The mind is constitutively active and reaches outward even while dreaming
Evidence
Just try it: if you attempt to sit for two minutes and think about nothing, you will probably get an inkling of why intentionality is so fundamental to human existence. The mind races around like a foraging squirrel in a park, grabbing in turn at a flashing phone screen, a distant mark on the wall, a clink of cups, a cloud that resembles a whale, a memory of something a friend said yesterday, a twinge in a knee, a pressing deadline, a vague expectation of nice weather later, a tick of the clock. Some Eastern meditation techniques aim to still this scurrying creature, but the extreme difficulty of this shows how unnatural it is to be mentally inert. Left to itself, the mind reaches out in all directions as long as it is awake — and even carries on doing it in the dreaming phase of its sleep. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 153
Categorization
- DEFINE: A vivid, concrete demonstration of what intentionality means before the term itself is fully nailed down.
- CANDY: The image of the mind as a foraging squirrel and the meditation difficulty point make a light entry point into a technical concept.
- XREF: connects to: The unconscious mind is an inner wilderness hosting impersonal, dream-roaming presences — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the…, 439
Broader Connections
- The unconscious mind is an inner wilderness hosting impersonal, dream-roaming presences
#expands(0.75) — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 439