Random Musings, Courtesy of Mark Twain

Thought I'd talk about another quote that caught my attention as I read:

"Life does not consist mainly- or even largely- of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thoughts that is forever blowing through one's head." -- Mark Twain's Autobiography

Hm. This isn't really a humorous quote, and I don't mean to get all philosophical-descartes-existentialist-crazy on you, but really... What do we have, what can we prove, except our thoughts and perceptions?

Think about that.




I don't know about you, but I can feel the storm.

I think that is an interesting image. Even right now I am envisioning a thunderstorm raging in my skull, thanks to the operation of thought. That in and of itself is interesting, but thought also allows me to understand Twain's message by apply the connotations associated with storms to the process of thinking. I find this intensely interesting.

So, What is thought?
Google says:

thought  

/THôt/

Noun An idea or opinion produced by thinking or occurring suddenly in the mind: "Mrs. Oliver's first thought was to get help". An idea or mental picture, imagined and contemplated: "the mere thought of Peter made her see red".

Hmm again. Yes but no. I think there is more, but I also know this is something even science has struggled to define exactly.
I find myself asking "Where does thought originate? Is thought just the symptom of neurons firing in our brain? Is it merely mental activity involving sensory and our subjective consciousness?" And with this I think that the quote may be proving itself, at least in this case. The way I am experiencing writing this post is through the sensory information I am processing via thought. I know there is much more to it, but I won't waste your time asking copious rhetorical questions. "What is fact?" Let's not. haha

Anyway. This post has turned out to be mostly trifling. I hope I at least made you think.