Quotes About Cognition

Trump seemed not to remember his own decision because he did not ask about it. He had no list—in his mind or anywhere else—of tasks to complete.

It typically starts with difficulty retaining new information. Then, as it moves through the brain, symptoms get more severe. Confusion about times, dates, places, and events are common, along with disorientation, and deepening suspicion of friends and family. Behavior changes are often seen, and eventually there's more serious memory loss, which can be followed by the inability to speak, swallow, or walk.

I knew as I looked at it that there was something very strange here. But the strange thing was so strange, so entirely incomprehensible that I found it difficult to form coherent thoughts about it. I could see the strangeness with my eyes, but I could not think it with my mind.

There is thought, and then there is thinking about thoughts, and they don't feel the same. They must reflect quite different aspects of brain function. The point is, the brain talks to itself, and by talking to itself changes its perceptions.

Was everybody seeing this stuff and acting as though they weren't? Was insanity just a matter of dropping the act? If some people didn't see these things, what was the matter with them? Were they blind or something?

We say that Columbus discovered America and Newton discovered gravity as though America and gravity weren't there until Columbus and Newton got wind of them.

There is thought, and then there is thinking about thoughts, and they don't feel the same.

There is a thought, and then there is thinking about thoughts, and they don't feel the same.

I know what you are, said his look. What were we, that they could know us so quickly and so well?

That which is not comprehended by the mind but by which the mind comprehends—know that...

The truth is that we are all inclined to flatter our- sclvcs-despite our daily experience to the contrary-that we spend our time thinking logical, consecutive thoughts. In fact, most of us do no such thing.

The ability to ascribe thoughts to others, thoughts that might differ from our own, is a sophisticated cognitive skill, known as "theory of mind.

So, if an octopus is this smart, Steve asked Bill, what other animals are out there that could be this smart--that we don't think of as being sentient and having personality and memories and all these things?

Keep thinking those thoughts

Stupid pupil, it has to take everything in.

O teach me how I should forget to think

But the circle of our understanding Is a very restricted area. Except for a limited number Of strictly practical purposes We do not know what we are doing; And even, when you think of it, We do not know much about thinking.

It's a lot harder being smart than it is being stupid.

The memory is a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it gets.

To know. Not to know about.

Maybe he does show himself to us, but we don't see. Maybe it's not our senses that are the problem, but our minds.

The difficult thing is not to pick up the information but to recognise it - to accept it into our consciousness. Most of us find it difficult to know what we are feeling about anything. In any situation it is almost impossible to know what is really happening to us. This is one of the penalties of being human and having a brain so swarming with interesting suggestions and ideas and self-distrust.

One of the most profound mysteries of autism has been the remarkable ability of most autistic people to excel at visual spatial skills while performing so poorly at verbal skills.

The Mind of a Mnemonist