Oh I know exactly the man. I saw a show about him years ago and was entirely fascinated by the concept.
I’ve made an on and off lifetime study of a “thought collector”. Back in April 2013, I started on a journey where I decided to write down my every single thought.
And I did.
Thousands of Index cards later, along with notes on various devices (paper, computer, iphone), I started to taper off after about six months, with the heaviest production in the first three.
I haven’t analyzed those cards and note but I don’t really need to as I unfolded a lot of compressed concepts as I went along and learned a lot.
One of which was the length of “Now”. I know how long it is, at least fo rme, and have some references saved somewhere that confirm it with science-y journals / numbers / etc.
Now is 4-8 seconds long, with a 1-2 overlap between each successful thought. If the prior thought is amplified through repetition or other means, it continues onto the next segment.
For me, 6 seconds is just right, with 4 seconds dedicated to a single thought.
The phonological loop in the brain is where most of it takes place, at least for me.
Just the other day, I realized when the “ME” shows up. Me shows up 400 ms after something unexpected happens and you consciously are surprised and mentally reject the thing that you didn’t anticipate. That’s the beginning of the “me” and the beginning of “now”.
I wish I had the focus to put it all together in a book… to collect the saved references.. to put it in standard scientific journal format… or write it out, complete with stories and examples from people’s life, filled out into a large “how to manage your thoughts” book… but, so far, no focus just yet. Likely ADHD. Probably some pill would slow me down enough but I like the sense of thoughts flowing quickly. So I share in bits and pieces here and there online. It’s better than publishing anyway; I get instant feedback and correction