As the brain-changes are continuous, so do all these consciousnesses melt into each other like dissolving views. Properly they are but one protracted consciousness, one unbroken stream.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Consciousness is a continuous flow that blends together, not separate pieces.
- In plain terms
- Our mind is a single, unbroken stream.
- What can you take from it?
- Recognize the unity of experience.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How does this view affect your sense of self?
- Can you notice moments when consciousness feels fragmented?
Another view
It may oversimplify the complexity of mental states.
More from William James
As we take, in fact, a general view of the wonderful stream of our consciousness, what strikes us first is this different pace of its parts. Like a bird's life…
Permalink to quote #21 The last peculiarity of consciousness to which attention is to be drawn in this first rough description of its stream is that it is always interested more in o…
Permalink to quote #23 Consciousness, then, does not appear to itself chopped up in bits...A 'river' or a 'stream' are the metaphors by which it is most naturally described. In talki…
Permalink to quote #20
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