Where does a thought originate?

Question

This question is a question on free will. Do we really have control of our thoughts and our actions . . . how far does the rabbit hole go?

Answer 1

thoughts originate in the mind, but we do have control by how we react to the thought or impulse.

Answer 2

The only thing we can say for certain is that a thought originates in the brain. It seems we do not have control over our thoughts until we become conscious of them, and the same is true of our actions. So, if an action is done quickly, it probably is an automatic response. If it is done after reflection, it is more carefully thought through. This is the reason for the rule, "Always trust your first answer" on shows like Jeopardy. Some of us old fuddy-duddies know that if we are putting our week's supply of pills in our little plastic containers, we will empty 7 pills into our hands most of the time if we don't think about it. If we pay attention to what we are doing, we have to count them to make sure there are 7.

There's no rabbit hole, only a very complex organ that we are only beginning to understand (our brain).

Answer 3

We have free will to the extend that we use it. Yes, use it or lose it!

For instance a non-smoker may be perfectly free to take up smoking but, having done so, has excluded the option (at least temporarily) of being a non-smoker and, more to my point, over time will increasing lessen the freedom element in being a smoker - because of the addictive nature of the habit.

So to test if you have free will over something in your life try giving it up to see how easily you can live without it - the extent to which you find this easy is the measure of your freedom in the matter.

If you find it extremely difficult to live without something or someone then your freedom is limited but you may have freely chosen to be limited in that way. Every choice we make limits us because by choosing one option we exclude others.

Following on from the above I would have to say that original thought is possible to the extent that we free our minds from everything else that assails us - the seemingly unlimited distractions that are ever available. We need to be alone sufficiently to identify that which is truly the person we are and not the product of peer pressure, fashion, societal expectations etc. Is it possible to be totally free of all these influences, many of which will have made us what we are? I doubt it.

Therefore freedom of any sort is limited and we lessen or increase that limitation by the choices we continually make, consciously or unconsciously.

Terry Prachett (humourous fiction writer) describes the likelihood of original thought entering a human mind in something like the following way: It begins somewhere in the universe and thereafter travels in a straight line until it hits something. But, since it is so small, taking up hardly any space at all (it could pass through a planet in the space between its atoms) it seldom hits anything. When it does the chances are that what it hits is incapable of receiving it (an inanimate object for instance). But once in a while one may collide with a brain, perhaps a non-human brain, but sometimes, very rarely, a human brain and then there are only about two chances in three that the human will be awake.

Answer 4

Hmm.....thatz a really interestin question. And..i dont honestly know the answer...but if you´re askin for my opinion...then no, i would say we dont have control of ALL our thoughts, we are however responsible for all of them though. An example of unwilled thoughts: falling in love with someone when we least expect to... would be one, right? And as far as actions go...well you can always be forced into doin things you dont want to...the initial "wantin" part is the only real free-will part....and sometimes you can will what you want into being, by just workin hard at it, but of course, sometimes, often actually...life, obligations, duties just get in the way...make things a lil more complicated. But...this is just my opinion.

Answer 5

It depends on the thought. Some come from the Medulla-Oblongata, some come from the hippocampus, some come from your cranial nerves, some are triggered by something as simple as serotonin. While still others originate somewhere within the Deep Chasm itself although scientists are unsure of how this happens. Sorry, there is now biological proof as to where most thoughts come from so the need for a philosophical answer is all but obsolete.

Answer 6

I believe that thoughts originate in the head. The bible says an idle mind is the enemies workshop. I believe because of the free will God has given us, we "choose" whether or not to act out the thought. The bible also says, to take every thought into captivity that comes against the obedience of Christ and to cast it down. So, if its a negative thought, I pretend that there is a little bubble that is above my head, (like a cartoon) and its full of my thoughts, and I reach up and pop it, it falls to the ground, and I stomp on it, and cast it down. Yeah, sounds silly... but it works!!!!

Answer 7

We don't have the control of our thoughts but we can control our actions......
Thoughts originate from the deep soul/conscience of an individual, the soul stimulates the brain abt the thought and brain analysis whether to do that or not! If a person doesn't have control over his conscience he wont obey brain's orders!

Answer 8

A thought originates in the heart and soul, if you have them. Free will is free will. Sometimes it screws you up. Other times it is a savior.

Answer 9

i think you watched the Matrix one to many times a thought is a thought from our brain and most of us do control our own thoughts

Answer 10

we have control of our actions... but sometimes we do things and say things without thinking... which is bad...because it's always important to think before acting...does that answer your Q?