Question

There is a line "And I think to myself what a wonderful world" in the song What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. My question is, what is the meaning of "think to" in this line?

Answer 1

"Think to myself" is an idiom. It only means a little more than "think." There is a implication that the thought is complete, like a complete statement, observation, or conclusion. There would be something a little bit defective in "I think to myself red," but nothing wrong with "Red would not go well with this sweater."

It seems to me that this idiom is parallel to and influence by "I say to myself." Here the "to myself" is needed, because things said to one's self often are not voiced or not voiced loudly.

Because I am a very verbal person, I often think to myself in words. I think the word red, rather than visualizing the color. I have a certain difficulty thinking in images rather than in words and numbers. No doubt other people have different ways of thinking. I often compose very long passages by thinking to myself before I write in some form (electronic or on paper).

My understanding is that schizophrenic people sometimes have difficulty identifying their own thoughts, so they believe they are hearing voices or have voices in their heads. When they think to themselves, they may believe something or someone else is doing the thinking. On the other hand, it is apparent that the brain is capable of thought that does not occur at the conscious level. I think we all have had the experience of having the solution to a long-standing problem just "occur" to us. So thinking to one's self does seem to occur in the sense of level of consciousness communicating with another.