At 08:36 PM 8/22/2002 -0700, Frank Mayhar wrote: >Steven Brust wrote: > > At 08:11 PM 8/21/2002 -0700, Frank Mayhar wrote: > > >Steven Brust wrote: > > > > Deffusing neurotransmitters through the soup, as you put it, happens > > > during > > > > a lot of activity that cannot be considered "thought" by any reasonable > > > > definition. What distinguishes what we call thought from the other > brain > > > > activity? > > > > > >In a word, nothing. "Thought" _is_ the release and reuptake of > > >neurotransmitters, the electrical impulses transferred along the axons > > >of neurons. > > > > That's like saying, "What distinguishes prose from random collections of > > words? Nothing. Both are made up of letters." > >I, um, disagree. Strongly. The "other brain activity" you spoke of, as >distinguished from "thought" is by no means random. Ummm...that's sort of my point. > There are all kinds >of "thought," from stuff we have no conscious knowledge of at all, through >stuff that appears in our consciousness as if instantly full-blown, through >stuff we are only dimly aware of, to the kind of thing I'm doing now, as I >quite consciously order and interpret my thoughts to write them down in this >message. Perhaps I should use the term "cognition." But, in any case, I don't see how we can even talk about this unless we are able to distinguish between what happens when, say, a random scent strikes my nose and I process it without even being aware of doing so, and, on the other hand, the processes that lead me to write this paragraph in exactly the way I did. These seem different in kind, not just in degree. Or, if it is a matter of degree, then quantity at some point transforms into quality, and that is just another way of saying the same thing.