Train of Thought
Published Feb. 19, 2021
Political
philosopher Thomas Hobbes popularized the expression ‘train of thought’ in the
1600s when he wrote that: “By Consequence, or train of thoughts, I understand
that succession of one thought to another […] When a man thinketh on anything whatsoever,
his next thought after is not altogether so casual as it seems to be. Not every
thought to every thought succeeds indifferently”. More than two centuries later,
philosopher and psychologist William James streamlined this metaphor by arguing
instead for the expression ‘stream of consciousness’: "Consciousness does
not appear to itself chopped up in bits. Such words as 'chain' or 'train' do
not describe it fitly as it presents itself in the first instance. It is
nothing jointed; it flows. A 'river' or a 'stream' are the metaphors by which
it is most naturally described.”. As Raskin did many years later, James favored
an uninterrupted subjective life that is experienced all at once. Doing away
with the conventionality that made thought and causality resemble the frozen-in-time
chunks of ink or light we call text, James imagined both as what theorist
Marshall McLuhan called an ‘acoustic space’ not determined by the clarity and distinction
of visuality.
Feautured sounds:
Resonance - Home
Featured memes/music genres: vaporwave; trains
Further reading: Hobbes, Thomas (1651), Leviathan, The First Part: Of Man, Chapter III: Of the Consequence or Train of Imagination.
James, William (1890). The principles of psychology. New York, NY: Henry Holt.
McLuhan, Marshall, & Carpenter, Edumnd (1957, 2016). Explorations 7: Studies in Culture and Communication. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock.
Chandler, Curry (2017). “Defining Media Ecology”. The Cool Medium.
Featured memes/music genres: vaporwave; trains
Further reading: Hobbes, Thomas (1651), Leviathan, The First Part: Of Man, Chapter III: Of the Consequence or Train of Imagination.
James, William (1890). The principles of psychology. New York, NY: Henry Holt.
McLuhan, Marshall, & Carpenter, Edumnd (1957, 2016). Explorations 7: Studies in Culture and Communication. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock.
Chandler, Curry (2017). “Defining Media Ecology”. The Cool Medium.