The mind: do you choose to think?

Question

A variety of people have taken different perspectives on this topic. Some maintain that we cannot control our thinking or stop thinking. Others maintain that we choose to think.

Of all the things that you could be doing right now, how did you make the choice to think?

Think about something that happened today.
Think about something that happned yesterday.
Think about something that happened last year.
Think about your sadest memory.
Think about your happiest memory.
Think about a time today when you were doing something other than thinking.

Do you still maintain that you cannot control what you think about?

Answer 1

I think because I want to live. If I do not think I will not lead the kind of life that I want to have.

Answer 2

I suppose thought could be classified into two different areas. One, the thinking in the perception of a stimulus, using top-down processing, we think about how to react. We have to do this, otherwise we are mindless things that simply sit and exist.

Then, the thought of cognitive thought, in which we develope thoughts and choose to act on them. Thus, we choose to think this way. Humans are able to live their life without presenting any cogent thought to contribute to the rest of the world. It is only when they choose to think in this way that they live life as it was intended. To create our own individualistic reality, basing it on our perceptions and relative interpretations of values and applying them for the good of the whole.

Answer 3

Thinking arises from we know not where. A thought 'attracts' us and then more thoughts are fed into the 'original' thought. The only choice we have is to ignore the arising thought (we cannot stop it), but we can ignore...let them fade. When we feed the arising thought, we create "stories"...often, familiar, repeating stories (karmic in nature).

This dualistic "movie' we live in feeds on thoughts. Unknowingly, we keep it going...it keeps 'the big game' going. Supposedly, for our 'entertainment'. Very odd it is.

Answer 4

I can either choose to spend time and energy answering this question or I can shut off the computer and go to bed. Sometimes we can control it, sometimes we can't. Maybe it seems like a copout, but I think it's reality.

Answer 5

I think that thinking is like a coaster bike, your mind is either engaged (peddling) or coasting, but the brain is like the tires.....turning all the time. Of course, death is when the kick stand is down and the bike is parked.

Answer 6

Thinking is a natural process, one can choose the quality of thought.

Answer 7

I choose to think. But my brain doesn't. I command my brain to. But my brain does a good job of keeping things in my memory and a good job of executing commands I give it. So I am in control. So it's kinda like, garbage in garbage out. If I choose not to think and then be idle, my brain's output will be below average.

Answer 8

Whoa, so many questions.
Actually I firmly believe that we CAN and DO control our thinking and as we evolve it only gets better.
I do hypnosis regularly and I have changed out my "thoughts" and replaced most of my fears.

Answer 9

i think that you have a choice at a conscious level ,but not at a sub-conscious level.
as for thinking at a conscious level there's no how, but you just do it.as yoda might have said "there is no how to do.you just do or don't do."but you can control what you think(of course at a conscious level.)
so in this sense we choose what or how we think.
God bless,
gabe

Answer 10

Hmm...I don't think that we choose to think, thinking is as natural as one's heart beat. I don't believe that we can ever just stop thinking- now would we want to right? Thinking is something that we seem to do almost unvoluntarily or even subconsciously. What do you think? No pun intended. ;)