Something that’s been on my mind (anticipatory pun) lately, has been thought. More especially, the quality of thought. We are conscious beings, although we’re not sure what that means. Beyond a Cartesian self-awareness. Everyone knows what it is to have times when you’re not thinking clearly. Or are feeling confused. Those of us who tend to live quasi-monastically (keeping to a routine, early rising, writing and reading daily before the 9-2-5 routine) notice the ways subtle things can influence the quality of our thinking. For me, first thing in the morning is the best time. (Although I must confess that lately I don’t wake up with the crystalline clarity that I have for years, as if sleep is beginning to intrude on my earliest hours.) Once I’m up and going, though, routine, you’d like to think, would provide the same results. But it doesn’t.
Photo by Pierre Acobas on Unsplash
" data-orig-size="3424,3424" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" data-image-title="pierre-acobas-nbD0VmKnPrI-unsplash" data-orig-file="https://sawiggins.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/pierre-acobas-nbd0vmknpri-unsplash.jpg" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" width="1024" data-medium-file="https://sawiggins.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/pierre-acobas-nbd0vmknpri-unsplash.jpg?w=300" data-permalink="https://steveawiggins.com/2021/02/07/how-clean-is-your-brain/pierre-acobas-nbd0vmknpri-unsplash/#main" alt="" height="1024" srcset="https://sawiggins.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/pierre-acobas-nbd0vmknpri-unsplash.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://sawiggins.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/pierre-acobas-nbd0vmknpri-unsplash.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://sawiggins.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/pierre-acobas-nbd0vmknpri-unsplash.jpg?w=150 150w, https://sawiggins.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/pierre-acobas-nbd0vmknpri-unsplash.jpg?w=300 300w, https://sawiggins.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/pierre-acobas-nbd0vmknpri-unsplash.jpg?w=768 768w" class="wp-image-17005" data-large-file="https://sawiggins.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/pierre-acobas-nbd0vmknpri-unsplash.jpg?w=1020" />Photo by Pierre Acobas on UnsplashI’ve written before how the quality of sleep can affect the quality of awake thinking—something we’ve all known all along. But even when I have somewhat identical nights (same quality of sleep more than one night in a row), the subtleties of difference in thought persist. To understand this, you need to realize that I’ve been rising well before the sun for a dozen years now. I awake to a quiet house and spend a couple, sometimes a few, hours writing and reading. (It’s how I write my books, as well as this blog. And my fiction.) Even on “identical mornings” where the weather’s pretty much the same, and all other factors seem equal, the quality of thought differs. Sometimes it depends on whether I’m writing fiction or non. As I transition into my reading time, that can make a difference in the reading experience. I suppose that’s one reason I value good writing.
We don’t understand consciousness. Identity is also somewhat negotiable at times. We’ve all known a family member or friend to act “not like themselves.” More to the point, to think not like themselves. We have no real way of understanding thinking itself. I think about thinking quite a bit, and I marvel at how intensely personal it is. We may, at our will, keep our thoughts to ourselves (and that’s a good thing, in many circumstances). Thought, it seems to me, ought to be a very high priority in our academic pursuits. It’s a powerful thing, capable of more than we’re even presently able to imagine. And it can differ from day to day. Do you suppose I wrote this after writing fiction or non?
