The main idea in William James’ The Stream of Consciousness is that thinking is an ongoing, complex process that involves all of a human’s abilities. It is more than just feeling and sensing; it is how we analyze and interpret surrounding issues. James heavily emphasizes that our thought process is in constant motion – we are never not thinking. Even if there are gaps between our thoughts, such as during sleep, we still join previous thoughts to our next conscious thoughts. Although there are many things in our world to think about, we choose to focus on a specific subject. James proposes that we view our consciousness as a whole, rather than in bits and pieces leading up to complex thought. It is impossible for us to imagine simple thoughts because our daily routines are composed of complex thoughts. That is the foundations for which he builds his concept that consciousness is a consistent, ongoing stream.
I think that doodles in notebooks during class are the ideal example for James’ chapter. Although our notes are fixed on whatever is written on the board or what is being discussed, our mind still wanders. These wanderings, many times, result in doodles that have nothing to do with the class topic. This is a prime example of how our consciousness is always on the go and very complex. If our mind is able to linger on different thoughts at once, it proves that humans are incapable of visualizing simple thoughts. This proves James’ theory of a stream of consciousness and that it is better to think of consciousness as a whole, rather than puzzle pieces that build up to it.
Below are some doodles that I believe represent dual thinking processes at once.
