Thanks to @[email protected] for the links!
Here’s a link to Caltech’s press release: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/thinking-slowly-the-paradoxical-slowness-of-human-behavior
Here’s a link to the actual paper (paywall): https://www.cell.com/neuron/abstract/S0896-6273(24)00808-0
Here’s a link to a preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.10234
Understanding it is active thought. And processing the words, as words with meaning, is required to formulate a relevant response.
The more than 10 bits each word is are part of your active thought.
I think we may disagree on term definitions.
I perceive “active thought” when trying to decipher parts of a sentence I do not already have an understanding of. If I already understand a part then no active thought is perceived by me - like driving a car when nothing eventful is happening. [Note: I don’t believe I have 100% accurate perception of my own subjective experience. Trying to focus on subjective experience at all instead of constantly being “lost in thought” is very short lived]