wakeforest | Five empirically based critiques have undermined the standard assumption
that conscious thought is primarily for input (obtaining information
from the natural environment) or output (the direct control of action).
Instead, we propose that conscious thought is for internal processing,
to facilitate downstream interaction with the social and cultural
environment. Human consciousness enables the construction of meaningful,
sequential thought, as in sentences and narratives, logical reasoning,
counting and quantification, causal understanding, narratives, and the
simulation of events (including nonpresent ones). Conscious thought
sequences resemble short films that the brain makes for itself, thereby
enabling different parts of brain and mind to share information. The
production of conscious thoughts is closely linked to the production of
speech because the human mind evolved to facilitate social communication
and information sharing, as culture became humankind's biological
strategy. The influence of conscious thought on behavior can be vitally
helpful but is mostly indirect. Conscious simulation processes are
useful for understanding the perspectives of social interaction
partners, for exploring options in complex decisions, for replaying past
events (both literally and counterfactually) so as to learn, and for
facilitating participation in culture in other ways.
