I look at this in a mechanical way. This is what I've found out: the brain does not have any senses of its own. So, everything is outside the brain. Outside the body: the five senses; inside the body: organ senses (stomach, heart, lungs, etc.).
The input into the brain through chemical/electrical impulses form patterns (excited neurons) in the brain. The amount of energy (impulses) will create patterns. Different amount of energy will create a different pattern. I look at this like a river/stream over flowing its bank. Depending on the amount of water and its force, it creates a different pattern in the sandy bank. Some time ago I read a book on this about Fractals in Nature and the author stated that the possibilities of patterns is in the billions of billions.
As I'm a school teacher, I taught my pupils how this can be put into practice to get higher grades: connecting patterns with other patterns. For example, the more neurons that are excited, the more knowledge one has. It's like drawing a picture with dots, the more dots the clearer and more defined is the picture.
So thoughts, thinking, is merely connecting these patterns with other patterns.
Now, this is another thing to remember. All physical actions are reactions. Everything that has happened is a reaction from something else. This principle is true in the brain. Your patterns of neurons is a reaction from inputs.
Now, your desires, wants, are all caused by chemical release in your brain. These chemical release are quite important. They are programmed by the user's experiences through one's own direct or from the environmental influences. These chemical releases also trigger neuron patterns. That is why thought can not change desires. I can't say stop smoking and it will stop. The chemical release is the gate keeper. Thoughts are the products, the children of chemical releases.
I'll stop here. I don't want to go on if this does not make sense or that this is too simple and you know it already.
Thanks for reading.
cadmar
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