>>My groundless theorizing has led me to wonder if in fact we have 2 simultaneously functioning levels of thought.
See Michael Polanyi's _The Tacit Dimension_, an old book whose main thesis is that "we know more than we can say." Polanyi's argument extends far beyond the autonomic processes to realms of conscious thought.
Or take a cue from old Alan Watts, in _The Book_, where he talks about "spotlight" and "floodlight" consciousness. Spotlight consciousness is what we consider conscious attention. Floodlight consciousness is the grounding overview consciousness. If you are talking to a friend while driving -- how do we simultaneously inhabit both worlds? -- your spotlight consciousness is driving the car while your floodlight consciousness engages in the conversation.
It only makes sense that total consciousness would be a subjective mystery, since ... what are we using to evaluate total consciousness? Why, we are usually using conscious attention to evaluate a process that includes conscious attention as a subset. Trying to bite our own teeth.
Committed mono-tasker, Eric ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
