at the speed of thought
I can type at 70 words per minute. I can read and speak
faster than that, though I've never had it measured. How quickly can I
think?
I know that when people perform the act of thinking,
they often come to a conclusion, develop an idea, or hit upon a "eureka"
in what seems like an instant. To explain this to another person,
however, may take several minutes if not more. But if the person were to
explain it to him/herself, how long would it take?
In short, how does the speed at which we communicate
affect the speed at which we think? When in a discussion or argument
with someone don't we often develop our position or opinion based on how
we initially feel? Or based on a belief or idea that we've never formally
fitted to the limited structure of words?
Imagine that we were able to convey to our peers all of
the information in a newspaper in a single minute. If we had grown up
with that capability would we be able to capture information at the same
rate? Would we be using more than the 30% of our brains that we currently
use? A discussion or forum that might have lasted a week could be
compacted into a day.
I think (how a propos) that if we were conditioned to
communicate faster--or perhaps I'd rather say "created to
communicate faster"--the speed at which we could think would likewise
increase.
After all, those speed-talkers, like the guy who used to
do the Micro Machines commercials, must know the words that they're
saying. I'm sure they don't memorize some sounds that are too fast for
them to make sense of. And if they know the words they're saying, then
maybe they can understand just as easily when another of their ilk speaks
equally rapidly. And if they can transmit and receive at such a rate,
perhaps they can process at an equally fast rate.
How about this: we should have the Micro Machines
spokesperson make all of our decisions and be the world leader. I'm a
good thinker.
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