How does your thought process work?

[Lost Ego]

Can you describe it in words? Maybe this pic will help you find the words necessary.

Do you think linearly? Or no? How do you transition from one thought to the next? What keeps your thoughts from transitioning? How many lines of thoughts can you think in at any one given time? Is it all connected by associations? How does meditating for 5 mins affect the inner workings of your mind? I've noticed that you don't actually think in english, you think in some innate language and your brain actually has to convert it and sometimes i think about this process which forces me to manually convert it, which is soooo much slower. What happens to your thought process when you when you focus your attention directly unto your ego? What happens when you let your ego take control and you let your attention wander?

 

[MrPorter]

one thing ever at a time, but it takes no time at all and you could easily be onto the next thought before you would even be able to say that though so it seems like many thoughts at a time. I think a lot of it as association, ever tried to back track through your thoughts as to why the hell you got to that really random one?

I was talking to my deaf cousin and actually we do think in english, and she thinks in lipreading/mutetalk kind of thing. Although I do think thats only how we interpret the thought, without interpretting it may well just be useless though? It was proven that deaf people struggle in class at picking up new concepts and stuff because their thought process were so poor.

 

[Tude]

Stream of consciousness, image after image after image.

 

[Lost Ego]

Have you ever become aware of your thoughts in mid thought? like being an observer of your own thought process? I do it all too often these days. (just trying to make conversation o.o)

 

[L2R]

do you mean thoughts as in distinct from consciousness?

 

[thujone]

Consciousness doesn't necessarily mean thinking, I mean we breathe just fine without having to think about each breath we take. They say most people think visually and it makes sense to me because I visualize even when I put a concept into words to describe it. When someone asks you to describe something, where could you possibly start from if not by first visualizing what you're about to describe then finding the best labels to verbalize what you are thinking of? How could you describe something if you can't imagine it?

I tend to think linearly, sure, but priorities are constantly shifting. If I'm sitting on the bus visualizing the dinner possibilities I could make from the food in my fridge and a gorgeous girl steps on, my mind stops thinking about dinner to appreciate the beauty of the girl; the shape of her nose, the curve of her butt, etc. But my mind is back to thoughts of food as soon as I look away because that is a bigger priority.

Personally, I think Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a great model for how we think. IMHO the relationship explains why people become workaholics, for example. Because work can free a person from the need to separately think of where their next meal is coming from and how to afford little Joannie's dental bills, it becomes like a panacea for reality. Hey, the world's going to hell, but it doesn't matter if you have money in the bank for food and keeping the lights on and your whole family is insured under the company's policy.

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

Personally, I think Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a great model for how we think.

You know, I've had a similar idea before, Thujone. I think most people's thoughts tend to flit around the things they most need but haven't got. I think you can discern a lot about where on Maslow's hierarchy someone falls -- what needs in their life are met or unmet -- by the things that cross their mind a lot, as reflected in the little spontaneous things they say or do.

It's also struck me that it's incredibly hard for, say, a well-fed person who's unlucky in finding social acceptance, to relate to a person with a tight community who has trouble finding food.

IMHO the relationship explains why people become workaholics, for example. Because work can free a person from the need to separately think of where their next meal is coming from and how to afford little Joannie's dental bills, it becomes like a panacea for reality. Hey, the world's going to hell, but it doesn't matter if you have money in the bank for food and keeping the lights on and your whole family is insured under the company's policy.

Indeed. Plus, work is great for avoiding thinking about things one doesn't want to think about. And unlike most other diversions that people get absorbed in, it's hard to fault someone for investing themselves in something whose benefits are so tangible.

 

[L2R]

my imagination is very vivid and visual. if i concentrate i can see what i want. for this reason i was also of the idea that i am a "visual thinker" but i no longer feel that this is the case. my "thought process" happens without images or words, both of which can emerge from a process that comes after. tbh, i can't actually see my own thought process, it is a bit like dancing with my eyes closed. i feel stuff going on behind a veil, and then the "i" over there decides on certain focal points to either doubt and explore in words or imagine in images.

when i'm trying to figure something out, it's like i send a bunch of ingredients to a problem to behind the veil and out pops possible answers on their own.

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

I'm a very, very verbal thinker.

 

[L2R]

when you converse irl, do you hear what you are about to say in your head before you say it? somehow i doubt it. i really doubt chatting to you would be that tedious

 

[qwe]

my imagination is very vivid and visual. if i concentrate i can see what i want. for this reason i was also of the idea that i am a "visual thinker" but i no longer feel that this is the case. my "thought process" happens without images or words, both of which can emerge from a process that comes after. tbh, i can't actually see my own thought process, it is a bit like dancing with my eyes closed. i feel stuff going on behind a veil, and then the "i" over there decides on certain focal points to either doubt and explore in words or imagine in images.

when i'm trying to figure something out, it's like i send a bunch of ingredients to a problem to behind the veil and out pops possible answers on their own.

exactly.

i can "see" the processes sometimes, but not the process itself--only another process, modelling/describing visually the original process, or at least attempting to...

it sometimes takes work to translate from pure thought to english. some thoughts cannot be related in english in any way.

verbal thoughts are more likely to be retained in memory. the less verbal i think, the more "processing speed" i have, but the more "leaky" and fleeting my memory for my current stream of consciousness is.

when words (dense packets of encoded information), images (maps of just information), and pure-thought (similar to words and images, but akin to pieces of them, and other senses besides auditory/visual) are all happening together (or especially if no words are happening), that's what i'd call a "visionary state."

 

[L2R]

a creative person has a better ability to retrieve and understand that info, qwe. an artist, further still, has the ability to translate that info into whatever art they have mastered.

we can all see a familiar face in our minds, or even better still if they are right in front of us, but try drawing them. pencil mastering makes you capable of doing it. the same can be said of creative thinking. when we retrieve information from our minds to become consciousness, there are degrees with which one is able to accept that information being unusual or different. i think that takes practice and mastery too. it's scary engaging in an unknown. its comforting engaging in ideas which only confirm the familiar.