how responsible are we for the thoughts we think?

Answer 1

We cannot control our thoughts. Thoughts are usually based on the influences in our life such as family upbringing, the society we keep & from books we have read or what is in the media.
How we act on those thoughts is what we are responsible for.

Answer 2

Are we responsible for the parents we are born to, the date and times in which we were born, the circumstances of our lives? It is very difficult to make a claim about what humans actually have control over. Human beings are born into a world with a set of circumstances over which they have no control... we cannot control who our parents are, what time period we will be born into, what we look like, what our genetic makeup is. Part of what makes up a person's thought are his experiences, and these experiences are something that are often out of the realm of human control.

Let us consider an example, A child is walking home from the park and sees a man mugging a woman. This child has never seen anything like this before and thinks about this traumatic scene throughout the rest of his life.

Did this child choose to see this scene in the first place? Does he have control over his memory of this scene? It seems that many of our thoughts are a replay or combination of different sensory experiences that we encounter thoughout our lives. One of the major questions in philosophy asks if we can have thoughts that are made of matter other than that of our experiences...that is are completely our own and are not comprised of any part of our past sensations. I am not going to attempt to answer this, however, it does seem that humans cannot be COMPLETELY responsible for their thoughts because of the incredible impact that outside circumstances have on the way that an individual lives his or her life.

On a side note, I think it is more important to control one's actions than one's thoughts. Thoughts come and go, actions define character.

Answer 3

We are responsible, because as Proverbs 23:7, "as a man thinks in his heart so is he." Our thinking directly affects our behavior. Our behavior then is either right or wrong, according to our thinking. We our responsible for our actions and our actions are guided by our thinking. Then we are responsible for our thinking. See also Matthew 3:9; 22:17(a direct relation between thought and action is illustrated here) There are many other examples for examination.

Answer 4

Interesting question.

I believe that everyone thinks thoughts that they believe are, that society would condemn as despicable, prejudiced, perverted, vile and downright nasty. The real test is whether we let these thoughts dominate our thinking and express them through our actions.

The human mind, I think, is not the homogenous, single track stream of consciousness we usually consider it to be. This is well illustrated by those minds which have fractured under duress and produced such phenomena as multiple-personality disorder, schizophrenia and bi-polar syndrome. I think the divisions that become evident through these extreme examples exist also in the healthy mind, but are less noticeable because the "community of thought" is more seemlessly integrated.

We should be responsible for our actions. Our thoughts should remain our own private world.

Answer 5

We are responsible for the thoughts we think. Howcever, there are times that certain thoughts pop into our head. We are not responsible for the original thought but for what we do with them. (Whether we accept or reject those thoughts.)

Answer 6

well guy who keeps quoting the bible, more so the Torah the new testaments are the bible, thats in my opinion, any way I would answer this question with a quote from Jesus, but I cant think of one, so I will use another "It doesnt matter what you put in, but what you put out.... which by the way causes you to sin", I think this came from the New Jersey Jesus(now think of you best Jersey accent and say that quote out loud in your head, anyway unless that thought effects others, or causes you to change in a negative fashion then you would be, but if its just thoughts supress them if you don't like them, you control your mind, so your r responsible, but who care unless that take effect outside of your head

Answer 7

I believe it is pretty well determined that we can control our thoughts. The problem is, we refuse to use this power. It seems, then, that we must be responsible for our own thoughts.

Answer 8

Very responsible. Our thoughts actually cause things to happen...can you imagine what would happen if we all thought good thoughts to try to turn around all this hate & anger? It would be a miracle!

Answer 9

We aren't very responsible at all. Our subconscious makes 95% of our decisions. A great link on explaining it is below.

Answer 10

WELL IF YOU ARE CRAZY THEN YOU ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

IF YOU ARE CRAZY YOUR BRAIN IS ERRATIC!! SOMETIMES YOU NEED MEDICINE TO CONTROL IT! YOU NEED TO GO DOCTOR..TO BRAIN SPECIALIZE..OR PSYCHIATRIST!

IT IS THE SAME THING WITH ACTIONS WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR ACTIONS WE CAN HAVE EVIL THOUGHTS BUT IF YOU FOLLOW THROUGH THEN YOUR ACTION WILL HAVE CONSEQUENCES!

IF YOU ARE "NORMAL" PERSON WITH NO BRAIN PROBLEMS THEN YOU ARE HIGHLY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR THOUGHTS WHETHER GOOD OR BAD!.SO CHOOSE WISELY BEFORE YOU ACT!