Idle thread theory

If we model our mind as a computer. Active thoughts are ideas that are running on top of the mind, cpu. These are like threads. Now, there is an important thread that is always present in all the human beings. Let's call it Idle thread. When we are not actively thinking about anything this thread gets a chance to run. Also when we are doing something, this either gets small time quanta or gets a chance at broader time interval to wake up. So it might look like a small chatter or a sudden distraction and flow to other direction.

What does this Idle thread do? Well it does different things for different people. Some of the common questions it asks are, "Am i wasting time? I have to hurry up", "I have to do these things also x,y,z. So many things to do", "What bad happened to me today, yesterday etc?", "Things are scary", "Let me dig up a bad past for you", "Let me cook up a scary future for you", "Why is this person saying so?", "This is Good. This is Bad" etc. One important characteristic is that this thread doesn't dwell on any one idea for long. It either loads lot of data to process or lots of short-lived thoughts, in both cases causing mind to be overwhelmed and causing a flood of emotion.

What are the effects? We feel a heaviness in head. We sometimes want to rest, but are not able to. And many times we see that it scares us, overwhelms us and distracts us.

When are the effects less? What experts call "In the Zone", "Flow" are situations where we are so intensely into the work we are doing that this thread does not get any time to run. Consciously we can build our concentration and alertness by way of meditations and learn the art of keeping mind focus on only one thing. It is also that effects of the thread get weak when the thinker is aware of this thread. That is, cpu does not become thread, screen doesn't become the movie. "Satori" is also a term used to describe a state of no-mind. Sufi philosophy gives lot of importance to what one does. Some of the Buddhist meditation is about making doing important and be a goal in itself. So one walks for walking not for reaching a destination. This takes a person into the task. When one's body and mind are involved in one act, there couldn't be anything better to prevent this Idle thread. This gets little funny as sometimes this Idle thread takes the task of "preventing Idle thread from running". And more you think about preventing Idle thread from running, more you are running it. Buddha's philosophy of neti-neti, Neither this nor that is useful here. You do not want it to run, you do not want to stop it.

It is interesting to know what would happen if this Idle thread was in total control of the Thinker. Indian spirituality says that "Self" gets a better chance of showing. This Self is eternal, joyful and fearless. This also gives a clue on how do i know i am running this thread? When i have irrational fear taking over, i know that it is not me and i can check to find whether this Idle thread is running. When i am not joyful, probably the Idle thread had lot of its undue time.

Probably that is what they meant when they said, "Idle mind is Devil's workshop".