An essay from my college application a long time ago

What can actually be divided by zero? 

—Inspired by Mai Vu, Class of 2024 

(UChicago 2020)

As 'Zero' signifies 'Nothing', the question can be interpreted as What can be divided by nothing? or what can't be split up by anything? Well, the brain can be divided into different parts. However, the mind seems to be indivisible. Unlike the brain, the mind is a metaphysical thing. It doesn't have a specific shape nor it is made up of cells. Biochemical reactions inside the brain cause subjective experiences, which come under the domain of the mind. It refers to a person’s conscience, understanding, and thought process. Thus, the mind is the product of brain activity.  

 

My mind is myself and myself is an individual. I can't physically divide my conscience. I can only experience myself; I don't experience different entities within me at the same time. Though people suffering from multiple split personalities experience different personalities, they do so not at the same time. Thus, I'm indivisible individual conscience. Although it makes sense to talk about the left or right half of the brain, it makes no sense to talk about half of a desire, several pieces of depression, part of joy, or three-fourth of a belief. Mathematically, any number when divided by zero is not defined. Similarly, it isn't defined to split a single conscience into many. If one still doesn't understand what I'm saying, ask yourself, is your so-called 'soul' single? or do five different souls make a single soul, which is you? Even if it's a yes for the second question, five of these souls will still coexist as a single soul and there will be no way to prove that there are five.  

 

Let's shift back to using the word, mind instead of soul. Apparently, nothing seems to divide the mind. But what if you were right in answering the second question which I asked. What if a collective consciousness really comes together to form an individual consciousness? It always happens in the physical world; Trillions of cells in our body have come together to form an individual human being. But what if it also happens in the metaphysical world? We can easily dissect a dead human's body and tell that it was made of various kinds of cells. But how do we even dissect a mind? I know there are a lot of 'buts' coming up. The answer to the question is that I really don't know. Not knowing the answer isn't my weakness but it's my strength. Unlike giving in to our ignorance, admitting that we don't know something makes room for improvement. Being a man of science, I simply can't state whether the mind is divisible or not. It's a vast topic and we still have so many things to discover.  

 

I hope my answer satisfies your 'real' question.