Thoughts and Thinking - recognizing the players  

This theory stren explains the difference between thoughts and thinking, essential knowledge to develop “thought control.”   

NOTE: The practical strens in this guide are each written to provide some “bit” and “piece” of strength directly applicable to self-mastery.  Theory strens offer understanding more so than immediate practical application.   If you are a “technician,” you will benefit from the practical skills without regard to theory strens.  I personally prefer the “scientists” approach and encourage you to proceed with them.  I think you will find them to be “practical” theory. 

In a 3-part stren and elsewhere, I have indicated three masters direct our life’s experience.  

1. Master nature: what we inherit from our genes; the wisdom of billions of years of evolution
2. Master nurture: what we are taught after birth; the prescriptions of our parents and community during our first decades
3. Self-mastery: the control we exert over our own lives, if and to what degree we emancipate our self from nature and our nurturers prescriptions

Wish though we might, our influence over others and the manner the world treats us is quite limited.  Yet, we have immense say of what matters most, the quality of our own life’s experience. Observation of many happy, enthusiastic persons in the face of the worst imaginable of life’s circumstances convinces me that we each maintain the capacity to feel good and do good.   There is a way!  And 100% of that making a difference is conducted through the media of “thoughts” and “thinking.”   Here is my understanding that has been useful in my quest for self-mastery.  I begin with a brief view of the development of “thoughts” and “thinking,” and the special kind of reflective thinking that is our source of self-mastery.  
   
     A comparison of our level of thinking with other earthlings is very instructive.  When we are born, our genes have already written an elaborate script for our life’s experience.  Its origin is about as far back as our imagination extends and it has contributions from generations past that we shall never know.  Master nature, “speaking” through our genes, demands that we replicate the life cycle.  Thus, our first directive, to guarantee the continuation of the gene pattern, is to survive long enough to reproduce.  

     In one celled and very primitive organisms, reproduction merely requires splitting itself.  Behavioral patterns such as movement towards heat and light are inherited.  Birth, reproduction, and death are regulated true to nature’s dictates.  Little more is required for survival than what nature provides.  Thinking and consciousness are not in consideration. 

     When we observe earthlings of greater complexity, we see specialized organs developing to take care of specific functions, the means to take in food, eliminate wastes, and so on.   Reproduction involves more than division of itself.   Progressively, we see that there develops a network of nerves and a central nervous system to coordinate the new functions and to better serve the needs for survival and reproduction.   More complex earthlings have a mass of cells to coordinate their nerve network, the organ we call “the brain.”   Increasing complex organisms are noted not only by the greater size and diversity of their brain, but also additional collections of cells with distinct functions, i.e., a “newer brain.”  An examination of our human brain indicates that it is not one unit but a series of five newer brains. It is noteworthy that this 5th and latest, observed in the most complex earthlings, is growing in size and complexity more rapidly than any other specialized organ.   The cortical brain contains areas for speech, control of voluntary muscle, and functions we rely on for willful action.   This growing edge of the nervous system provides increasing freedom from nature and nurture.   [A Catholic priest/theologian/scientist, Tielard deChardin, has added a religious perspective to this observation suggesting that evolution is moving us closer to the image of God.] 

     While this central nerve system is first wired to coordinate the activities of the organism’s different parts, a primitive level of mental awareness occurs at some stage of the brains increasing complexity.   We call this new function “consciousness.”  The ability to be conscious of our environment and to consider better ways to insure that the life cycle will be completed provides great advantages.  It is difficult to identify “a point” in the growth in size and function of the brain that earthlings add mental awareness.   I presume the occurrence of conscious awareness consisted of an image being presented of something that is needed and thereupon some processing occurs that results in an adaptation to the challenge presented.  The image received is called a “thought” and the mental processing of the image is called “thinking.”  The progressive development of the cortex continues to add new sophistication to our problem solving capabilities … the ability to manipulate the conscious images and learn from mistakes, thereafter, to even find ways to consider its needs and resolve them without making mistakes.  “Mistakes” can be rehearsed in the mind and corrected before action is taken. 

     We also observe that with increased complexity, it takes longer for a creature to reproduce.  Instead of being fully prepared to deal with the demands of its environment at birth, a set of directions we call “learning” is required after birth.  To accommodate this learning process, we see elaborate specialized organs have developed that sense what is outside of our physical self and transmit the expectations our environment and nurturers makes upon us.   These sense organs are wired to our consciousness; their messages are in addition to the message from within.  The customary “human” skills for eating, walking, talking, bowel habits, the three r’s, etc. are absent at birth and/or in need of considerable embellishment beyond what nature provides.  From birth, we are regularly confronted with a multitude of “prescriptions,” “shoulds” from our outside world.  Humans exceed by far all other earthlings in the amount of learning and nurturance required to complete the life cycle. 

     As you can see, thoughts originate from many sources.  Your conscious awareness is made up of a number of experiences which may include pictures, symbols, ideas, and feelings such as pain, heat, and so on.  The sense organs and systems of our body are continually sending requests asking for service from our central processing system.  The brain manages most, like breathing, physically and automatically, but some are referred to conscious awareness for special attention.   Our conscious mental processes make contact with our experience by “thoughts” and “thinking.”   Multiple thoughts and the elaboration of these thoughts (thinking) go on in our mind, often at the same time:  “Bladder full, need food, too cold, want some of this, more of that, right now, etc.”  “Eat your spinach.”  “Pee in the toilet.”  “Listen to your parents … because I say so.”  “Vote Republican.”   Yes, the demands are often beyond the capability of these higher processes and so absolutely contradictory that master nature or master nurture cannot be satisfied.

     The network gets quite complicated but our amazing brain is usually up to the task.  The constant flow of thoughts has been called the “stream of consciousness.”  Sometimes it is more like an obstacle course -- disjointed, bizarre, a jumbled mess of confusion.  There may be multiple motion pictures displayed simultaneously on several screens.  Messages need to be sorted, assigned a priority, and the orders need to be filled.  These “thought”-messengers may enter consciousness from within, viz. our organs, and from without, through our senses.  Thoughts commonly originate and can be categorized as directives from 1 of 2 sources, master nature (genes, instinct) and master nurture (our environment, habit).

     Imagine watching a sports event, like football, in which the players on both teams and the referees all wore the same uniform.  How difficult it would be to follow the action without  identification of the players.   Here is my practical definition for distinguishing “thoughts” from “thinking.”

Thoughts: a thought is an awareness that “pops into our mind” without being invited.  It is a visitor offering a message to be considered.
Thinking: thinking is what our mental processing does with our thoughts.  When we elaborate on our thoughts, we are thinking.

In the sports analogy, “thoughts” are the visiting team; “thinking” is the home team.  Thoughts arrive without effort and are involuntary.  They are messengers carrying information, often requests, of master nature or master nurture.  Thinking is the active mental process to elaborate on and service the message.  Keep in mind that master nature is wired to send messages and process them; master nurture is also wired to send messages and process them.  Nature and nurture are each wired to engage in thoughts and thinking!   They each “speak” in their native tongue, i.e., a characteristic language.  They may use different symbols, images, vocabulary, and the like to convey their message.

     Isn’t this flattering to realize that our brain is multilingual; it not only understands but has become proficient in at least two languages.  From our birth, we have learned these languages and we have almost always faithfully, with “blind” obedience, tried to please these two masters. Certainly there have been and continue to be problems, because to please one often means disobeying the other.   A point I wish to convey is that the service provided by conscious awareness, (thoughts, thinking, and the symbols of language needed for mental processing) initially develops to serve the demands of nature and nurture, long before there is an appearance of self-mastery.        

Reflective thinking is our newer manner of specialized thinking that provides our identity as humankind and enables us to master ourselves.  Reflective thinking is the capacity to reflect on our thoughts and our thinking, i.e. to think about what is going on in our conscious mind.  We are “conscious of our consciousness.”  Likely  this ability to think about our thinking, manipulate it, modify it, to create new solutions, and innovate novel action is due to the size and complexity of the human brain and our ability to use words and symbols.  This manner of thinking excels in “abstract” reasoning; abstract means “separate.”  Originating from our highest mental function, rational thinking is insulated from the passion of our nature and nurturers.   When I refer to self and the power we have for self-mastery, this is the portion of our conscious mental activity that I believe is active.   It is our capacity for reflective thinking that enlarges our personal identity and through which we (i.e. our self) may challenge the demands of our nature and nurture, and set our own course.   While other earthlings may have some degree of reflective thinking, they lack the opportunity for self-mastery because they also lack our capacity to use symbols, language, abstract thinking, speech, writing, and other “prerequisite” tools available to humankind.

     Reflective thinking, and thereby our opportunity for self-mastery, requires many years to become fully developed.   Studies on adult development suggest that it is difficult to become our own person before the late twenties.  Many require longer.   Some persons mental activity and thinking is dictated predominately by their genetic predisposition and directions provided by their nurturers throughout their entire life.  And unlike sexual maturation, which usually begins with the automatic effortless release of hormones around the age of 13, plus or minus 4-5 years, the maturation of our self is a voluntary active willful teaching/learning process.  Self-mastery is never absolute.  The degree and quality of our self-management skills increases as we acquire wisdom and strens, and develop a newer way of thinking (wow, a third language!). 

     I hope to impress in this stren that years of repetition, “speaking” and thinking in the languages of our early masters, nature and nurture, creates a habitual pattern of thinking that is difficult to change.  We substantially increase the development of a newer manner of thinking, of becoming our own person, and freeing our self from the control of our early masters when we have a conscious understanding of the process of maturation, what is required, and how we can contribute.     [See also the description of reflective thinking in the prior stren, Know your self.]

     Labeling the source of a thought as “nature,” “nurture,” or “self” does not provide an automatic value judgment.  Frequently the urgings of our nature and nurture are in our best interests.  Confirmed by our appraisal, we are wise to add our support to carry them out.  However, we best do so using mature rational decision making rather than act with blind obedience.  Nature and nurture are commonly at odds with one another.  Their demands may no longer be applicable for our stage of life.  Reasoned decision making regarding eating habits, how to dress, and sexual attitudes is usually preferable to maintaining the good/bad, right/wrong thinking commonly acquired from our early authorities.  We are usually best served by judgments that involve some moderation and cooperation more so than competition.  In addition, the self of our reflective thinking will often be creative and may improve the means to obtain the ends sought by our early masters.    We may also choose to plot a course for our self totally unknown to our nature or nurturers.  Thus, skill in accurately connecting our thoughts and thinking to their appropriate master will be a valuable aid in sorting out, refining, and wisely acting on the many demands constantly before us.   “Is this thinking carried on in the service of natures wants, nurtures wants, or what I want?”  “Who’s the boss?”  “Who’s in the drivers seat now?”     

     When thoughts pop into our mind, they don’t announce themselves as “master nature, your genes speaking,” or “master nurture, orders from your environment speaking.”  Rather they enter generically simply as “thoughts.”   They often have more “local” identities, for example nature’s callings: stomach…‘feed me’; bladder...‘full, got to pee’; penis…‘do something about my hard’; warrior…‘he cut me off, kill the bastard’ (the fight/flight instinct); impatience…‘I want it now!’; or nurture’s calling: someone resembling one’s parents…‘eat all your vegetables’, role models…‘it matters not how you play the game as long as you win’; teachers…‘Love thy neighbor’;  critical events, viz. parent’s divorce/death…‘you are the cause’; sometimes characters such as an angel, the devil, the voice of conscience…‘No hanky, panky!’; …and so on.  I have heard many names people have given to the messengers and voices that appear in their consciousness; “nature” and “nurture” are labels infrequently used even though they are the “parents” of most thoughts and thinking.

     Several examples of “thoughts” and “thinking” as they might appear in mental processing are provided.  Which originate from your genes?  From your nurturers?  From your self?   Can you identify the source of the players in your own mental motion picture?   

Example 1   Activating event: Your bladder is full
     Thought:  Signal goes off - a feeling of fullness, bladder full.  “Need to pee.”
     Thinking: “I’ll go to the bathroom.”  OR  “I’ll wait until I get to the restaurant.”

Example 2   You haven’t eaten in 4 hours:
     Thought:  “I need food, I could use a fudge sundae.” 
     Thinking: “Sure would enjoy a sundae but I should be eating carrots.”
     Thinking: “I’ll treat myself now and lighten up on my dinner.”

Example 3   The alarm goes off or someone calls out to you:
     Thought: “Wake up.”
     Thinking: “How much time do I have?  Maybe I could get another 10 minutes.”
     Thinking: “I have to get up now!”

 Example 4   Sometimes there isn’t a clear activating event; an “internal clock” goes off.
     Thought:  “Golly, I forgot to pick up bread and milk.”
     Thinking: “I must stop off or I’m in trouble.”
     Thinking: “I won’t bother, everyone will enjoy eating out.”

Example 5   You become aware your skin has a pimple (or wrinkles):
     Thought: “Uggh!” 
     Thinking: “Oh my God, I’ve got to get rid of it right away.”
     Thinking: “Did I do something I shouldn’t have done to deserve that?”
     Thinking: “Not to pretty.  How do I best handle this?”

Example 6   Driving
     Thought:  “This thing will easily do 100.”
     Thinking: “Sure would be a gas.  Hit the pedal!” 
     Thinking: “What if I get caught?” 

Example 7   Dinner has been served
     Thought: “You must eat your vegetables before you can have dessert!”
     Thinking: “Maybe you could make me before but I’m not a kid anymore.”

It is common for multiple thoughts to pop into your mind.
Example 8   Your examiner informs you that you failed your driving test
     Thought 1: “The asshole (examiner) made a mistake.”
     Thought 2: “Oh, shit!” 
     Thought 3: “As always, I’m a failure.”
     Thought 4: “I didn’t hear right.”
Possible thinking or elaboration
        1. “Let me figure out how to get even.”
        2. “How am I going to explain this?”
        3. “I’m such a jerk!” and other putdowns that go on-and-on
        4. “What do I need to do to get it right the next time?”
        5. “I think I’m to nervous to learn to drive; I’ll manage without.”
        6.  Etc. -- You can come up with a number of additional possible responses

     I reiterate, accurate labeling provides the “handle” to make change.  I encourage you to develop skill in identifying your thoughts and thinking and recognizing which master they are serving.  As indicated, it’s difficult to understand what’s going on if all the “players” are in the same uniform.    You see, multiple thoughts commonly occur at one time, each demanding thinking time and action.   If we are to wisely use our energy, we need to choose which voice(s) to invest our attention.  Can you recognize where your thoughts come from?  Who sends these messages?   Is nature, nurture, or your self doing the speaking?

     Thoughts enter your conscious awareness with a purpose to be satisfied.  Each thought, and the thinking that follows, i.e. the elaboration on the thought, is the agent of a specific master.  Yet, when thoughts appear, they don’t identify which master has sent them.  They don’t say: “I am your nature speaking.”  They “look” alike; they are generic; they wear no uniform to clarify which team they represent.  They do have an agenda for which they seek attention and action.  Thoughts also tend to be quite rude.  Thoughts have no concern that another is speaking; they often announce their agenda and elaborate on it competitively with others.  Confusion and muddy thinking are common unless order is imposed.   I present this picture of the workings of our mental activity in the hope you will understand the importance of recognizing which master is the source of your thoughts and thinking.  Properly labeling them is a worthy effort if you are to engage in wise action.         

Example 9   Activating event B you get a paycheck
     Thought:  “I’ve got money”
     Thinking 1. “How quickly can I get to the casino, have a ball.   I deserve it.”
     Thinking  2. “I have to save it, there will come a ‘rainy day.’  I should give to charity.            
     Thinking  3. “To the bank, we want to save to buy a house. I think I can afford a bit of 
                       ‘mad money’ and also make a bit of a donation if I work this out.”

     #1 is most likely nature ... please me now, little concern about the future; #2 is most likely nurture ... what we are taught we “should” do, a common “prescription;” #3 is most likely my self speaking  ... a reasonable step in my best interest.  

Example 10   We have multiple thinking responses to the same issue.
Someone you felt was a really good friend and confidant has betrayed you
     Thinking response 1: You are preoccupied with ways to get even.
     Thinking response 2: You dwell on your inadequacies as a person and stay forlorned.
     Thinking response 3: You conclude relationships mean pain and dedicate yourself to  
                                     avoiding any friendships
     Thinking response 4: You plan to discuss your experience with others and see how they   
                                     handled a similar situation.
     Thinking response 5: You are preoccupied in worry that your x-friend is spreading  
                                    rumors; it’s difficult to sleep; “will I lose my job?”
     Thinking response 6: You ask “What can I do that is most likely to get me what I want in 
                               the short term and the long term?”

There are multiple possible responses.  Can you identify which master is doing the thinking in each of the above examples ...  other thinking responses you might consider?

     I have defined the thoughts and thinking as the expression of the wishes of our first two masters.  Let’s now address the critical issue of this guide - the recognition, labeling, and development of self-mastery.  Self-mastery is the emancipation of our self from dependence and blind obedience to our nature and nurture.  It is the skill that opens the door to freeing our mind to take charge of our own life, to “become our own person,” to act most wisely in our own interest including bringing about feeling good and doing good.

     Now, a final point: I have indicated that our masters usually don’t speak directly to our awareness but usually through some “messenger.”  We may amuse our self when we can attach some person, event, or situation to the thoughts expressing their selves in our awareness.  For example, the “should” prescriptive type thoughts may sound strangely like mom, dad, a role model, a religious text, or even a mirror (“You are not the fairest of all.”).  Nature’s thoughts may seem to come from a warrior like individual, or some physical image representing our stomach, genitals, and similar interests.   Sometimes the messenger is clearly recognized; sometimes we need be quite creative.   As we define these specific characters, events, and other “influencers” we might give the more important ones a seat on our Board of Directors.¹   I believe creating an image of our Board is a valuable tool to better understand the process of self-mastery.

     It becomes easier to manage our mental activity as we recognize that some of our “characters” speak for multiple issues.  For example, a parent figure is advocating how we should look, what career we should take, how to deal with sexual feelings, and so on.   You will also realize that each of our three masters, through their representatives, commonly speak to the same issue.  For example, the “parent” character representing our nurture may speak to our safety and how to manage our sexual interests while the representative(s) of your nature also speaks to the same issues.  However, their demands and method of satisfying them may be quite at odds. 

     Although I have compared our mental processing to a sports arena, I want to point out that our mind’s arena is somewhat different in that there are usually three teams on the playing field.  The rules for “winning” encourage the teams to cooperate when possible for their mutual advantage rather than compete to make one a winner and the other(s) a loser. 

     As we (our self) become more proficient in recognizing the characters in our consciousness, as our labeling and classification skills provide us a better understanding of our mental processes, and as we acquaint our self with our Board of Directors, we more effectively deal with our life’s issues.   

 

Advice: The strens Know Your Self, Know Your Masters, Know Your Board of Directors, and Thoughts and Thinking will most effectively help you to a newer way of thinking when you can integrate these ideas.  While the concepts can be easily understood, it will take considerable practice and patience to fully enjoy the practical benefits of their application.

 

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