Rather, we’d see blueping as fundamental and would easily identify blueping with a particular configuration of neural firings.
Yes, I’d say blueping is one of your “fundamental concepts that can’t be dissolved.” But to me it’s no surprise that sensations of the five senses are the fundamental units of experience. The only reason I think people posit that there is more to experience than mere sensation is that they say, “What about thinking and emotions? Those are experience but not really sensations of the five senses.”
My theory—developed for entirely separate reasons—is that all thinking is done in the (imagined) five senses, but that we don’t notice because it’s usually happening too fast, or is auto-ignored because the background sensory processes aren’t generally relevant and would overwhelm our conscious mind. The sensory thought processes can be noticed in some special situations, though, which is how I found out about them. (In fact, I’m heading to an isolation tank this afternoon to try to “see” more of my own thoughts.) My theory says that emotions are primarily (or perhaps only) imagined physical sensations. I hope to write a main post on the theory once it’s more developed.
Anyway, that would indicate that all experience is sensation, hence it would be natural to consider blueping as fundamental (or if you like, undissolvable).
My theory—developed for entirely separate reasons—is that all thinking is done in the (imagined) five senses, but that we don’t notice because it’s usually happening too fast, or is auto-ignored because the background sensory processes aren’t generally relevant and would overwhelm our conscious mind.
Be warned: thoughts have properties and connections that appear only when summoned. For example, suppose I take a sentence or two from my inner monologue and try to analyze the voice. I will imagine hearing it in the voice of a person or character who might say that sort of thing. But the thought wasn’t originally in that voice, or any voice at all; trying to inspect details like tone and inflection caused my mind to create those details, more or less at random, where they would not have been created if I hadn’t gone looking for them. I can connect any thought to one of the senses in this way, but that doesn’t mean that the connection was there before I summoned it. Words are imported through hearing, but there’s no reason the brain has to maintain that connection.
On the other hand, minds vary. People with synesthesia definitely have stronger connections between their senses and other thoughts than normal. Someone with a slightly more active auditory cortex might hear their inner monologue in a specific voice even if they weren’t trying to. There’re many possibilities, and spending some time in a tank or meditative state to figure out how your mind works is a great idea.
I believe you’re cautioning that maybe what I’m noticing are sensory patterns my mind attaches to the thoughts after the fact, when I go in and try to analyze them, rather than the thoughts themselves. I actually had a few false starts this way, but later on I found what I think are my internal representations of the structure of logical reasoning. They are like fundamental thought-widgets (visual and physical, àla Einstein’s claim) that fit together with a certain set of rules to form meaning. These could be after-the-fact sensory patterns as well, but since they are mostly visual I’ve started using them to create a picture-only language as a sort of proof-of-concept. I’ll share more as it develops.
Also, I try not to think in words. Habitual word thinkers and non-word thinkers will probably have very different reactions to what I’ve been writing.
I grant that I might just have a particularly strong case of synesthesia. Hopefully the tank will bring answers.
Yes, I’d say blueping is one of your “fundamental concepts that can’t be dissolved.” But to me it’s no surprise that sensations of the five senses are the fundamental units of experience. The only reason I think people posit that there is more to experience than mere sensation is that they say, “What about thinking and emotions? Those are experience but not really sensations of the five senses.”
My theory—developed for entirely separate reasons—is that all thinking is done in the (imagined) five senses, but that we don’t notice because it’s usually happening too fast, or is auto-ignored because the background sensory processes aren’t generally relevant and would overwhelm our conscious mind. The sensory thought processes can be noticed in some special situations, though, which is how I found out about them. (In fact, I’m heading to an isolation tank this afternoon to try to “see” more of my own thoughts.) My theory says that emotions are primarily (or perhaps only) imagined physical sensations. I hope to write a main post on the theory once it’s more developed.
Anyway, that would indicate that all experience is sensation, hence it would be natural to consider blueping as fundamental (or if you like, undissolvable).
Be warned: thoughts have properties and connections that appear only when summoned. For example, suppose I take a sentence or two from my inner monologue and try to analyze the voice. I will imagine hearing it in the voice of a person or character who might say that sort of thing. But the thought wasn’t originally in that voice, or any voice at all; trying to inspect details like tone and inflection caused my mind to create those details, more or less at random, where they would not have been created if I hadn’t gone looking for them. I can connect any thought to one of the senses in this way, but that doesn’t mean that the connection was there before I summoned it. Words are imported through hearing, but there’s no reason the brain has to maintain that connection.
On the other hand, minds vary. People with synesthesia definitely have stronger connections between their senses and other thoughts than normal. Someone with a slightly more active auditory cortex might hear their inner monologue in a specific voice even if they weren’t trying to. There’re many possibilities, and spending some time in a tank or meditative state to figure out how your mind works is a great idea.
I believe you’re cautioning that maybe what I’m noticing are sensory patterns my mind attaches to the thoughts after the fact, when I go in and try to analyze them, rather than the thoughts themselves. I actually had a few false starts this way, but later on I found what I think are my internal representations of the structure of logical reasoning. They are like fundamental thought-widgets (visual and physical, àla Einstein’s claim) that fit together with a certain set of rules to form meaning. These could be after-the-fact sensory patterns as well, but since they are mostly visual I’ve started using them to create a picture-only language as a sort of proof-of-concept. I’ll share more as it develops.
Also, I try not to think in words. Habitual word thinkers and non-word thinkers will probably have very different reactions to what I’ve been writing.
I grant that I might just have a particularly strong case of synesthesia. Hopefully the tank will bring answers.