Mind over matter bedeutung

mind over matter

The power of the mind (intellect, reason, willpower, etc.) can overcome challenges or problems in the physical world. I know you're scared, but if you're determined to learn to drive, you'll be able to do it—mind over matter. I know rock climbing looks impossible to many people, but it's really just a case of mind over matter.

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

mind over matter

Fig. [an instance where there are] intellectual powers overriding threats, difficulties, or problems. You need to concentrate harder. Pay no attention to your surroundings. This is a case of mind over matter.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

mind over matter

Willpower can overcome physical obstacles, as in Margaret was determined to go to the wedding even on crutches-mind over matter. This idea was already expressed by Virgil in the Aeneid (c. 19 b.c.) as Mens agitat molem, "Mind moves matter," and it appeared in various forms in English by 1700.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mind over matter

You say mind over matter to mean the ability to control problems, especially illness and pain, by using your mind. So is good health simply a case of mind over matter? Once your mind has fully accepted the suggestion that you are well, you immediately start to feel better. This is mind over matter.

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

mind over matter

the power of the mind asserted over the physical universe; the use of willpower to overcome physical problems.

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

ˌmind over ˈmatter

the influence of the mind on the body; the power to change things by thinking: ‘How does he manage to work when he’s so ill?’ ‘Mind over matter.’

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

mind over matter

Willpower triumphs over material or physical considerations. The idea is very old indeed, expressed by Virgil in the Aeneid (Mens agitat molem, “mind moves matter”), and, in an entire system of philosophy, by Britain’s Bishop George Berkeley (1685–1753), who held that nothing in the world exists unless it is perceived by the human mind. In the twentieth century, however, the cliché is most often invoked for or by someone who is carrying on normal activities despite being physically ill or otherwise incapacitated. The humorist Jack Benny quipped, “Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter” (quoted in New York Times, Feb. 15, 1974).

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer

See also:
  • Can I have a moment of your time?
  • Mr Right
  • Mr. Right
  • in the (grand) scheme of things
  • in the great scheme of things
  • in the scheme of things
  • build up to
  • build up to (something)
  • hold it together
  • be on a hiding to nothing

"Mind over matter" is a phrase that has been used in several contexts, such as mind-centric spiritual doctrines, parapsychology, and philosophy.

Merriam Webster Dictionary defines mind as "the element or complex of elements in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills, and especially reasons"[1] and mind over matter as able to; "a situation in which someone is able to control a physical condition, problem, etc., by using the mind".[2]

Origin[edit]

The phrase "mind over matter" first appeared in 1863 in The Geological Evidence of the Antiquity of Man by Sir Charles Lyell (1797–1875) and was first used to refer to the increasing status and evolutionary growth of the minds of animals and man throughout Earth history.[3][page needed]

It may be said that, so far from having a materialistic tendency, the supposed introduction into the earth at successive geological periods of life — sensation, instinct, the intelligence of the higher mammalia bordering on reason, and lastly, the improvable reason of Man himself — presents us with a picture of the ever-increasing dominion of mind over matter.

— Sir Charles Lyell, 1863

Another related saying, "the mind drives the mass", was coined almost two millennia earlier in 19 B.C. by the poet Virgil in his work Aeneid, book 6, line 727.[4][page needed]

Parapsychology[edit]

In the field of parapsychology, the phrase has been used to describe paranormal phenomena such as psychokinesis.[5][6]

Mao Zedong[edit]

"Mind over matter" was also Mao Zedong's idea that rural peasants could be "proletarianized" so they could lead the revolution and China could move from feudalism to socialism through New Democracy. According to some, it departs from Leninism in that the revolutionaries are peasants, instead of the urban proletariat.[7]

Controlling pain[edit]

The phrase also relates to the ability to control the perception of pain that one may or may not be experiencing.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "mind over matter". /www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  2. ^ "mind over matter". /www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  3. ^ Bartlett, John; Kaplan, Justin (2002). Bartlett's Familiar Quotations: A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature (17th ed.). Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316084604.
  4. ^ Stevenson, Burton (1987). The Macmillan Book of Proverbs, Maxims, and Famous Phrases. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0026145008.
  5. ^ Berger, Arthur S.; Berger, Joyce (1991). The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Psychical Research (1st ed.). New York: Paragon House. p. 341. ISBN 978-1557780430. Psychokinesis (PK). The response of objects such as dice or the environment to a person's wishes is commonly labelled 'mind over matter'.
  6. ^ Gilovich, Thomas (1993). How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life (1st ed.). New York: Free Press. pp. 160–175. ISBN 9780029117064. A panel commissioned by the United States National Research Council to study paranormal claims concluded that "despite a 130-year record of scientific research on such matters, our committee could find no scientific justification for the existence of phenomena such as extrasensory perception, mental telepathy or ‘mind over matter’ exercises... Evaluation of a large body of the best available evidence simply does not support the contention that these phenomena exist."
  7. ^ Baum, Richard D. (1 January 1964). ""Red and Expert": The Politico-Ideological Foundations of China's Great Leap Forward". Asian Survey. 4 (9): 1048–1057. doi:10.2307/2642397. JSTOR 2642397.
  8. ^ Wiech, Katja; Ploner, Markus; Tracey, Irene (1 August 2008). "Neurocognitive aspects of pain perception". Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 12 (8): 306–313. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2008.05.005. ISSN 1364-6613. PMID 18606561.