While I wasn’t incredibly familiar with the brick wall analogy of thinking before this class, I think James’ stream analogy is both interesting and correct. His five characteristics of thought are all interesting, but the fifth one is of importance to what I have to say:  [Thought]  is interested in some parts of these objects to the exclusion of others, and welcomes or rejects -- chooses from among them, in a word --- all the while.This idea of our thoughts being shaped by selective interests strikes me as the, or a,  cause of division in the world. It highlights a lack of perspective from people that stops a level of empathy from being shared in society. So, in  the spirit of the topic, I’m going to highlight a couple quotes from this essay and flow through the thoughts as they come.

First,  “The mind chooses to suit itself, and decides what particular sensation shall be held more real and valued than the rest.” (71) This reminds me of the Southern Baptist Church I refer to in my Pierce short paper and the way they reacted to the 2020 election and overturning of Roe v. Wade. I remember sitting in the congregation while a man, who purposefully doesn’t hold authority or a title in the church, stood before us all and prayed for people to, and I quote, “vote the right way.” He prayed for the lives of babies to be saved, while ignoring the many lives ignored in the foster system, just as one example. They purposefully ignore the very real scenarios that involve lives lost or ruined due to these elections and laws to suit themselves. If I pray to save the babies and we get abortion taken away, I’m a good Christian. If I pray for the man who is going to save the babies, I’m a good Christain. Which brings me to my next quote: “We actually ignore most of the things before us.” (70) This reminds me of my anti-vax family and their ability to refuse vaccinations while coincidently spreading Covid through their family not once, not twice, but three times. I am vaccinated and have only gotten covid one time that stemmed from an anti-vax family member. I wore my mask everytime I left the house, if I left the house. My anti-vax family members, however, refuse masks and say they don’t stop anything. How then, do I live on a college campus, considered a high risk place, and only catch illnesses when I’m home with them? It seems like something so simple and silly… The science behind wearing a mask to catch spit particles, at the very least, is what I consider to be obvious, yet you will never see a couple of my family members in one.

Now, I’ve painted his selective interest idea in a bit of a negative light while he highlights it as opening the door to creative thinking, but I do want to point out that I think this can be changed. I don’t think this is strictly a bad thing or a good thing, but it is an amendable thing. I think you can fall into habits of thinking in ways to suit yourself or ignoring certain things because it might cause uncomfort, and maybe it’s a matter of not even recognizing you’re doing it. But, I also think that you don’t have to continue in this negative line of thought. If you can take the steps to recognize the negative aspects and thoughts, you can take the steps to alter that, correct it, or amend it. Rather than thinking in ways to suit yourself, you make yourself sit down and consider another point of view. Perhaps you train yourself to think of ways others are better suited before you consider yourself. I don’t know. I certainly don’t have all of the answers, but I do see the negative effects of this selective interest so heavily in our society today. It bums me out when I think of these people thinking and believing so strongly, so blindly, but James is right, this is simply how our brain operates. I like to think there is a way to better it; I like to think there is always a chance for betterment in everything.