The contents of this blog are a summary of the bare bones of a theory about the structure and functioning of thinking. The theory was first published by Lexington Books in 2015 in “A Theory of the Microdynamics of Occurrent thought.” If you click on this title above, you will be sent to the publisher’s website. Then type in my name, Herbert S Demmin in the box at the top of the site and it will take you right to the book. Alternatively, you can click on this link book’s page on our sitebook’s page. If you’d like you can also purchase the book on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Thanks for your interest in this blog! Below is a brief summary of the book and this blog.
The present theory appears to be the first of its kind and almost all of the details outlined below are entirely new and unique relative to any other literature related to thinking or cognition. The theory proposes that thoughts consist of a combination of ten or fewer micro phases possessing subjective contents which are so brief that most of us are unaware of their presence. The theory describes the “movements” of an operating I in, as, and among these phases in order to “process” their contents by fleetingly “becoming” them, followed by one of several possible transitions of attention that yield different degrees of their objectification. The relatively fixed sequences of the phases of thoughts, along with an operating I’s immersion in and “face-up” or “face-down” surfacing from their contents, create a structure that supports and drives “on-line” cognition, one which plays an influential role in human information processing. Fifteen types, two categories, and two forms of thoughts are defined based on their respective phases and on the transitions of an operating I therein. To learn more about thinking click on “The Nature of Thinking” to your right.