ORIGINAL THINKING

Sometimes when I am in my thinking chair on the back patio, my mind wonders and wanders into uncharted territories.  There is no specific destination to the journey, just a meandering about.  You are always invited to come along.  You may want to bring a snack.  This time, as I sat in my thinking chair having my morning cup of coffee, here is what my inquiring mind wanted to know today…

Is it possible to have an original thought?  Think about it.  Assuming we humans have been around for a good number of years by now, isn’t it possible that every thought there is to be thought about has been just that—thought about?  I’m sure you’ve heard that old bit about every plot having been written—there are only so many.  How they differ one from the other is merely in changes in some of the details.  So, why not the same thinking about thoughts?

Try this:   What if my theory that all thoughts have already been thought is an original thought?  This does not seem likely.  Surely someone else has already thought of it? I know, it’s a little confusing, but if you actually think you have ever had an original thought, can you absolutely, positively swear that no one else who has ever lived has ever thought the exact thought you’ve thought?  Can you?  Ah-hah!

Next question…does this make us all mind readers?  If there are no original thoughts to be thought of anymore, then it is likely that many of us have shared the same existing thoughts.  So, if you are thinking a thought that I probably have thought and, consequently, if our thinking is synchronized, then we should be able to read each other’s minds since we both know what the other is presently thinking.  That’s confusing isn’t it?  But if you stop and think about it, it will fall into place.

I must warn you too, not only are there no original thoughts, but not all thoughts are sacred.  Take private thoughts.  We all have them.  If others think our same private thoughts, is that considered an invasion of privacy?  If someone thinks my same most inner thoughts, I have to assume my privacy has been invaded.  Would that be your thinking too?  If it is, it certainly wouldn’t be original thinking on your part since I already thought about it.   See—there are no original thoughts left.  Are you getting all this?

But wait!  We must also consider unthinkable thoughts.  If a thought is unthinkable, there are probably many people who have unthought about it.   On the other hand, if it is an unthinkable thought does that mean it could be an original thought too?  Let’s see…an unthinkable original thought has not been thought of and as such is an original thought awaiting thinking.  That makes sense.  Maybe that’s where there may still be some original thoughts lying in wait.  It’s unthinkable!

Okay, it is time to wrap this up.  It began with just an idle thought I had while sitting in my thinking chair.  I have come to the conclusion that, while there appears to be no original thought left to be thought, I should like to think there is a chance that there is, somewhere and somehow, still an original thought or two that are just lying out there waiting to be thought of.  I suspect there may be bells, whistles or fireworks exploding when such thoughts are discovered and thought about for the first time.  Regardless of the magnitude of celebration, I would like to be that person who makes the discovery, especially if the original thought is meaty enough on which to base a good novel.  Then I could add the line, “An Original Novel by Marc Kuhn” on the cover. That would be my exclusive contribution to the thinking world.  I think it would be sensational to think a pure, virgin, original thought never soiled by the human mind and I would be the one to think of it first.  Wow! …whoddathunk?

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