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I'm discussing how thought would properly work — and does in fact work in many areas — first, to show that thought is not all bad; and second, becaus… - David Bohm
" "I'm discussing how thought would properly work — and does in fact work in many areas — first, to show that thought is not all bad; and second, because to understand what has gone wrong we should have some understanding of how it would work when it is right. Q: Is this the difference between thinking and thought as you described earlier? Bohm: Thought just works automatically. But when you're thinking, you are ready to see when it doesn't work and you're ready to start changing it. 'Thinking' means that when the thing isn't working, something more is coming in — which is ready to look at the situation and change the thought if necessary. Q: Is thinking an element that's outside of thought? Bohm: It's a bit beyond thought. Let's put it that thinking is not purely the past; it's not purely a set of reflexes in the past. Q: Would thinking be more 'of the moment', more energized, and thought more passive in the past? Bohm: The past is active. That's the trouble. The past is not really the past — it's the effect of the past in the present. The past has left a trace in the present. Q: Then the thinking would be even more energized? Bohm: Yes. The thinking will be more energized because thinking is more directly in the present, because it includes the incoherence that thought is actually making. It may also include allowing new reflexes to form, new arrangements, new ideas. If the reflexes are all somewhat open and flexible and changeable, then it will work nicely.
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About David Bohm
David Joseph Bohm (20 December 1917 – 27 October 1992) was an American-British scientist who has been described as one of the most significant theoretical physicists of the 20th century and who contributed unorthodox ideas to quantum theory, neuropsychology and the philosophy of mind.
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Native Name:
David Joseph Bohm
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Böhm Dávid József
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Additional quotes by David Bohm
The mind’s tendency to hold on to what is familiar is enhanced by the fact that the overall tacit infrastructure is inseparably woven into the whole fabric of science as well as into its institutions, on which depends the professional security of each scientist. As a result, there is always a strong pressure against any individual scientist who threatens to “rock the boat.” But of course, this resistance is not confined simply to science but occurs in every walk of life when familiar and comfortable thoughts and feelings are threatened. People will therefore tend not to have the necessary energy and courage to call into question the whole tacit infrastructure of their field. But this becomes increasingly difficult to do as the whole infrastructure ultimately extends, in its implications, into the whole of science and even of society itself.
Q: Are you saying that thought has a kind of possessive quality which stays, gets stuck, and then becomes habitual? And we don't see this? Bohm: I think that whenever we repeat something it gradually becomes a habit, and we get less and less aware of it. If you brush your teeth every morning, you probably hardly notice how you're doing it. It just goes by itself. Our thought does the same thing, and so do our feelings. That's a key point.
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