At 07:56 PM 8/15/2002 -0400, Mark A Mandel wrote: >On Thu, 15 Aug 2002, Steven Brust wrote: > >#I have often closed my eyes and called up a pleasing picture. That is not >#thinking, that is exercising my memory. If I make conclusions about that >#picture, such as, "I'd like to go back to that beach," or, "I wonder what >#she's up to today?" I am thinking. But sometimes--often--those pictures >#merely call up emotion, they bring with them feelings. That is *feeling* >#it is not *thinking*. > >Now suppose you're planning a day at that beach as part of a road trip. >You know the roads in the area pretty well, but you'll be driving there >from a different place than you usually do. You start figuring out how >to get from point A to point B. What goes on in your mind? A sudden desire to call up someone who can read maps. If I *could* read maps, or had any geographical skill, I would use those techniques to make decisions. In other words, I would be manipulating symbols in my mind. I call this activity "thinking." If those other activities should occur, then I would take those feelings and images and process them with my thoughts. I know of no law that says one cannot think about feelings. Indeed, if one were unable to think about feelings, many, many people I know would have nothing to talk about.