The Mental Database

This article uses database and bio-physics considerations to suggest how the mind stores and processes its data. Its principal innovations lie in:-The comparison between the capabilities of the mind to those of a modern relational database while conserving phenomenality. The strong structural similarity of the two systems leads to the conclusion that the mind may be profitably described as being a mental database. The need for bidirectional material-to-mental bridging and addressing indexes is discussed.-The consideration of what neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) between sensorimotor data and instrumented observation one can hope to obtain using current physics. What emerges is that the various brain scanning methods reflect only the current activity transactions which update and interrogate the mind, but not the contents of the integrated mental database which constitutes the mind itself. This approach gives reasons why there is much neural activity in an area to which a function is ascribed (e.g. the anterior cingulate cortex is associated with pain), yet there is no visible activity that can be definitely identified as phenomenal. The conclusion arrived at is that no clear NCC at the molecular level can be identified using current physics. Figure 2 gives an overall view of the reasoning. This concept of the mind is then situated in a Penrosian expanded physical environment requiring evolutionary continuity, modularity and phenomenality. The concept is then used to give further insights into the mind/brain, particularly its Darwinian advantages.