Thinking And Moral Problems/1. Thinking/3. First- And Second-Level Thinking
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[edit] First- And Second-Level Thinking
Just what does the human mind do when it thinks? Here we must conjecture a little.
Thinking seems to occur on several levels. (The term “level” will be used to distinguish one kind of mental activity from another.[21] These thinking activities overlap, and are not actually separate and distinct. They could be described as different "modes of thought,” but separating the process into three “levels” aids explanation.)
Before we begin, let us distingiush what happens autonomically—the brain’s control of body functions mentioned in section one. As has been stated, what the brain does reflexively is not really considered to be thinking. For example when confronting danger, the body prepares for flight or fight - the pulse races, the lungs ventilate, the digestion is suspended, the stomach and bowels may be emptied (hence such expressions as sick with worry and frightened shitless).
Thes emotional responses are fast and dirty survival mechanisms. Except insofar as they affect mood and thus rational thinking we will mostly ignore this kind of uncontrollable activity.
