R1 (revised-1)

R1

            In the second chapter of Talks to Teachers, William James expresses that everyone has the stream of consciousness, which stems from our experiences and knowledge.  He describes that the stream of consciousness involves the flow of sensations and thoughts that constantly emerge in our consciousness at all times.  According to James, “They contain sensations of past experiences and thoughts of distant things, feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, desires and aversions, and other emotional conditions, together with determinations of the will, . . . ” (p. 8).  We tend to have those distant thoughts and sensations while both awake and in our sleep. 

 I believe that attention is the main key in explaining the focus and margin conscious fields.  It is no doubt that everyone’s mind wanders, and sometimes it is difficult to have full control over our own thoughts and feelings.  Furthermore, when at times, there are teachers who have no control over their students’ stream of consciousness, based on how they present their lesson to their students.  Therefore, when students have their full attention on the sensation or thought that occupies their mind, and the lesson that the teacher presents is placed in their marginal consciousness field, may lead to an impact in their academic development.   For example, if a teacher is giving a lecture on a topic about how lions catch their prey for food, a student may have wandering thoughts simply because he or she has no interest in the topic or the subject has the individual thinking about something that is unrelated to the topic (i.e., a television program about cooking).  In turn, the distant thoughts that are in a student’s head can reflect on how well he or she memorizes information.

Although it is impossible to fully eliminate wandering thoughts and feelings, there are ways teachers could minimize the frequency of the distant thoughts and sensations of their students.  One way that James later talks about in his book is the importance for teachers to create their instructions interestingly enough for the students to focus better on the topic, which will most likely lead to their students’ academic success.  However, although the stream of consciousness can be perceived as something being negative and a setback, it could also be used for people’s advantage.   The positive aspect of having a stream of consciousness is the fact that it lets us know that our mind is functioning and is in constant work.  Plus, if something is boring a person, having distant thoughts can occupy the mind and keep the individual alert.

Usually, when students have an over powering stream of consciousness, where they have trouble focusing, such as a lecture in school; the typical diagnosis for this deficit is attention deficit disorder, which is treated mainly with medication.  I doubt that James would want anyone to take medication; I believe that James would have taken a different approach in improving people’s attention.  He would have given individuals certain strategies or self-help tactics, such as putting emphasis on making lessons relevant and interesting to the pupils, implementing longer recess, and more classroom interactions.

 I can honestly admit that even when something interests me, the undivided attention it has only lasts a certain amount of time, then something else starts occupying my mind.  After my mind has been occupied with something else, my thoughts and feelings will go back to its original position.  I almost think it is normal for attention to make leaps and jumps at given times because it is almost impossible to be attentive to something the whole time, given that it lasts at least twenty minutes.    

William James says, “There is a stream, a succession of states, or waves, or fields (whatever you please to call them), of knowledge, of feeling of desire, of deliberation, etc., that constantly pass and repass, and that constitute our inner life” (p. 7).  Obviously, if the stream of consciousness is a natural, automatic, and endless phenomenon that is greatly needed for our inner well-being, we should not look at it as being a terrible element in our lives.  We should instead learn how to balance it in our daily lives.  What are ways of controlling our streams of consciousness from getting in the way of certain important tasks?