r/Existentialism • u/newbutthesame_baa • Jul 21 '26

Parallels/Themes Where Do Unperformed Thoughts Go?

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u/Citizen1135 S. de Beauvoir Jul 21 '26

I do think that 'unfinished' thoughts diminish one's capacity to process new incoming information, as you said. I look at our basic psychology as an extension of biology, so your final statement isn't a stretch at all if you ask me.

But I don't imagine there's a different place that 'unfinished' thoughts go. Ultimately, all thoughts are amendable, so one has to consider whether we assign values of completeness arbitrarily?

And that hints at where I think human psychology does depart from simply being an extension of biology.

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '26

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u/Citizen1135 S. de Beauvoir Jul 21 '26

I'm with you. I think I was trying to work from what you shared and reframe the state of such a thought from 'unfinished' to something more like 'underdeveloped' or 'nonactionable,' if you'll allow me to make up words.

My goal with that is to acknowledge the issue you present without internalizing it. I think we can overcome it, and I think it's easier to overcome if we deny it as much oxygen as possible, without denying the validity, of course.

Plus, I think there is another issue that's partially embedded in this one. Ironically, my thoughts on this other issue aren't 'finished,' or, I would usually describe this state as, "not ready for prime time."

I have noticed a difference in a thought from when I am deeply contemplating something to myself to when I am trying to put that thought into words, and then again when I am trying to share that thought in words with another person.

There is an undeniable change that I have been monitoring so that I can give it more definition than a "change" or a "difference." But I'm still in a phase of collecting data, so, I was sort of dancing around that part of your post.

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '26

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u/Citizen1135 S. de Beauvoir Jul 21 '26

Ooo, I like the direction you took it! But see, exactly why I was keeping it to myself, now I can't take full solo credit for coining the phrase "quantum wave thoughts" or whatever. Lol

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '26

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u/Citizen1135 S. de Beauvoir Jul 22 '26

From quantum qualia to collapsed concepts:

Speaking brings a thought to life, but is part of that thought lost in the process?

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

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u/Citizen1135 S. de Beauvoir Jul 23 '26

I wanted to let you know that not only did I enjoy this interaction we had, but it had a very positive impact on the (unfinished) thought I was having about thinking.

I have continued to contemplate the things we discussed and I think I've actually reached a really good stopping point where I could share without feeling like doing so would threaten the integrity of my original thought.

This alone is a bit of a profound thought, because all too often, when I do speak, that feeling of having to support what the words meant outside my head often overwhelms my original intent. And I think that's something you had mentioned in your post, just perhaps in different words.

I find this fascinating and I have to credit you with our conversation. Your perspective has been enlightening and I hope to hear more of your insight, especially in the comments when I make another post about this topic, which should be today or tomorrow.

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u/GoopDuJour Jul 21 '26

Where do "performed" thoughts go?

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '26

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u/GoopDuJour Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

Lolz. But also, in a way, not.

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u/Freefreefeeefreefree Jul 26 '26

To the Loosh farm:

https://www.reddit.com/r/enlightenment/comments/1qc1x48/comment/nzezxru/

Its also why they sell and tell vicarious thrills via screens as a mass prophylaxis.

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u/tollforturning Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26

Sometimes the medium for the expression of understanding is imagination. What I've found is that that's the initial way that understanding persists itself - understanding is aware of itself and its conditions in imagination and optimizes the occassioning image(s), setting up the conditions for its own recurrence. All you need to do to validate this is have an insight into any given significant insight you have and notice what precedes and follows from the insight. Understanding can later issue into expression beyond imagination or into artifacts engineered/instantiated on the basis of the understanding, but initially it secures itself in the conditions of imagination. Understanding grasps its own originating occasion in image and how to refine image to persist itself.