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If you were asked to think of something you never thought of before, what would be the most reliable way to do it? (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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When I read about how most of our thoughts are repetitive, I wondered if it would be possible for us to have a thought that is completely new or original by will. Is there some way we can have unique thoughts whenever we wish to?

Please note that this question does not focus on our brain's mental capacity or free will to be able to think of something original. You could think of it something like asking you to paint something original; I am not asking if you are even able to paint in the first place, but instead how you would paint it if you could.

Also you should ideally be able to think of something new completely by your own in your consciously aware and normal self, without relying on external factors like taking inspiration from your surroundings or words from a recent/ongoing conversations, looking at the content open in your device, using any drugs or consumables, being affected by strong emotions etc.

Edit: Elaboration in last paragraph

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

It is fascinating to see how deep you went into explaining the philosophy behind having an 'original thought'.

It would be like asking if a caveman 500,000 years ago would have come up with the solution to how to fix a bug in the code I just wrote.

This line was the perfect analogy to make me realise how I had overlooked this aspect of my question: the limit to what you would consider a unique thought. Its definition is as vague as defining what is right or wrong.

I am genuinely grateful for you having took your time to write such an elaborate response to my post. You answered the question in the exact manner I was looking for and also included some of your personal thoughts that made me perceive my own question at an angle even I could not think of before. I almost feel like this post isn't worthy of such a high quality comment. Hope your day goes great the same way you made mine.