Philosophical Ramblings

I have elected to begin a thought journal. The purpose of this endeavor is both simple and clear – to record the ideas that are deemed valuable and relevant as they flow through the stream of one’s consciousness; to communicate these ideas expressively in written format for further meditation and perhaps even public discussion; and to reflect upon the content of thought itself as it circulates throughout the psyche, analyzing it critically so as to broaden the horizon of understanding within the scope of clarity.

I acknowledge the observation of early psychologist William James who regarded consciousness as a flowing stream of the perceptions and thoughts one was aware of at that respective moment. James suggested that this stream retained no gaps, and that correspondingly every image was blended in with the one preceding it and the one succeeding it in a continuous flow of information. The content of a thought journal, therefore, may be regarded as random, continuous and changing as that stream itself, wherein perceptions are blended, and there are no clear gaps between where one ends and another begins. In that sense, the text of it may appear to be random, jumping from topic to topic, and branching ever outwards from the concrete to the abstract and back again. It is not organized, therefore, by an conventional pattern or order of essay, but is instead free from such restraints so that it may limitlessly explore the mind itself.

This thought journal is not some brilliant or radical new idea. It is a simple one, that has in all probability been a practiced form of note-taking for many. Some have taken it to the organised end of journaling, wherein a distinction between it and an ordinary journal is made. For in most ordinary journals there is a progressive flow that can be logically followed from topic to topic; whereas a thought journal, as continuous and changing as that stream we call consciousness, is bound to no such order. It is unlikely then that many who read such a journal will derive a full sense of the meaning of the various diverse ideas explored on a single page alone; for in only a page the topics presented could be so random as thinking one word and then randomly thinking of another and progressing so on. 

If such a journal would take the semblance of chaotic disorganization, then why would anyone elect to write such a thing? Apart from the rationale stated at the beginning, it is a form of introspection in itself, and it assures that ultimately one’s ideas or observations are not lost in the abyss of forgotten memory, but they are given a form, even if only written form, so that the idea may outlive the mind that bore it at a single point in time, so that ultimately the idea may be contemplated further and deeper. It is a form of personal investigation that examines the content of thought itself.

Practically, what does this all mean? Quite simply, one takes a blank book and fills its pages with whatever thoughts deemed relevant that enter the realm of awareness. To expand the process further, one may even begin to analyze the content of the idea that has entered awareness, and record a critical evaluation of it, pondering deeply its meaning and implication, its strengths and limitations, and perhaps even its origin in one’s experience of life and existence. Through this, critical cognition is practiced, and one discovers many fruitful insights from the depth and breadth of contemplation, and so the horizons of understanding are broadened.