Is your mind faster than you? Do words slow our thinking down?

Question

Has your mind ever grasped a concept before you have? Have you ever heard someone speak and knew in your mind exactly what they were trying to say but you did not get it while your mind did? What is this lag between the mind understanding and the self understanding? Is it the process of trying to put our thoughts into words that slow us down? I am not talking only about words that we speak; I am talking about the words that we think in. To see how quick your mind really is watch the news. While the reporter is speaking say exactly what the reporter is saying in your mind. You will be able to recite the words you are hearing exactly without any lag, but try to say the word the reporter is speaking, you cant. How can we become as brilliant as our minds?

Answer 1

All the time, in every moment, always!

My mind is always making fun of my mouth and fingers, for they can never keep up with it! But, I must say, even the brain has a hard time keeping up with the mind. Being as we "think" in abstract conceptualized ways, creating the words within the brain in order to allow our mouths to say, or fingers to write something, absolutely creates a gap and slows us down!

How can we become as brilliant as our minds?
Hmmmm... Don't speak! Telepathy is the best language! =D

Answer 2

Almost all people do think in words, and it has been demonstrated time and again that this puts certain limitations on their thought processes (in psychology circles this is known as the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis - link 1). A pre-made concept is easier to use than contructed and novel concepts, so languages with ready words for some things give speakers of those language a better grasp on such concepts in their thoughts.

Once you step outside of the world of the mind, there are other things to slow you down as well. No matter how fast you think, there's only so fast your mouth apparatus can move to produce sound. Even if you could speak ridiculously fast, varying the typical speed of speech makes it harder to understand. The same goes for writing and other forms of expression.

A typical speaker, for example, speaks at a rate of approximately 150 words per minute (wpm). A typical typist can produce only 40 wpm (the world record is as high as 212 wpm, though). Most research suggests that the fastest a person can read for ideal comprehension is 350 wpm.

But all this is agonizingly slow compared to thought - studies suggest that our thoughts run at a speed of 1300 wpm or more!

Curiously, there has been some interest in increasing the rate of thinking, reading, and all related activities by simply changing the language used. This was the subject of a story by Heinlein ("Gulf") and is also the point of a manufactured language called 'Ithkuil' (link 2). By abbreviating a language such that most words can be a single sound and whole sentances can be expressed in just a word or two, a fluent speaker of Ithkuil might be able to perform all of the above tasks at five times the rate!

Unfortunately, Ithkuil proved to be so wickedly complex (it literally uses just about EVERY sound a human mouth can produce and a human ear can hear, and it pays little heed to ease of pronunciation) that to my knowledge there isn't a single fluent speaker anywhere, much less two so an actual conversation can take place. Still, that doesn't stop people from trying.

There is some suggestion also that some people think 'outside' of language in thought-concepts. It has been observed, for example, that a 'master' of any particular field develops the same kind of mental shorthand at dealing with occurrances in that field as a fluent speaker of a language. Amateurs must constantly translate back and forth into symbols and meanings, but an expert can just instantly grasp what is going on and what must be done (thus we see chess masters who can play twenty people as easily as they can one). That some of these thought-concepts may lie outside of language or easy description may account for why some fields are much more difficult to learn than others.

It's an interesting thing to look at... I hope I gave you new paths to explore yourself!

Answer 3

I find it fascinating that the quickest way to speed up any one's reading is to hum a stupid little tune in your head while you read, so you can't "hear" the words. Words do slow us down but the question is for me....does the slowing phenomenon increase the older you get as you associate more things with the word? If I think the word DOG does my mind associate that word with every dog I have ever discovered with one of my 5 senses? I bet that is what really slows us down! We associate the word with everything we've labeled it with

Answer 4

The unconscious mind blocks, limits or slows the filter of what our quick-witted brain/sensorium already detect. The pre-conscious mind is a drag on bringing all the patterns and symbols we recognize fully in to an ARTICULATED awareness. Our self-talk allows us a much higher awareness than we can express at a rapid pace, that is one reason we become aware of danger, subtle-ties and unspoken feelings of others,
we have already deciphered the unspoken cues and don't guess, we KNOW what we saw, heard, felt-intuitively. Defense mechanisms, there for our conscious sanity, also serve to limit free interpretation of signals we perceive. Pre-conceived notions, the status quo, socializations always slows the conscious awareness of things perceived that conflict with our expectations as well.........

we are able to sense much more than our conscious mind allows for because it all happens so fast.

Answer 5

Velocity doesn't make a clock slow down but acceleration does. If you are traveling away from an observer time will appear slowed from the observer's point of view due to the doppler effect, but that is merely an illusion.

Answer 6

Cordover hahahehe we think alike yes my mind is always racing ahead when my friends all yell at me and tell me to cut it out hahahehe i grasp the concept before the concept appears sometimes hahahahahehehe...I wish that my brain can quiet down sometimes hahahehee :))))My brain is sharp and alert it has been this way since I was little :)))) I make sure i use it everyday :)))But we need to chill once in awhile because we can over do it with our brains and think to much and focus and ask and wonder and etc.............hahehe. It is because of our thoughts that we are constantly looking for our true nature and ultimate reality of life people and things & its not easy to train our minds like this but in the end our lives will be so improved if we can master our mind thoughts and use them in productive ways up until the moments of our deaths :)))Sometimes my mind thinks it too fast and my words come out first or I totally forget what i was saying because my mind is going at every second hahehe

Answer 7

always.

How....to keep digging deep, continue learning, never stop seeking the knowledge, who knows maybe one day we can talk faster than we think,,,oh wait, maybe that not a good thing!...lol...maybe one day we will be able to talk as Brillient as we think...thats better yeah!...lol
Peace and Love to all
R.R.B.

Answer 8

We can see, hear, listen, read and think faster than we can speak -- more "mechanics "involved in speaking . Other than that I don't know what your are on about -- my mind isn't separate for my "self".

Answer 9

My mind has to be faster to keep up with my movements.

Answer 10

The mind is great help to the body, like a wife to a husband. You know what they say; that behind a great man, there's a great woman.

Good luck!