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I have always been intrigued by the notion of thought.  The idea that these pieces of

intellect or vivid recollections/memories can be drawn up without the need for an outside

stimulus is something that I’ve routinely wrestled with.  Typically, as we discussed in

class, we contend that in order for our nervous system to generate an output, it has to

receive an impetus or stimulus from the outside world.  However, as we can all attest to,

many times we find ourselves thinking, whether it be the product of careless daydreaming

or deep analysis of a certain quandary, about things that are not elicited by the world

around us or that are not capable of being physically experienced by our sense detectors

due to their absence from our immediate surroundings.

I have always been intrigued by the notion of thought.  The idea that these pieces of intellect or vivid recollections/memories can be drawn up without the need for an outside stimulus is something that I’ve routinely wrestled with.  Typically, as we discussed in class, we contend that in order for our nervous system to generate an output, it has to receive an impetus or stimulus from the outside world.  However, as we can all attest to, many times we find ourselves thinking, whether it be the product of careless daydreaming or deep analysis of a certain quandary, about things that are not elicited by the world around us or that are not capable of being physically experienced by our sense detectors due to their absence from our immediate surroundings.

For this reason, I believe that there must be a space within the brain that is designated for the storage of thoughts.  This would explain the idea that a person can think about something even without experiencing a particular input at any given time.  However, I also contend that many times what we think about is in fact dictated or subconsciously triggered by the outside world.  In these circumstances, we may be reminded of something we once experienced and this may in fact cause the stimulus to reopen thought processes associated with this idea or experience that we have previously stored up within our memory banks.  In this regard, the brain is essentially a search engine and a very efficient categorical organizer of the thoughts and encounters that we have accumulated over the course of our existence, capable of recalling and grouping certain outside data within storage banks within similar associated idea groupings.