I’ve always thought of a one-track-minded person as someone
that thinks about one topic almost to the exclusivity of all others. You ask that person a simple, “What have you
been up to”, and you will likely get a response of, “I was fishing
yesterday.” If you ask that person,
“What time is it?” you will likely get an answer of “I think it’s about time to
go fishing,” etc. In other words the
person has a one track mind, and a fish is on the track instead of a train.
A relative of the one-track-mind must be senility. When a senile person, no matter to what
degree, can’t remember why he/she went to a different room it’s because
something distracted their one-thought mind.
The person went from the living room to the kitchen to get a drink of
water, but passing by the table noticed a dirty dish remaining from an earlier
meal. He/she stops, picks up the dish,
rinses it off, and places it in the sink.
He/she then wonders why they entered the room in the first place? It’s because the one-thought mind loses its
connection to the original thought as soon as a second thought enters.
It’s not the same as basically having only one thought for
an entire lifetime, but rather that only one thought can be entertained at any
one time. As many humans age their brain electrical impulses apparently don’t
mate with the brain receptors to register a thought. Thus when a second thought takes the place of
the first one, that first one disappears.
I sometimes liken it to having a brain full of thoughts already, and no
place to put new ones.
