i.kurtzer (960126.1430)
definitons:
i know there are several persons there with the competence to answer my
control definition question. please reply.
B. Leach, i'm sure you have something to say about this.
awareness:
It is only once every while but sometimes a thought occurs to me,
typically i am only passively engaging in something without feeling or
explicit thought. Of these only a few are even worth noting and even
those i typically forget. Anyway, last night i found myself
introspecting about the subject of attentional focus and control and came
to the following conclusions that were consistant for me and at least one
other person.
I will preface this with an example to more readily assure you will know the
situation that i'm rambling on.
There are many occasions in which i am conducting some affair, like
driving a car, and my focus drifts to something else--there is sometimes
a faint feeling of synchronicity also in this shift between myself and
the object of thought--until without provocation _my_ entire attention is
consumed with that object however banal in retrospect. Then there comes
a point where i notice the digression and my attention focuses back to the
object previous.
This is actually a fairly common occurance for myself and presumably
others as psychologists have noted this previously. During that time i
(totality) was able to continue doing something that required some
awareness as cars don't remain within the lanes independently; however,
during my drifting to what my father calls Tramfalgador (after Kurt
Vaugnagot's novella) _i_ was entirely oblivious to the navigation.
Here are the conclusions come to last night:
a) that whenever my attention drifts to Tramfalgador my totality
continues to do what _i_ was engaged with before the drift, though maybe
slower or more sluggishly.
b) that there comes a point where i realize my digression.
c) upon realizing the digression i always return to the matter prior as
far as my focus of attention.
d) upon the shift back i typically act differently--stop, slow to a
cautious speed, jerk away, check out my surrounds.
e) that the totality will continue conducting towards the task last
attentively focused (i.e. prior to Tramfalgador) until _i_ am refocused;
though how much _i_ am doing the refocusing is arguable.
please comment especially on the extant that this concurs/ or not with
your experiences.
i. and _i_.