Michael asked:

What is the fundamental property of mind? Of matter? I have been pondering these two questions
and am trying to answer them to the best of my ability, but am stuck.

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I'm assuming that you are not going to read the thousands of books and papers that have been
written on this subject. Thus I am further assuming that you want a quick, unambiguous answer
without all the complexities involved in this question. Ok then: The fundamental property of mind is
agencyand the fundamental property of matter is condensation. By agency is meant the capacity to
move without being pushed; accordingly an agent (i.e. a being with a mind) does not need an external
cause to move around, and can push objects just by willing and exercising the appropriate muscles.
Conversely, by condensation we mean that matter is compounded of elementary stuff, such as
atoms. Intrinsically matter is inert; in order to move, it needs to be pulled and shoved. Now gravity
evidently does this, and thus we seem to be in a pickle: are we obliged to suppose that gravity is also
mental? Fortunately the answer to this is relatively simple. Gravity doesn't actually pull or push in the
same way that you might push a wheel cart, so its not related to agency (no mind involved). It is
matter-like in the sense that condensation is a kind of basic law of the universe. All matter tends to
compact and gravity can be understood as such a universal trend. You've probably heard that on one
theory the universe "exploded" in a big bang and will contract again in a big "implosion" (big crunch).
Therefore the opposite side of gravity is that explosion occurs when matter contracts and heats up so
much that the particles have so much energy compressed in them that "banging" is the only way to
go. I hope this gives you a sense of the essential difference that you seem to be asking for.

Jürgen Lawrenz

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