What is thought? Scientifically, it is synapses firing across axons and dentrites in one's mind. However, thought can also be thought of as something more than just electric impulses. It can be a conversation with your own person, or even pure emotion. "Thinking...is a solitary but a lonely business; solitude is that human situation in which I keep myself company... [In thinking] I am both the one who asks and the one who answers." This quote by Hannah Arent perfectly describes the personal conversation that is concious thought.
Often, one needs to make important or life-changing decisions very quickly. While it is easy to allow yourself to become overcome by the stress of these decisions, if one has the time, it is quite easy to analyze the situation and choose the best decision-making path. It is by "talking to oneself" that allows one to look at the decision from the views of multiple different people, taking a view outside what one sees, and even by arguing with oneself.
One other advantage of being able to converse with oneself is when stress or trauma occurs in one's life. Having the ability to console or calm oneself can be immensely helpful in a stressful situation.
This ability to talk within and to oneself shows that thought is more than a system of cells. It even trancends concious thought. The ability of the human mind to take such a perspective on anything is purely spectacular.
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