You're as random as...

IV

Wollershimmy (who happens to get at least one new nickname each time I write up a post) said something in class on Monday that caught my attention - that random thoughts aren't random. She said it in context, but maybe as a bit of an afterthought.
I sat it on it a few days (it hatched, surprisingly, even though I've had a cold for a while) and talked with her about it yesterday.
We discussed how people calling people "random" is a fallacy - retrieval cues underlie everything. Unconsciously. Some retrieval cue in your environment is activated, which fetches more cues, and the line goes down, but you're not aware of it. All you're aware of is the end result - a conscious thought, of something usually unrelated. To call oneself "random" is clearly false dichotomy, then; it's certainly a process, even though the result seems nowhere or "out of left field" (why is it "left" field and not "right" field?). And one cannot, therefore, act or think randomly... there is always a reason or process (conscious or unconscious). I may blurt out something about purple pudding (like I did in Ancient Civilizations second term), and you may be like, "That was completely random!" but it really wouldn't be. It would just be my filter between my unconscious "thoughts" and my spoken words being blurred.
One acquaintance in my [now previous] fourth hour said something about him having random thoughts. I countered and told him about retrieval cues and how he was surely unconsciously going down a list. He said I exploded him mind (and one of my friends said mockingly, "I'm Joey, and I'm the king of psychology!", which was maybe a little insulting, but I laughed it off, because it's true... my crown and scepter just haven't been polished with the souls of teenagers, yet).
You know what else is truly never random? Computers.

Wollersparkler also told me a wonderful anecdote about how she [TEXT DELETED FOR THE VICTIM'S SAFETY], and how it made her seem or feel rude, even though it wasn't something she had real control over. I felt bad ("bad" being "damn, that sucks") for her, because my mirror neurons were being stimulated, and because I knew exactly what it felt like to be in that position - it's not like I've never been there before.
All I have to say about that is that maybe it happens because sometimes, it offers a good distraction from some problem at hand. I'll also say that it's a very bad thing when you say the exact wrong thing without consciously regarding it... I made one of my dearest friends cry harder when she was dealing with something hard, and I will never forget it.