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| Basic Sources of Thought |
Basic Sources of Thought
Our thoughts are stimulated either by external or internal sources. Sometimes we have total control over the source of our thoughts; sometimes thoughts are forced upon us.
Sensory input
While your senses detect a continuous flow of stimuli from your environment only a filtered version of that information actually reaches your conscious brain.
A significant part of our ability to interpret sensory input is learned. With much effort a newborn baby learns to separate spoken sounds into words and sentences that can be converted into ideas. With practice, wine connoisseurs can develop their abilities to detect minor differences in the taste and aroma (or bouquet) of different wines.
With practice, radiologists can learn to read subtle variations on x-ray plates to help them detect and diagnose a variety of medical conditions.
You can also learn to block superfluous sensory input while you concentrate on a chosen task. A soldier can ignore the pain of a wound during the heat of a battle. A NASCAR driver can ignore an itch during a hectic pit stop. With practice you can ignore background noise while falling asleep. With practice you can ignore the forest and find the tree with the hawk sitting on a branch.
It is a source of irritation if you cannot ignore dull and repetitive input, or if you cannot distinguish between significant and irrelevant information. Every child has to master the task of separating printed letters from background designs before he/she can learn to read.
Anatomical pathways
Some of our basic thought processes are built into specific neural networks. For example, our ability to recognize faces is located in a specific region of the brain. If that region is damaged, you may no longer be able to recognize people you know by their facial features. The hippocampus, in the midbrain complex, plays a vital role in the formation of new memories. If your hippocampus is damaged, then your ability to create new memories is correspondingly damaged.
Some neural pathways can be adapted to compensate for damage, especially in young children. Every stroke victim experiences the loss of some neural pathways and corresponding impairment. With the support of physiotherapy, other neurons in a neighbouring region can often be adapted to restore most functional loss caused by a stroke.
This adaptability of the brain is not always welcome. Patients, who have had a limb amputated, often experience sensations from a phantom limb . When a limb is amputated, the neural circuitry that controlled that limb is still in place. It is thought that nearby neural circuits in the brain start to utilize these abandoned circuits, and in so doing create signals that are detected as coming from the missing limb. Patients can suffer from pain in a phantom limb long after the limb has been removed.
Your limbic system is the source of most of your emotions. It is also structured to receive and act on significant information with a minimal time delay. You may react emotionally before your forebrain has had a chance to review and consider that same information.
Once you have reached an emotional conclusion, it is often difficult to re-evaluate that same information on a rational basis. MRI scans indicate that once you are emotionally attached to an idea, you exhibit a strong bias when interpreting any new information. For example once you have a strong political affiliation any subsequent political critiques tend to be evaluated in your limbic system as positive or negative according to your established views. Your forebrain and reasoned analysis is often bypassed by emotional reactions.
For clear thinking, you need the ability to outmanoeuvre your limbic system on important issues. The essential ingredient is time. A basic strategy is to develop the habit of wondering about implications or associations before making that crucial first judgement. That way you can provide time for your forebrain to get involved before taking action or making major decisions. The old adage, ‘Count to ten before you act’, is an essential ingredient in clear thinking. If you want to be guided by your forebrain, the most powerful part of your brain, then you have to be able to delay and override your limbic system.
Personal characteristics
Every person builds a unique personality based on their inherited physical characteristics, their inherited mental circuits, and the experiences they have had during their lives. Your personal goals, motivation, attitudes, self-image, and selfconfidence also become key components of your personality. Your personality affects the information that you gather from the environment, and how you perceive that information. Your personality acts as a master filter for all of your thought processes.
Our thoughts are stimulated either by external or internal sources. Sometimes we have total control over the source of our thoughts; sometimes thoughts are forced upon us.
Sensory input
While your senses detect a continuous flow of stimuli from your environment only a filtered version of that information actually reaches your conscious brain.
A significant part of our ability to interpret sensory input is learned. With much effort a newborn baby learns to separate spoken sounds into words and sentences that can be converted into ideas. With practice, wine connoisseurs can develop their abilities to detect minor differences in the taste and aroma (or bouquet) of different wines.
With practice, radiologists can learn to read subtle variations on x-ray plates to help them detect and diagnose a variety of medical conditions.
You can also learn to block superfluous sensory input while you concentrate on a chosen task. A soldier can ignore the pain of a wound during the heat of a battle. A NASCAR driver can ignore an itch during a hectic pit stop. With practice you can ignore background noise while falling asleep. With practice you can ignore the forest and find the tree with the hawk sitting on a branch.
It is a source of irritation if you cannot ignore dull and repetitive input, or if you cannot distinguish between significant and irrelevant information. Every child has to master the task of separating printed letters from background designs before he/she can learn to read.
Anatomical pathways
Some of our basic thought processes are built into specific neural networks. For example, our ability to recognize faces is located in a specific region of the brain. If that region is damaged, you may no longer be able to recognize people you know by their facial features. The hippocampus, in the midbrain complex, plays a vital role in the formation of new memories. If your hippocampus is damaged, then your ability to create new memories is correspondingly damaged.
Some neural pathways can be adapted to compensate for damage, especially in young children. Every stroke victim experiences the loss of some neural pathways and corresponding impairment. With the support of physiotherapy, other neurons in a neighbouring region can often be adapted to restore most functional loss caused by a stroke.
This adaptability of the brain is not always welcome. Patients, who have had a limb amputated, often experience sensations from a phantom limb . When a limb is amputated, the neural circuitry that controlled that limb is still in place. It is thought that nearby neural circuits in the brain start to utilize these abandoned circuits, and in so doing create signals that are detected as coming from the missing limb. Patients can suffer from pain in a phantom limb long after the limb has been removed.
Your limbic system is the source of most of your emotions. It is also structured to receive and act on significant information with a minimal time delay. You may react emotionally before your forebrain has had a chance to review and consider that same information.
Once you have reached an emotional conclusion, it is often difficult to re-evaluate that same information on a rational basis. MRI scans indicate that once you are emotionally attached to an idea, you exhibit a strong bias when interpreting any new information. For example once you have a strong political affiliation any subsequent political critiques tend to be evaluated in your limbic system as positive or negative according to your established views. Your forebrain and reasoned analysis is often bypassed by emotional reactions.
For clear thinking, you need the ability to outmanoeuvre your limbic system on important issues. The essential ingredient is time. A basic strategy is to develop the habit of wondering about implications or associations before making that crucial first judgement. That way you can provide time for your forebrain to get involved before taking action or making major decisions. The old adage, ‘Count to ten before you act’, is an essential ingredient in clear thinking. If you want to be guided by your forebrain, the most powerful part of your brain, then you have to be able to delay and override your limbic system.
Personal characteristics
Every person builds a unique personality based on their inherited physical characteristics, their inherited mental circuits, and the experiences they have had during their lives. Your personal goals, motivation, attitudes, self-image, and selfconfidence also become key components of your personality. Your personality affects the information that you gather from the environment, and how you perceive that information. Your personality acts as a master filter for all of your thought processes.
