Humans are capable of perceiving their own thoughts due to the brain's ability to process and store experiences and sensory information. The cerebral cortex and structures like the hippocampus allow experiences to be stored as memories that can then be recalled, enabling humans to "hear" or see thoughts as if re-experiencing past events. This is due to different areas of the brain processing different types of information from our senses. Our thoughts are effectively involuntary recollections of memories shaped by our experiences.

1. Perceiving The Mind
*
By Joy Ewere
Knowledge Issue: How are humans capable
of perceiving** their own thoughts?

2. Disclaimer
*Mind and brain will be referred to as the same thing in this presentation and used interchangeably throughout it.
**
Presenter's definition: the ability to interpret something detected in
the environment with the senses. In this presentation, the auditory
and visual sense will be explored.

3. The Situation
Please read the following text in the voice of an
elderly person in your head:

−
“A Fool stands in front of one of two locked doors
after having made what most would consider to be
the wrong decision. Each door was said to lead to
one mistake that would be crucial to suffer through.
The Fool has made the decision to enter the door
that would subject the volunteer to a mistake that
will result in crushing regret.”
Knowledge Issue: How are humans capable of perceiving ** their own thoughts?

4. The Situation continued
Please read the following text:

−
“A Fool's Friend stands in front of one of two locked
doors after the Fool's sacrificial decision. Each door
was said to lead to one mistake that would be
crucial to suffer through. The Fool's Friend has
been left to enter the door that will subject the
person to a minor, easy-to-forget mistake.”
Knowledge Issue: How are humans capable of perceiving ** their own thoughts?

5. Real – Life Situations
When a person...

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is in a loud crowd or extremely quiet room, they
become unable to think clearly to their self.
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is reading a book and realizes that they are hearing
it in what they believe to be their own voice in their
head.
−
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thinks or dreaming in a foreign language.
sees images in their minds when they day-dream or
when they sleep at night.
Knowledge Issue: How are humans capable of perceiving ** their own thoughts?

6. Dissecting The Question
Areas of Knowledge that will be used to determine
reason for perception of thoughts:

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Natural Sciences
−
Human Sciences
Other issue that arose:
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Ability for a person to perceive images without
using eyes.
Knowledge Issue: How are humans capable of perceiving ** their own thoughts?

7. How It Is Thought to be Done
Ability for mind to perceive thoughts due to
experiences.

Experiences processed through sensory-linked
parts of the brain.

Processed experiences then stored in hippocampus
for long-term use (like files on a hard drive of a
computer).

Elements of experience can now be readily
retrieved when necessary.

Knowledge Issue: How are humans capable of perceiving ** their own thoughts?

8. “Hearing” Thoughts
The brain is able to perceive things that have happened to
a person and has been stored in the brain as a memory.

Ability for sounds a person hears in their life to be
recalled and used for certain situations.

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Reading text in the voice of someone famous.
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Recalling a sound that is heard on a daily basis.
Reading a sentence in one's head and being able to
register that information as sound when recalled again.


Having a song “stuck” in the mind.
Knowledge Issue: How are humans capable of perceiving ** their own thoughts?

9. “Seeing” Thoughts
Closing one's eyes and seeing an image or
situation described to them.

Listening to music and remembering the music
video for it.

Dreaming and “seeing” objects that seem
unimaginable when awake.

Hallucinating.

Creating a scenario in the mind.

Knowledge Issue: How are humans capable of perceiving ** their own thoughts?

10. Concerning The Natural Sciences
Psychological state of mind
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Localization (different sections of the brain functioning
differently) of the parts of the brain show that the
cerebral cortex, or gray matter, leading part for thinking,
perceiving, producing, and understanding language
(Bailey 1).
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Cerebral Cortex made up of 4 lobes:
Parietal

Frontal

Occipital

Temporal
Proximity of it to other parts of the brain, like the
hippocampus, influences storage of senses.

−
Knowledge Issue: How are humans capable of perceiving ** their own thoughts?

11. Why The Brain Matters

12. Why The Brain Matters, continued

13. Human Sciences: Making Sense of It
Stimulus received by brain and processed through sensory
organs (in the thalamus) and stared, but is not readily
recalled.

Recollection is involuntary or due to malfunctions in the
mind (sleep – deprivation or drugs leading to
hallucinations).


Thoughts of or recollection of memories of pain.
Some believe that there is no reason or truth behind it and
that it is just something preprogrammed into the human body
or strengthened throughout life, like a person's personality..

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However, the neural connections that neurons have
made support idea that experiences perceived by the
mind are behind the perception of thought.

14. Think...
...of a plate full of food you really want to eat.

...of these three words “in your mind” .

...of slamming your foot into the edge of a door.

…of a landscape filled with sunflowers.

Knowledge Issue: How are humans capable of perceiving ** their own thoughts?

15. Thoughts on Thoughts

Thinking is involuntary.

Ability or to do so is gained from experiences.
Memories act as files readily retrieved when put in certain
situations.

The ability to “hear” or otherwise perceive thoughts are
due to the processing of outside factors through the
sensory-linked sections of the brain.

Perception of thoughts based on experiences (everyone's
differ based on idea that not everyone experiences things
the same way) that shape both thoughts and personalities
(both are random but dependent on the brain).

Knowledge Issue: How are humans capable of perceiving ** their own thoughts?

16. Works Cited
Bailey, Regina. "Cerebral Cortex." About.com Biology. About.com.,
n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
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Links for pictures:
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http://www.fda.gov/ucm/groups/fdagov-public/documents/image/ucm107787
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http://bio1152.nicerweb.com/Locked/media/ch49/49_15CerebralCortex-L.jp