Is it possible to think of two things at once?

Question

When we think...is it linear? Is thinking always done in language, or are thinking and reacting the same. Ex. Pulling hand away from a flame? AND if you are reacting to something like that...is it possible to still be thinking about something else at the exact same time?

Answer 1

NO, but you can switch quickly between several things.

Answer 2

Certainly it is possible to think about multiple things at the same time. Just consider the sort of work load that an aircraft pilot has when he is managing the basics of keeping the aircraft flying, engine management and navigation all at once.
In my own experience in an engineering environment, I have been able to hold a telephone conversation about one thing, a telex conversation about another and carry out some measurements concerned with a third event all at the same time.
At this very moment I have been listening to a NASA press briefing and reading Yahoo Questions while watching a bit of software under test.
We all talk on the phone while we drive.

There are some things, like pulling your hand away from a flame, where there is a reflex reaction that does not require the immediate involvement of the actual brain. Also remember that the brain is running a whole bunch of things that we are not actually conscious off.

Answer 3

I suppose there is always the genius or prodigy who can think of more than one thing at a time, but from personal experience I can say that trying to think two things at once gives mixed results for both.

I believe you can think one thing and "react" to something at the time time, as in talking with a friend and answering the phone at the same time. Or walking and chewing gum (but then again not all people can do that).

The senses can work all at once, but that's different from thinking. or is it. And, why is it that when a person has say like a heart, liver, etc. from another person that they take on that person's characteristics. I don't know, the body is strange and wonderful at the same time.

Answer 4

if you think about it, we are always thinking about multiple things at the same time. in the example of the hand and the flame, you are thinking about a hand, a flame, the heat from the flame, the pain, etc.

if you want more evidence, try keeping a picture in your mind. pretty much all pictures have several things in it. then, think of another picture. most people can imagine 7-12 pictures simultaneously.

maybe what you are thinking of is attention. generally, you can only attend to one thing at a time, but cognitively, you are actually doing many many things simultaneously.

Answer 5

it is possible and we do it all the time....but it all depends on the person too...like some people cannot focus on more then one thng at once, while others can multitask and can focus on multiple things...but in teh case of the flame you react before even thinking about it..at least that is what i was told in school-that our bodies react to things before our minds can realize it...Ex.have you ever went to step into a pool, and you felt the water to be cold before you even thought about it being cold?

Answer 6

Yes, some people have trained themselves to think of two things at once.
I once knew a railroad telegraph operator who could write down an incoming message while sending out an entirely different message at the same time.

Answer 7

Yes, it is possible to think of two different things at the same time .. at once.

Answer 8

I can watch TV and count up simultaneously, if that counts.
I read somewhere, that either Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin was able to write with both hands simultaneously, and could write Latin with one and Greek with the other hand.
Personally I doubt it. Counting and watching is tough enough.

Answer 9

i think pully a hand away from a flame is instict or reflex-- the body doesnt want to be burnt so it pulls itself away. at times, the brain can overpower that relfex. it is possible to be thinking about other things because brains multitask pretty well... we arent singleminded creatures so...

Answer 10

I think so. Yea, you can do it. Sure. Just do one thing completely well and follow up with the next. Yea, thats the ticket