I posit that all thought is based on curiosity. It is like the television for smart people as it provides entertainment. Curiosity gives meaning and value.

If a person thinks about a certain thing long enough they manifest that thing physically in some form or another.

Also, I grant that we can act without thinking or reflecting but by instinct and impulse as motor skills become learnt.

It is always foolish to claim an absolute.

I posit that all thought is based on curiosity

ALL thought?

It is always foolish to claim an absolute.



ALL thought?


Yes, each and every thought. Thoughts are always an active (i.e. conscious), never a passive neurological effort. And yes, its foolish to talk about absolutes, but that's not what we're talking here.

i would say that curiosity is a manifestation of our thought, or that they are an interdependant relationship at least. as children we instinctually hunger for knowledge. we do not have bias in what we yearn for--we just yearn for interaction with the world. as more and more is taken in by our senses, we become accustomed to certain ways around us and it become imprinted in our being as memories. thought itself is merely the constant subconscious relating the present input of the senses to stored chemical analogs of past experiences (memory). that is why when you see something you automatically think of what your mind percieves is the most similar thing to what your senses are telling you.

RoyLennigan,

i would say that curiosity is a manifestation of our thought, or that they are an interdependant relationship at least. as children we instinctually hunger for knowledge. we do not have bias in what we yearn for--we just yearn for interaction with the world.

I would think that this need for knowledge is divorced from an emotional yearning as you describe. It originates from something deeper. Rather, as Noam Chomsky has described of the process of how humans inevitably acquire language:

...Nevertheless individuals in a speech community develop the same language. This fact can be explained only on the assumption that these individuals employ highly restrictive principles that guide the construction of grammar.

The same may be said of how we acquire knowledge in general. Our cognitive "structures" are prerequisites for knowledge, which includes language. We cannot help but end up learning language. From there it is up to us to develop thought and further knowledge.

Only after a firm development of language can the curiosity for thought increment. Lower order animals do not have the intellect to develop the foundation for language, syntax, etc. Their communication is typically instinctual where there is an increasing intelligence in higher order primates, thus greater possibility for language.

as more and more is taken in by our senses, we become accustomed to certain ways around us and it become imprinted in our being as memories.

What we take in is stimulus. Or rather, we are taken in by it. We have no say in what our senses select. Memory records experience of the senses.

thought itself is merely the constant subconscious relating the present input of the senses to stored chemical analogs of past experiences (memory).

This is basically how ideas are generated. Ideas occur randomly. They can be easily replaced and forgotten. They occur in moment-by-moment frames depending on what the input of the moment presents itself as.

What stimulates thought?

I view thought and idea as two separate entities. An idea will occur, but thought constructs and develops the idea. How is thought derived? What is the difference?

that is why when you see something you automatically think of what your mind percieves is the most similar thing to what your senses are telling you.

Perception comes after sense. Two people may sense the same stimulus but have completely different perceptions of that stimulus.

Yes, each and every thought. Thoughts are always an active (i.e. conscious), never a passive neurological effort. And yes, its foolish to talk about absolutes, but that's not what we're talking here.

You realize you just contradicted yourself, right?

"Yes, each and every thought."
"And yes, its foolish to talk about absolutes, but thats not what we're talking here."

So are we or arent we talking about every single, instinctive, conscious, sub-conscious, emotional, reasonable, thought?

Yes, each and every thought. Thoughts are always an active (i.e. conscious), never a passive neurological effort. And yes, its foolish to talk about absolutes, but that's not what we're talking here.
the subconscious and conscious mind overlap each other in their persuasions of thought. think of how you get a song stuck in your head, or that it takes practice or talent to be able to sleep on command or control your own breathing and heartbeat. your subconscious mind is a very physiological system of cause and effect, ie you are not consciously in control of your breathing, heartbeat, emotions, and many other aspects of behavior. your dreams are a subconscious thing--it is the passive activity of your brain relating past memories to each other. when you are awake, your brain actively relates present stimuli to past stimuli (current sense to stored analogs of past sense) but when you are asleep and dreaming, your brain relates past stimuli to other past stimuli in a parody of conscious activity. that is why a dream may seem like it is actually happening, even if it is extraordinarily strange. our imagination is our ability to relate and connect two (or more) interpretations of real things that aren't necessarily related in that way in reality.

but through practice and a kind of self-hypnotization you are able to control these subconscious parts of your mind. but by doing this, you bring out more of your subconscious, impulsive behavior into your conscious thought. it is not really absolute because it, like everything else we distinguish, is relative to all things.

the subconscious and conscious mind overlap each other in their persuasions of thought. think of how you get a song stuck in your head, or that it takes practice or talent to be able to sleep on command or control your own breathing and heartbeat. your subconscious mind is a very physiological system of cause and effect, ie you are not consciously in control of your breathing, heartbeat, emotions, and many other aspects of behavior.

your dreams are a subconscious thing--it is the passive activity of your brain relating past memories to each other. when you are awake, your brain actively relates present stimuli to past stimuli (current sense to stored analogs of past sense) but when you are asleep and dreaming, your brain relates past stimuli to other past stimuli in a parody of conscious activity. that is why a dream may seem like it is actually happening, even if it is extraordinarily strange. our imagination is our ability to relate and connect two (or more) interpretations of real things that aren't necessarily related in that way in reality.

but through practice and a kind of self-hypnotization you are able to control these subconscious parts of your mind. but by doing this, you bring out more of your subconscious, impulsive behavior into your conscious thought. it is not really absolute because it, like everything else we distinguish, is relative to all things.


Can heart rate ever be controlled? This sounds like something the Hindu masters tried to achieve through meditation and yoga. Consciously we're not in control, but under hypnosis or self-influence/self-hypnosis we can be.

You realize you just contradicted yourself, right?

"Yes, each and every thought."
"And yes, its foolish to talk about absolutes, but thats not what we're talking here."

So are we or arent we talking about every single, instinctive, conscious, sub-conscious, emotional, reasonable, thought?

An axiom isn't the same as an absolute.

An axiom isn't the same as an absolute.True, but since you posited an absolute there is the contradiction, as stated.

Could it not be that it is a cycle - (conscious) thought is driven by curiosity which in turn is driven by (subconscious) thought?

Can heart rate ever be controlled? This sounds like something the Hindu masters tried to achieve through meditation and yoga. Consciously we're not in control, but under hypnosis or self-influence/self-hypnosis we can be.
its just a complicated process that you must meditate on to become aware of. you start to control your breathing and slow it down. as you do, your heartbeat slows with it. you can calm yourself this way by introspectively controlling your body instead of letting it act impulsively.