Where Are Your Thoughts?

Our conscious mind is comprised of thoughts. But where are the contents of those thoughts located? Does it even make sense to ask that question?

If it doesn’t make sense, then that might seem troubling as we are clearly producing a real phenomena in the universe…so it seems to be a sensible question to ask where the products that are being produced are located.

On the other hand, it seems equally troubling that the phenomenology of these thoughts, specifically their contents, do not seem to be “real”, at least in the materialist sense.

Imagine something, say a red coat — that red coat is clearly something that you can “see” with your minds eye…however, that red coat cannot be said to actually exist…physically.

Yet, clearly you produced something that “exists”, and I mean more than the electrical signals running through your brain. The materialist will argue that the red coat does not exist, all that exists is a chemical reaction that your brain is interpreting as a red coat.

A chemical reaction, however, implies that something is produced — namely, an image of a red coat. This is an image that you can sense, though not with your traditional 5 senses based on physical touch.

So is the image real?

The materialist will argue no.

Others may ask, “What is your idea of reality? Is real just what you can feel, smell, taste and see? (Shoutout Morpheus)”