Anything that is not tangible is impossible to document.
Stream-of-conscious thinking, the way you come from an idea to a solution, things I call "micro-ideas" (the initial inspiration behind the more polished thought) are all things that are impossible to document. Perhaps some day, our brains will be hooked up to some kind of machine that can document every single thought we have (enter Orwellian philosophical discussion). Until then, we cannot possibly document these things. However interesting it may be to understand how a thought becomes an idea, I am grateful that these instant synapses are intangible and, at least for now, "undocumentable".
Interesting idea Maggie. We should really get our best and brightest on inventing a machine that could document our thoughts. I'm sure that would have countless uses beyond simply recording our "micro-ideas" during the research process, but for now, a machine with that function is quite intriguing. I'd love to know the thought process and inspiration behind a great deal of inventions, though the rationale for things like Poo-Pourri or the Hoverboard Scooter (LAZINESS!) are somewhat... obvious.
ReplyDeleteI had a class where we had to write down our stream of consciousness for 15 minutes. While it wouldn't likely capture all of those micro-ideas, it could be a useful tool when approaching the thought process for research until that awesome thought machine is invented :)
ReplyDeleteA thought machine reminds me of what I talked about in my blog post this week: the measuring of happiness. I think that it is impossible to measure and capture everything that makes a person happy. I also think that what can make a person happy one day or in one situation may not make them happy on another day or in another similar situation. In fact, since happiness is arguably part of stream-of-consciousness thinking, until a thought machine is made, measuring happiness can also not be accomplished.
ReplyDeleteThis is a super cool idea! I wonder if the transcription of people's thoughts would read like a story - like a continuous inner monologue that narrates our everyday life - or just as strings of random thoughts that make no cohesive sense.
ReplyDeleteLing, probably a bit of both right? I feel like we tend to have a set of thoughts that just play on repeat.
DeleteThe closest thing to a transcription of people's thoughts would probably be Twitter ahah.