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Purpose of the thinking mind?

T

thesoundofmotion

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May 1, 2007
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It seems our minds are constantly thinking even when we are not aware of it happening.

What do you think the purpose or reasoning behind it is?

I have this idea that we are just having a conversation with ourselves all of the time.

I think humans want to be involved or interacting with other humans all of the time (at least biologically), but since we are not we have developed our thinking mind.

I'm sure other animals think as well but I'm talking more a long the lines in which we humans think, specifically in language perhaps.

Why do you think we developed a mind that just chatters away, sometimes uncontrollably?
 
i got rid of my chatter. swear to g-d. i used to hear like 3 streams of chatter all the time. I just got fuckin sick of it when I had my first real heartbreak and i couldnt stop crying and couldnt function. so i ended up doing opiates and crack ,etc... and after mini coma or probably evethn before that (i dunno bc i was so out of it) my thoughts died. It took at few years to get like a few daily thoughts - like that inner conversation like "brr, it's cold" or "shit, im late." so now i get like dunno 20 thoughts around, but for the most part im not thinking anything like for real. call it brain damage but i like it.

i thought a chattering/thinking mind was a symptom of a mental illness like adhd, but now ppl tell me that its normal to have a running mind, which seems like a waste of energy and annoying.
 
^Really? I never knew that about the mind-chattering having a correlation with ADHD.

I mean because I am constantly thinking to myself, whether it be something important like planning out something to even just observation or just stupid shit like a song stuck in my head, etc. Almost like I'm constantly talking to myself I guess. I wonder if that's even a bad thing lol.

And to the OP, I think it has a lot to do with your mind always making connections and just replaying everything over and over. Kind of like a constant flow of electricity, your mind continues to make those connections and always seems to be "thinking" about something.
 
well actually i think the chatter is normal, in fact I think this guy names Kohlberg made up this theory of mind concept...

I think a certain amount of chatter/self talk is normal, but like i have 3 channels of rapid cycle chat so like I went the other extreme and killed it all via hard drugs and seizures- glad im still alive.

but honestly, words are so like value loaded with human's judgments, I'd much rather think in pictures-- much more true, natural, and honest imo.
 
I think the purpose of ourselves having a conversation w/ our minds as you put it ( I think) Is probably rooted in survival. After all we did trade gorilla like strength for more evolved brains.

You are right are minds are constantly thinking even when we are not trying or dreaming. I like to call that subconcious thought. I think the reason behind this is our brains just don't stop working completely. EVER. Perhaps not even in death

.
 
Much of it has to do with survival (in time). That's not to say that most of it is actually required for physical survival.
 
so wtft? im no surviving bc i have no chatter im my brain? not to sound mean, but i really dont understand the function of chatter.

was i stupid to will it away and destroy my inner voice with hard drugs?
 
You should look up the WIKI

Or for a weightier approach you should peruse Stanford Univertiy's Online Plato resource - Consciousness Covering the majority of philosophic schools/philosophers and philosophic content its an invaluable free resource. It is highly accurate with a rotating board of trustees having the final say on what changes someone might wish to make, additions, revisions, addenda etc (a form of peer review if you will)


Beyond those two resources, you should spot a fomalised version of that comes close to your own beliefs. Buy a book or two in the relevant field, whilst constantly striving to get the philosophic model adopted, to conccur with your refinements

Consciousness is one of fastest, and most rewarding of debates on the interdisciplinary dialectic right now so all power to you.

PAX
 
if our thoughts are intended to be communicated with other people all the time, how do we think for ourselves?
 
^^Try looking at the Kantian 12 categories of thought, which gives us perception, apperception, and parse off those private thoughts so they don't just 'jump out' of converations with others.
 
^ And Koestler tackles said relationship (amongst others), and deploys the concept he coined: the Holon. This concept was later popularized almost verbatim by wilber, who made millions selling it along with other things he plagiarized (such as Integralism).


But I digress ;)
 
one big step towards being at peace with everything is understanding and accepting that some things don't have a purpose

there may be an explanation as to why they exist, but they don't need a purpose to exist

life is much easier once you've accepted that
 
OpiYum said:
so wtft? im no surviving bc i have no chatter im my brain? not to sound mean, but i really dont understand the function of chatter.

was i stupid to will it away and destroy my inner voice with hard drugs?
Click to expand...

I think about this all the time, like you I also destroyed my inner voice with hard drugs and Ketamine especially done this to such an extent I can no longer hold a decent conversation with anyone which has turned me into a recluse and I am so anti social it sickens me.

I have no idea how to get my inner voice back and the only time when I do think it seems to be negative so I just block all thoughts out by not thinking other than thoughts like 'god im so depressed, ok im not going to think about anything from now on...' / a few hours later cue im depressed then repeat same old cycle
 
I think I misunderstood the original post. Yes. I hear chatter quite often in my mind. Actually when I am under stress,drunk, or secretly (and non verbally , of course) reveling in some huge accomplishment I have acheived my mind goes into a total frenzy. Sometimes to the point to were it drives me nutts. I start imagining how I would react in a certain situation or getting extremely emotional or just thinking to myself, almost as if there were someone listening who would think hey this guy is alright. Also i am often contemplating or reasoning it is almost like a internal voice but sometimes not.
 
but honestly, words are so like value loaded with human's judgments, I'd much rather think in pictures-- much more true, natural, and honest imo.
Click to expand...

Yes silent thought is often better than internally babbling to ones self. Silent thought most often occurs (for me) when I am calm.
 
vegan said:
one big step towards being at peace with everything is understanding and accepting that some things don't have a purpose

there may be an explanation as to why they exist, but they don't need a purpose to exist

life is much easier once you've accepted that
Click to expand...

Everything is interdependent -- if one thing has a purpose, then so does everything else, because the "purposed" cannot exist without the "purposeless".

How would you define something with purpose? What separates it from something purposeless?
 
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