“In all questions of importance, I consult Kim Deal. She was in the Pixies, Throwing Muses, the Breeders, and she helped get Tanya Donnelly started with another of my favorite bands, Belly. You might know the lyrics:

Where is my mind? Where is my mind?

Way out in the water, she is swimmin.

If you’ve ever gotten a really good hand or foot massage, you know the feeling of your mind being somewhere other than in your head.

If you’ve ever cringed while watching a video of someone getting injured, you know the feeling of your mind being somewhere other than in your head.

At that moment, you are transported through time and space, into the head of another person.

If you put on a VR headset and fly around in a drone, your mind might literally be soaring over the Alps.

When I watch this video, my mind is with Kim Deal. I’m going “Woooo-oooo” in the background vocals.

When you read my books or my answers, you are transported into my mind.

Welcome! Dive in. The water’s fine.

Is the brain the same thing as the mind? I don’t think so. The brain is the substance, the mind is the focus of the substance, and consciousness is the mind telling the brain what it is doing.”