After a fair amount of reading on the subject of thought and consciousness, I’ve concluded thoughts are random patterns of energy generated by the subconscious part of the brain. I don’t think them, they think themselves.
The practice of observing thoughts without judgment to still the mind is a central concept in many Eastern spiritual traditions. (Mindful meditation)
I’ve also done some reading on quantum mechanics and the “observer effect.” Specifically, the Copenhagen Interpretation: “Observation is a physical process that transitions quantum systems from “possible” states to “actual” states. The observer can be an apparatus or a human; consciousness is not required.”
Might the act of observing thoughts as they flood into consciousness result in a “wave function collapse,” causing these random patterns of energy to…dissipate? I ran the idea past GPT 4o: Continue reading