ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Gilbert Ryle

Gilbert Ryle was a very smart man who lived a long time ago. He liked to talk about how people think and how they use their brain to understand things.

He was especially interested in something called "mind" or "self." You know how you have a brain and it helps you think and remember things? Well, Gilbert Ryle wanted to know more about how people use their mind to understand themselves and the world around them.

He came up with a funny idea called "The Ghost in the Machine." He thought that some people believed that there was a little ghost inside their body that controlled their thoughts and decisions. But Gilbert Ryle didn't believe that at all! He thought that your mind was just part of your body, and not something separate like a ghost.

Instead of thinking of your mind as a ghost, Gilbert Ryle came up with a better idea. He said that when you think or make decisions, it's like when you play a game of chess. Your brain is like the chess pieces on the board, moving around and making choices. But there isn't really a "player" inside the game who is controlling everything. It's just the pieces on the board.

So, to sum it up, Gilbert Ryle was a very smart man who studied how people think and use their brain. He didn't believe in "ghosts" controlling our thoughts, but rather that our mind is just part of our body, like playing a game of chess.