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FAITH KNOWLEDGE AND CONDUCT
18-A TRAIN OF THOUGHT Thought is originated by a mental impulse. A mental impulse is an attitude of the conscious mind seeking an end. The residue of ungratified desires is the basis of mental impulses.
A train of thought consists in a series of mental states—ideas or nascent sensations which continues till the end is perceived to be attainable, or till interrupted by some other train of thought, following a different mental impulse, or by action or sleep.
Ideas and nascent sensations are recalled by internal stimulus with the aid of the sensory operating board in the central region of the mind. The 'keys' (groups) are set in motion and their agitations re-evoke the conscious states already experienced in the past by the soul. If the mind dwell on the quality of a sensation, similar sensations will be recalled; if it attend to the external setting of the experience, contiguity will be the guiding principle for the memory.
Thinking cannot be carried on in any of the centres of perception; it can only be done by means of general ideas which prevail in the central region of the mind. The perceptive centres are adapted to deal with the concrete reality or the revival of distinct impressions, not with general ideas.
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