
The Mind Wanders (2018) - bra-ket
http://bit-player.org/2018/the-mind-wanders
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filoeleven
> In psychology and literature, this kind of mental rambling is called stream
> of consciousness, a metaphor we owe to William James. It’s not the metaphor
> I would have chosen. My own consciousness, as I experience it, does not flow
> smoothly from one topic to the next but seems to flit across a landscape of
> ideas, more like a butterfly than a river...

James’s term “stream of consciousness” in psychology has a different meaning
than the mental rambling in literature that the author is experiencing here.

William James was using it simply to mean that while we often think of
ourselves as having discrete thoughts, one after the other, they are in
reality an ever-changing flow. Our attention is what flits about and focuses
here or there, and still we are aware of where it last was and feel the pull
of where it will land next—and even with sudden shifts it is not
instantaneous.

James also spoke of the “fringe” of ideas that always surrounds whichever one
we are currently focused on: a dim awarenesss of related things that our minds
call up without our control. Not just ideas actually: feelings and sensations
and maybe even actions also make up the fringe. But the continuous shifting of
attention from one thing to another, or as he might have put it, the unbroken
growth and movement of a thing from the fringe into the center of awareness,
is what makes up the stream.

It’s useful to speak of “a train of thought,” but the “stream of
consciousness” serves as a reminder that this is an abstraction. It’s
especially useful for us particularly logical types to remember that going for
a swim is also an option, and that the trains don’t always run to the same
places the rivers go.

It’s been a while since I have read James, so my description won’t really do
him justice. I just couldn’t let that bit pass without remark. I look forward
to reading the rest of this piece.

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drivers99
> If you want a collection of ideas that resonate with your own experience,
> you’ll just have to create your own free-association diagram. I highly
> recommend it: You may discover something you didn’t know you knew.

Tried it out on paper. It wasn't as branched as his. My tree was a straight
line for 9 levels, went back up to level 7, and then straight back down to
level 16, before backtracking all the way back to level 9. Thinking of one
thing would make me think of something else quickly, without backtracking.

