"You can think of it this way: Thought is electrical activity--a bunch of neurons firing up and connecting to each other--but all this mental circuitry has to function in a liquid environment that swarms with hormones and other small molecules whose levels can register in the mind as emotions. When the liquid starts turning into tar--or worse, going into whirlpool mode and threatening total disintegration--the only way out is to strengthen the neuronal scaffolding and try to keep the circuits dry. From "think in complete sentences" the rule evolved into "think." So I would get to the answers by thinking--not by dreaming or imagining and of course not by praying or pleading to imaginary others."