Literal Deep Thoughts - How would you describe your ability to think?

[The Lizard Queen]

So, the NPC meme has made a lot of people start thinking about... thinking. It's clear not everyone thinks the same way. Some people don't have an internal monologue that narrates their thoughts. Some people think only in pictures. Some don't realize they're thinking at all.

It is also common for people to experience multiple levels of thought. You're rarely thinking of only one thing at a time, but how many levels do you have? Is the way you think similar to how others think, or entirely different?

So, the question is, how do you think?
How many levels of thought do you feel you possess?

For myself, I think I have about 6 levels of thought or awareness happening at the same time, I like to think of it as different "tracks" for my conscious train of thought to run on. They are always happening simultaneously, but sometimes I'm more focused on one over the others. They are different from subconsciousness, as I am fully aware they are occurring, though sometimes a subconscious thought will insert itself into one of these tracks.
1. The internal monologue track- The voice in my head that I use to talk to myself and rationalize problems. It also acts as a censor to keep other thoughts from being expressed in ways that others can see them.
2. The side track - the part of me that is thinking of things that have happened recently and analyzes them. This also thinks about what I'm planning to say or do in the future.
3. Awareness of my surroundings - the part of me that watches things nearby and alerts me if I should pay attention.
4. Self awareness - the part of me that monitors my body and keeps me from hurting myself, or reminds me to eat and sleep.
5. The sound track - this is whatever music is stuck in my head, which is always playing somewhere in the background of my mind.
6. The deep track - The part of me that contemplates long term problems, and reminds me when important things need to occur. It also analyzes things that occurred in the past that aren't important at the moment, but could be important later. This is slightly different from the subconscious, as I'm vaguely aware it's happening, and can control it.

I'm basically asking you to take a good long look at your internal thoughts and see if you can figure out how it works. Is your thought structure similar to mine, or entirely different?

 

[Frogasm]

from the title of this thread on the front page i was hoping it was gonna be about the deep sea and what we thought of stuff down there

for the record, I think those deep sea fish are neat

 

[Kamiii]

Send me some of your drugs

 

[ES 148]

I try not to think, if I can help it.

 

[Kiwi Jeff]

I usually have 1, 5, and 6 all playing at once.

 

[GODREKCUF]

So, the NPC meme has made a lot of people start thinking about... thinking.

No, life losers just tried to boost their ego

 

[Slap47]

There are people that don't have inner monologues but I don't think the NPC meme refers to that since this monologue-less group is a small minority and there is a lot of NPCs. I think it refers more to blind partisanship, people governed solely by emotions and people that take what they're told for granted without trying to acquire a deeper understanding of what they're forming an opinion on. Aside from the inner monologue thing, I think everybody has everything you describe because they're kinda necessary to survive and do even the most basic of jobs. The lizard brain stuff is included with everybody that isn't afflicted with downs syndrome.

I have an obsession with making sure every opinion I hold is logically consistent with my principles and I think that's an important distinction. Whenever I have an opinion, I take my opinions and think about how they fit into that greater context. I'm not perfect but I'd like to think that I catch myself being logically inconsistent more often than others.

An example of NPC behavior:

Liberal with the following opinions: Vietnam war was bad, disabilities are valid and not a joke, draft is evil, world-police = bad.
Also has these opinions: Trump is coward for skipping the draft for war I think is dumb and his disability of painful bone spurs is a meme. Trump is a coward for pulling the US out of the MiddleEast even though I oppose us being there.

Conservative with following opinions: The govt shouldn't have the power to censor people. Damn sjws.
Also has these opinions: The govt should crack down on degeneracy I don't like and/or criticisms of Israel.

Of course, the biggest aspect of it is people just blindly following trends.

 

[Clop]

1. The internal monologue track- The voice in my head that I use to talk to myself and rationalize problems. It also acts as a censor to keep other thoughts from being expressed in ways that others can see them.
2. The side track - the part of me that is thinking of things that have happened recently and analyzes them. This also thinks about what I'm planning to say or do in the future.
3. Awareness of my surroundings - the part of me that watches things nearby and alerts me if I should pay attention.
4. Self awareness - the part of me that monitors my body and keeps me from hurting myself, or reminds me to eat and sleep.
5. The sound track - this is whatever music is stuck in my head, which is always playing somewhere in the background of my mind.
6. The deep track - The part of me that contemplates long term problems, and reminds me when important things need to occur. It also analyzes things that occurred in the past that aren't important at the moment, but could be important later.

Since you gave me a list, I'll use that since I'm lazy as fuck. Plus it's funnier to me.

1. We're not in speaking terms.
2. Party's the other way.
3. Effective proof that something in me is trying to take me out--
4. --and I think I have enough now to file a lawsuit against myself. Thanks for reminding me btw, I think I'll cook up something.
5. A super interesting one because I haven't heard music in my head in a long time despite listening to it constantly. I'm trying to right now and it constantly just sputters out. (oh wait, there it is, it's a midi loop (okay it's getting tiresome now, please stop))
6. This asshole right here, lost a whole week's worth of work and sleep because of it. This motherfucker may have a point in letting 3. and 4. take the rest of the day off indefinitely. The day this guy was the loudest, my hands were shaking too much for me to even roll a fucking cigarette.

I guess I'm technically using all of them, but instead of it being like a nice little archive room where everyone's busy doing their own jobs and murmuring like it's the library, everyone is running around screaming and I choose to close the door. Number 5 does occasionally go on a lunch break with me, he's alright even if he does repeat himself a lot.

 

[Strange Looking Dog]

I don't know if you can separate those categories so cleanly, seems to me like you could merge some of those categories.

If I were to create a similar representation for myself, I would probably separate it into 4 categories;

Category 1. The conscious mind, where the inner monologue occurs, and acts as an auditor to the other processes.
Category 2. The reactive mind, charged with carrying out physical tasks, and reacting to the environment.
Category 3. Sensory processing, tasked with doing some basic processing of sensory inputs, and distributing the results.
Category 4. The subconscious, and as is implied by the name, I cannot say specifically what goes on here, only that I observe it's results occasionally as ideas from the ether.


In my case at least, the surface mind operates in a roughly sequential order, in that two thoughts may be interleaved, but not simultaneous --one yields for the other. The surface mind is the inner monologue, and it acts to audit the current situation, and plot a course through the world. I find that speaking interrupts my surface mind, in the sense that I have to think the words I am going to say, which are then queued for speech or typing by the reactive mind.

The reactive mind handles physical actions and some reactions automatically. I find that when I want to do something like type, walk, or talk I don't consciously think about the process of the action, rather I just think about what I want to happen, and the reactive mind seems to queue that intent and then perform the necessary steps. When I'm doing something unfamiliar however, I find that my conscious mind has to take some control of the process. I've often disturbed myself when walking about the city when I realize that I was lost in thought and not consciously aware of the last couple of streets I crossed, but fortunately it has not led me too far astray yet.

The intake of information, it's basic processing, and it's distribution seems to deserve it's own category; sensory processing. I find my mind always automatically takes in some amount of information even when I am paying no attention, and shares this information with all other categories. For instance, I almost always have some music playing, and while I am in some sense aware of it, moment to moment I do not think about it.

I can't comment on what specifically goes on in the subconscious, but it is clearly important. It seems to take information from the conscious mind and also directly from the senses, and vigorously process it. Eventually the result surfaces to the conscious mind as an "idea" where it is audited. These spontaneous ideas are usually things that I would not have thought of consciously, and they are frequently flawed in some way --i.e. being somewhat divorced from reality, but after mulling them over there is usually something quite good to be extracted from them.


Actually if I'm honest, I dunno nothing bout nothing, and it's 4am and I should not be continuing to type and edit this right now on christmas morning lmao
Additional note; ol' kringle confirmed for lies, or maybe my whole neighborhood is on the n-list rip

 

[⋖ cørdion ⋗]

Furthest I've really thought of it is in terms of Chad vs am I good enough neets/sorts. You have these people doubting themselves into depression while Chad would just go "of course I'm gonna gain from being friends with this person/doing this thing/fucking this person over".

The real question I want answered is whether Chad sits at home and argues with himself in his thoughts, or it instantly goes to "what do I need? food?" and such.

 

[Y2K Baby]

from the title of this thread on the front page i was hoping it was gonna be about the deep sea and what we thought of stuff down there

for the record, I think those deep sea fish are neat

My thoughts are so deep, I can't stop seeing angler fish.

 

[The Lizard Queen]

I don't know if you can separate those categories so cleanly, seems to me like you could merge some of those categories

Well, the idea is to explore how individual kiwis experience the thought process. I experience it as 6 levels of conscious thought that happen simultaneously, but someone else may only experience 4 levels of extremely focused ideas, or they may not experience it in levels at all, and it may just be a mush of chaotic thought.

 

[AnOminous]

Well, the idea is to explore how individual kiwis experience the thought process. I experience it as 6 levels of conscious thought that happen simultaneously, but someone else may only experience 4 levels, or they may not experience it in levels at all, and it may just be a mush of chaotic thought.

You are like a little baby. Watch this. . .

 

[Guts Gets Some]

I can barely accomplish my tasks throughout the day, be it work or play, because I always feel the need to pause and think for minutes on end. To really fully invest my energy into what needs further elaboration on in my mind.

 

[Wurstbrot]

They way others think. Hell, I wish I could just check the way others do that, we are all clearly very different in the way we think, knowledge or experience alone is not the key. I guess our personality is the best hint to the way we really think.

If my mind isn't just rusty like the first automobile engine without any reason, then I would describe my thinking this way:

In general I'm a very imaginative person, easy to obstruct with sudden flashes of imagined pictures which makes me temporary blind for the surrounding. But this is the way I understand occurrences best, by imagining them. This way I find flaws in a narrative, where I lag understanding or to decide which decision is the next best. Words alone or even numbers aren't good enough.

I also think way too much about the way I think. Maybe a lag of confidence, maybe my mind tries to find the most optimized way to go through the day, I have no idea.

I also try to actively think about my daily activities while doing them, as most daily decisions are just made by instinct. But the additional thought helps to focus, set priorities and keeps the mind fresh and active. Quite understandable if our routines are halfway automated, they just need a better direction (And nobody can see or hear what I think, so it's fine to go wild and even overthink the most mundane stuff) . But the most interesting aspect is that I have to remind myself to think, which feels odd.
However, my way of thinking is not the fastest and has it's limits, too much hard to understand infos (which I try to absorb) make me sleepy. Nothing I could do, dood.

Deepness of thought? An uncontrollable thought before the initial thought seems quite normal, sometimes I can even recognize a spark of it. Sorta like if my thoughts would start to have it's own thought. The recognizable parts are just a portion of our brain processes, unconscious automation makes us act the fastest, so I'm not really surprised.

The "deepness" you describe are just independent occurances, I'd say they come from the same source. The part of you (and me) who always stands in opposition to your doing. This results in pros and cons and if one side can convince the other side, the decision is made. Sometimes this can go fast without recognition, sometimes you actively argue with yourself. This Is fine, we need our opposite decision engine or else we would not survive the day.

I find this quite fascinating.

But yeah, tl;dr I'm the visual and imaginative guy.

 

[eldri]

(Channeling my inner @Testaclese Maximus)

Mine are as deep as your mom's pussy, faggot.

 

[bearycool]

My capacity to think is at least to the level where I do not have a halal thread on here yet.

 

[Incognito Mood]

I like to think of my mind as a giant, automated matching game that's constantly matching memories to more obscure ideas such as words or sounds. Even as a kid, I was aware of this happening in my mind. More often than not, the memories that are matched with particular words or sounds have almost no logical correlation with each other, and yet, whenever I read that word or hear that sound, its always that particular memory that pops up.

Another thing I've noticed with how my mind works is that I'll often get caught up in random trains of thought with little to no prior warning, which often leads to creating stories or delving into deep thoughts. But when I attempt to write down my ideas/stories, I find it very difficult to recall the details that happened within those thoughts. Writing and thinking at the same time doesn't work either, since I don't necessarily have the mental capacity to do both. I like to think of these thoughts kind of like a ball of putty. When I think of it, the ball is smooth and well rounded. But as soon as the train of through has stopped, the ball is flattened and stretched out, so when I put it onto paper, oftentimes some parts of the idea are stretched thin or have holes.

When I listen to music with lyrics, I'll get caught up in trains of thoughts where I get more visual than literary ideas (what to draw vs what to write). However, listening to quiet music without lyrics can sometimes help me focus better, especially when writing. I'll have music playing in the back of my mind when I'm not really thinking of or doing anything. I have almost no control over what song plays in my mind at what time, so its often a 50/50 chance that the song that pops into my mind is either desirable or less so. It's also kind of hard to stop my mind music once its started, since the more I try to think about other things besides the music, the 'louder' and more obnoxious it seems to get.

Why my mind works like this is beyond me, and it can be very frustrating when I'm trying to focus on getting something done. But I guess one of the perks is that I've come up with some pretty interesting ideas.

 

[Strange Looking Dog]

Well, the idea is to explore how individual kiwis experience the thought process. I experience it as 6 levels of conscious thought that happen simultaneously, but someone else may only experience 4 levels of extremely focused ideas, or they may not experience it in levels at all, and it may just be a mush of chaotic thought.

Fair enough. The thing that I was mainly talking about was category 5; seemed odd to me to have a separate process dedicated to earworms. Hopefully only the good tunes get stuck in your head yeah?
Here's hoping not too many posters get caught up pontificating about the NPC meme, and actually stick to the thread topic.

 

[PorcupineTree]

It’s gotten shallow and repetitive because I can’t stand to be bored and constantly have to distract myself with my phone. I need to quit the internet.