Consciousness — thinking

Today’s post is about thinking, and about what thinking really is.

People broadly agree that we think about ideas, and somehow we make decisions about those ideas.  But, beyond that, there does not seem to be a consensus on what thinking really amounts to.

I will be discussing my own view on that.  I don’t doubt that some people will disagree with my view.

What is thinking?

I see thinking as rehearsal of behavior or rehearsal of possible behavior.

The idea that it is rehearsal of behavior is not original with me.  I read that recently, but I don’t remember where.  I had previously been thinking of it as a simulation of possible behavior, which is a similar idea.  But I really like the term “rehearsal” here, as it better captures my ideas.

Interacting with the world

Here’s something to try:

With your eyes closed, touch the tip of your nose with your finger.  You will probably find that you are fairly good at it.  Not perfect, but still pretty good.

Or try to touch your ear lobe, again with your eyes closed.  Or try to touch your eyebrows with your eyes closed.

Monitoring your actions

What is happening there, is that your brain is tracking your finger even when you cannot see it.  And your brain is also tracking your nose, eyebrows and ear lobes.  The brain is monitoring your activity.  And a good part of your abilities to interact depend on this monitoring.

While walking, you step on a banana peel, or something else that is slippery.  Maybe you will fall.  But, most of the time you are able to recover your balance without falling.  And that’s because of the monitoring that your brain is doing.  As you begin to transfer weight to that foot, the brain detects a problem and you are able to react before you have fully transferred weight to that foot.

Proprioception

Much of this has to do with proprioception, which is that part of our perceptual system that handles such monitoring.