Thought Boiling Unbidden

I have reread and posted about Poul Anderson's Brain Wave twice before but am finding more to say about it the third time. The book seems to be a test of the state of my understanding each time I reread it.

Regarding that "typical" human being, Peter Corinth thinks that:

"Then suddenly, almost overnight, human intelligence had exploded toward fantastic heights. An entire new cosmos opened before this man, visions, realizations, thought boiling unbidden within him." (6, p. 59)

Zen meditators practice "sitting with" whatever thoughts come up so maybe experienced meditators would be as well equipped as anyone might be to cope with this particular change.

This is also the experience of Larry Niven's human protectors. They wake clear-headed and think:

"I've been stupid."

-Larry Niven, Protector (London, 1974), p. 213.

In Brain Wave, human beings had not been what we would call "stupid" before the change. Surviving nervous systems had adapted and compensated for the inhibiting force by becoming more efficient. Thus, everyone was:

"'...about as intelligent as they would have been anyway.'" (p. 63)

Then Earth moved out of the inhibiting field...