# How We Think, and How to Think Better (podcast)

An episode of [Stream of Subconsciousness](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1498345708), 7 Jan 2026, 17 min.

Audio: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/183771257/dedf6e346752a793984f393bc97b55d6.mp3

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.” — Walter Isaacson About Thinking If you go to https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/thinking-quotes you’ll find quotes on thinking by famous people. The lack of insight is amazing. Everyone speaks as if thinking was a monolithic act that one either does or does not do. As if all one has to do is snap one’s fingers and thinking starts. Our brains have many areas and functions. Some of these areas must collaborate to function and other are relatively autonomous. For example, our visual cortex handles vision but our central cortex handles the identification of what we see. In rare cases of neural damage it’s possible to recognize what’s in front of you without being able to see it. In contrast, our language areas operate independently so that when they’re damaged you will lose aspects of language. Our left frontal area handles executive function, which means planning, sequencing, and prioritizing. Our right frontal areas handle emotional reactions such as fear and anger. Damage to either of these areas degrades these specific functions. And then there’s an area on the right front side of our brains that handles the emotional content of expression, what’s called prosody. This is the area that enables us to imbue art with emotion so that it is evocative and not just big, bright, and loud. In the statements at the brainyquote.com website, no one seems to recognize these different functions. Everyone refers to thinking as if it was just one thing that everyone either does or does not do. This is obviously ridiculous! Thinking is a mixture of functions. It is the brain’s highest form of organization. We can say that not just for humans but for all species. It’s likely that other species are more “intelligent” with regards to specific functions, but it is humans who have integrated, controlled, and applied thinking in its most comprehensive forms. For example, sharks hunt through their sensing of electric fields, and birds navigate with a magnetic compass built into their brains, but neither of these species think abstractly. And while it’s true that ravens, magpies, and parrots can solve puzzles, these puzzles are child’s play in terms of human intelligence. Halt Your Intellect Humans have also developed particular skills, and particularly our intellect. We might argue that our emotions are not as evolved as it seems we develop strong and enduring bonds with animals. Dogs can be trained to sense our moods even before we demonstrate them with actions. From that, we can conclude that dogs can be more sensitive to our emotions than we are ourselves. Despite the uninspiring range of quotations at brainyquote.com, we can discern the writers distinction between intellect and emotion. “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” — Lao Tzu “The problem isn’t that Johnny can’t read. The problem isn’t even that Johnny can’t think. The problem is that Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling.” — Thomas Sowell Despite what Thomas Sowell says, emotion is clearly a form of thinking. Would you trust someone who claims you should separate your thoughts from your emotions? Lao Tzu wouldn’t. Between Focus and Engagement We use the words focus and engagement to describe how we think. Focus means being present, active, and attentive. You have focus when you control your train of thought. This supports exploration and leads to insights and confidence. We focus our intellect and we must focus in order to find solutions. Engagement is a form of interest. This is something emotional, something more than just looking at something. To be engaged is to have a real desire to participate, a sort of emotional attraction to what’s going on. Something must have personal meaning if it is to engage you. When my cat…

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