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Originally Posted by austintorn@aol.com  I always thought the mind tries out scenarios of consequences ... |
Superb observation. Freud had that same insight. He referred to conscious thought as "rehearsal work". If we don't have a "canned" response to a situation in our immediate (or future) environment, we indeed "try out" different scenarios - pros and cons.
And as we build our "pros and cons", each scenario has a positive or negative value (or "weight") which, when summed with the others, may reach a threshold of action - the point of decision. If the "cons" out-weigh the "pros", we never reach that threshold to take action, and no external behavior ensues. If the "pros" outweigh the "cons", action (behavior) based upon the positively weighted scenario occurs. If confronted with multiple negatively weighted scenarios, and we are forced to choose one, the process becomes more complex, but it can still be explained by weighted values in competition.
You have encapsulated this concept nicely saying that "the mind tries out scenarios of consequences."