It's exceedingly difficult when we start talking about counsciousness/ attention/ focus / creativity etcetera.  These terms have been used and abused by so many authors and there is still as far as I know a proliferation of theories and beliefs about the organisation of the phenomena of counsciousness.  Perhaps there are threads of convergence. David Chalmers has compiled an extensive list of articles on consciousness at http://www.u.arizona.edu/~chalmers/online.html You're sure to find something to wet your appetite there! I have personally found the cognitive science approach of computer modelling a very rigorous method of discussing the kind of issue you talk about in the last few posts.  Building a computer model isomorphic to your theory of thinking will usually tell you: 1) if your theory is internally consistent 2) whether it has the necessary and sufficient conditions to demonstrate the behaviour you claim to model.  3) You have to be very precise about what your terms are because machine language can not abide the vagueness of natural language. 4) You can model interaction in time and communication between agents John Grinder points out elsewhere in this forum and in Whispering that there is an ongoing tension and interaction between conscious and unconscious.  I think this dance of dialogue is key.  A theory of thinking, a model of consciousness would have to include this dance. Miller et al where working within a cybernetic paradigm that has evolved significantly in the last 30 years..  here are some other models of information processing which have arrived: 1) Neural Networks.  Neural networks consist of many simple processors connected together.  You feed them patterns and teach them what to output with reinforcement.  They are then able to generalise and to create new outputs from novel inputs- they are great pattern matchers 2) Genetic algorithms- in this model the problem space is populated with solution algorithmns that compete against each other over many generations.  The idea here is that the brain is some kind of darwin machine that pre tests behavioural patterns and makes conscious those that survive the evolvutionary process. 3) communities of agents.  In this model your brain consists of team of agents each with specific properties, behaviours and intentions. (Object orientated programming languages such as c++ and Javascript are isomorphic to this) Most of the time they're sleeping or performing maintenance work but every now and then the signal they are watching changes and they start demanding your attention. Robin Manuell