How the Mind Works: An Introduction

Where do our thoughts come from?  I'm not talking about our ideas, which can range from brilliant to "What in the world was I thinking?"  I'm talking about the chatter that constantly goes on in our mind.  What instigates those thoughts?  What is the catalyst that gets those thoughts started?  It seems to me that if we can understand the answer to that question, we can better control our thinking so that we can deliberately create the results we truly desire.

Before we can answer that question, we need to first understand what we mean by the term mind.  The classic model taught that our mind is synonymous with brain, but we are learning that that is nowhere close to the true picture.  The brain is a part of the mind, certainly, but the neural network that actually constitutes our mind extends to every part of our body.  Have you ever had a thought that made your heart race or tied your stomach up in a knot?  Have you ever had a feeling in the pit of your stomach that only eventually turned into a thought?  Whereas scientists and philosophers used to talk about how the mind can affect the body and the body can affect the mind, they now speak of a Mind/Body Connection, or just call it BodyMind or MindBody.  Turns out, our entire corporeal being is an information processing system.