what can Classical Languages tell us about our monkey minds

What exactly are those mental fluctuations that we call “thinking”? This incessant talking to ourselves inside our heads. Our mind’s motion. And are all thoughts equal?

There are lots of ways to answer these questions and many frameworks that can help with it. I often find it very helpful to start by looking for clues at the level of language itself. And this, most often, brings me back to Latin or Greek, where the original meaning of so many words can be re-discovered. Equipped with this linguistic perspective, I looked for words that can be associated with a thinking process. I then examined how those words came about and what insights they could offer us about various characteristics of our thinking process. So that’s what this post is about, with one non-Latin/Greek exception right at the start. 

Let’s zoom in on the following words: “to think” (from Old English þencan, with its Latin translation cogitare), “remember” (from Latin rememorari), “projection” (from Latin proicere), “impression” (from Latin impress),”sensation” (from Latin sentire), “perception” (from Latin percipere), and “epiphany” (from Greek epiphaneia).

THINK – ÞENCAN - COGITARE

The most common English term to describe thinking is, well … “to think”. And that’s the only word here that doesn’t originate in Latin or Greek but comes from the Old English. “Þencan” points us to concepts like “to seem” or “to appear”. Its most common equivalent in Latin is cogitare (remember René Descartes“Cogito, ergo sum?”). Cogitare is made up of two parts: co which means "together" + agitare, which conveys an idea of “turning over in the mind," literally "to put in constant motion”. That really sounds like our minds can resemble mini washing-machines!

Cogitare type of thinking hints at several notions:

i) Having more than just one idea or perspective which we bring into the action of thinking (co) 

ii) A repetitive nature of this process (agitare)

iii) Being intently involved in the thinking process

Cogitare could encapsulate two other phenomena happening in the mind:

REMEMBER – REMEMORARI

Diving into the past with an act of “remembering” – from Latin rememorari: re- "again" + memorari "to be mindful of”

and

PROJECT – PROICERE

Peering into the feature through projections, with Latin root proicere meaning "stretch out, throw forth".

But could there be something going on in our mind prior to Cogitare type of thinking?

IMPRESSION – IMPRESS

How about having impressions? This is another captivating word. The Latin word impress is a combination of in - "into, in, on, upon" + premere - "to press, hold fast, cover, compress". In other words “to impress” is to apply with pressure, make an image in, stamp something.

Now, how does impress relate to cogitare? For one thing, with impression we don’t deal with a set of ideas (co) but likely just something singular. Then, while cogitare is an active and more complex process, impress in its essence is a one-off that happens at the moment. And I could imagine that, depending on the “force”, this act of “pressing” on the mind can have two effects:

i) Imprint something in a way that leaves a permanent mark (as much as anything can be permanent), or

ii) Faintly press into the mind, leaving no real trace (like quickly dissipating circles on the water). And I can also imagine that the sound of a thunderstorm can press lighter than a brief and faint cry of a child, just to think of one example.

If an impression does leave the mark, the collection of those marks that we assimilate can lead to cogitare type of “thinking”, where we actively play with a multitude of “impressions” that left us with some imprinted residue.  

SENSATION – SENTIRE

Impress and cogitare essentially address workings-of-the-mind. But what about the bodily dimension, what’s the relationship between the senses and the thinking process? The word “sensation” might come in handy here. Latin sensus comes from sentire - "to perceive, feel”. The second part of the word, i.e. sation is derived from satiare which means "fill full, satisfy". So in its original meaning sensation could be seen as being filled with a certain feeling. As such, it seems to be something that is primarily originating in the body, with “sensations” accessing our system through our senses. The mind then can translate bodily “sensations” into terms and concepts, either through impress (e.g. “I feel cold”) or cogitare  (“It’s chilly, I’m worried that I can catch a cold”). 

PERCEPTION – PERCIPERE

All these various types of mind and body impulses can lead to one extra type of “thinking: new insights (at least new for us) which could be actually called “perceptions”. This is because Latin percipere is a combination of per i.e. "thoroughly" + capere "to grasp, take". In this way, combining various existing perspectives make us understand something in a new way.

EPIPHANY - -EPIPHANEIA

And, if we are lucky enough, there is a special treat on the menu of mental delicacies: “epiphany”. Greek epiphainein is "to manifest, display, come suddenly into view" (epi "on, to" + phainein "to show"). When we have an epiphany, we have an illuminating and revealing experience that makes us comprehend the essence of something, often in a sudden and striking manner. It’s an intuitive grasp of reality. It can be also experienced as connecting with something bigger than ourselves.

With some kind of stillness practice (aka meditation) under our belts, we can learn to feel and recognize the differences between cogitare (with its “remembering” and “projection”), “impression”, “sensation”, “perception”, and “epiphany”. And, likely, discover that there are many more!  

This post flows with Reinhardt Buhr - Illusion
(The original meaning of illusion in Latin is“to play with”. Like playing with our mind’s illusions).