How do we successfully think about anything? What’s the process of storing knowledge, experiencing life, and then thinking about what, who, why, when, where, and even perhaps, how?
It’s amazing.
Our world gives us a plethora of information to think about. We think, process, and believe. We do find a conclusion from what we’ve thought through.
Ted Thoughts, YouTube videos, scientific studies, and all kinds of internet garbage (uh, stuff) tell us what the science of thinking is all about.
Think about it for a moment. How do you wade through the swamp of background noise? Can you accept what you need at the time you need it? News Sources overwhelm the space, and everyone seems to want to report from their perspective. Who do you think is most accurate? The one with the loudest mouth or biggest budget?
Can you choose what to think about? Answer me this: Have you ever just spent time thinking about your thoughts? How does that work for you? Can you do it? How? The same way we think about anything else.
How Do You Think About Yourself?
Narrow the window of thought, and the results are narrowed, perhaps tightly focused. You know the old saying, and there are many versions that come from days of old to modern times.
“To someone who thinks they are a hammer,
then everything they see is a nail.”
~Various [Source]
“Put on your thinking caps.” (Remember that from school?!) Consider this from a different perspective. What if you see yourself as a nail? Whoa! You only exist to be pounded or used to hold things together.
Only from a mirror? Or have you thought about yourself enough to know who you see? Who you are is often different than how others see you?
I’ve watched people mimic someone they admire by dressing and acting like their image. It’s a conscious process to speak, look and act like someone else. Everything you are is seen in the image of someone on the horizon. You had to think about it before you could do it, even if you think about it subconsciously.
The Power of Thinking
Since all thinking occurs only within the brain, comprehending the brain will produce an understanding of thought. But wait! Can we successfully think about thoughts from only within our brain? Can I determine what “you” are thinking? No! Can we read minds? That’s rich. How can you determine another’s when you cannot even surmise your own thoughts?
Solomon, over 2,500 years ago, surmised the ways of all of us: For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. (Proverbs 23:7)
An avenue of thinking and practical experiences says we can artificially create “thoughts to action” in AI (Artificial Intelligence). Whoa! Actual results from Artificial Thinking. A computer can contain all the world’s knowledge, but unless it can act upon that knowledge, what good is it?
To act upon any knowledge
Without thinking it through
Is like standing on the edge of a cliff
And jumping without considering the
Consequences.
The contemplative power of thought brings many “ah-ha!” moments. Quantum leaps of logic come from nothing, it would seem. Fill your mind with various components of knowledge and start thinking the problem through; you will leap into an answer that you could not see but in that moment of comprehension.
Never Through Thinking
My mind grows weary of thoughts and the actions they produce, so I keep researching for new solutions. When that new process fails, I’m prone to turn my mind off and do mindless things that require very little thought.
Wait a moment! Isn’t that dangerous? It depends. I can settle my mind by doing mindless actions ingrained in rote to what I’ve done a million times before. Take a long drive looking for new roads, or hop on the tractor and dig, move rocks, mow, or take a walk with the dogs.
You get to name your mindless activity that will bring settled peace to your life.
What’s happening? My subconscious is mulling the wearied thought without me wasting conscious moments. Some studies suggest that dreams of the night are your mind rearranging data, creating new space, and sorting things out. Dreams can become nightmares, and you awake startled and drenched with night sweats. Drugs may cause you to pass out, but the background process still works to a conclusion.
Not to share out of turn, but David thought about a situation and interjected this phrase in his writings.
When I thought how to understand this,
It was too painful for me—
Psalms 73:16 NKJV
After that problematic thought, however, he had only to go to the Sanctuary of God to understand the meaning and results. How far from that thought to God’s House?
When you don’t know the answer and think about it creating pain, put your mind into neutral and let the subconscious take care of the thought for a while. Who knows? You may find an answer by actively not thinking about the need.
That’s the power of thought.