On Thu, 15 Aug 2002, Steven Brust wrote: #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." So do I, but that's not thinking in language. What about packing stuff into a small space? What about comparing colors and what would look good next to what else, or what's a good sequence of chords, or -- heck, Steve, figuring out how to drum to a particular song? Do you figure THAT verbally? -- Mark A. Mandel