (pun intended) The course is delivered in a concise and ultimately very understandable way. It's left me with much more understanding than I had about the formation and function of the mind and has created in me a desire to study further. I was skeptical at first, I thought a course that was free couldn't really offer too much but I was so wrong. I thoroughly recommend it.
Anonymous

Amazing!!! I never dreamt I could learn so much about the mind from the course. It was a life changing experience on two levels. Firstly, the content was highly informative and comprehensive, and presented in a way that was easy for the lay mind to understand. It made you think, and think again - I suppose that's what the mind is for. Secondly, Professor Solms presentation style was exhilarating and inspiring. His passion for the topic is infectious. He made a potentially dry topic engaging and fun. Those students who work closely with him are lucky indeed. This was my first on line course but thanks to Professor Solms it won't be my last. Upon reflection I think I will award it five and a half stars out of five. Thank you Professor Solms.
Anonymous

This is a brilliant course to learn about the four main components of a human mind from a neurophsychoanalytic perspective. Teaching videos are excellent and each week considers a separate component of the mind. Learners are invited to submit a question each week for Professor Solms to answer. Four questions are chosen and Professor Solms records each response as a video. A thoroughly engaging course, well pitched with no prior knowledge of psychology required. A must do MOOC.
Anonymous

The best thing about this course is the calibre of student it attracts. I could have spent 120 hours a week in this course and I basically dropped everything else I could to give as much time to it as possible just trying to keep up with the fascinating things the students were bringing up! I will probably take this course over and over again. I've taken dozens of MOOCs and this one was by far the best of them in terms of my overall learning experience.