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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] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Treat words as coordinates in the space of all possible concepts, and add a few together. I think that fulfils your constraint of not "taking inspiration from...words from a recent ongoing conversation" since you can, if you wish, pick the words in your own head.

Or - drugs. Drugs are good too. I don't know why you're applying these artificial constraints to this problem as if there is some notion of "purity" or "cheating" to the practice of idea-generation. Is an idea any less worthy, insightful, or useful because you came up with it while using a chemical tool to do so?

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

An intriguing read! Thanks for sharing.