The Paradox of thinking

We, consciousnesses, cannot understand our own thinking in real time. You could figure out all of the details producing a single thought that you had. It would take a very long time to do. 

For a starting point, take the millions of inputs from your sensory nerve endings just before and during the length of the thought. Your mind has to reduce that amount of input through multiple iterations of reducing processes. Then every memory accessed to add to the immediate inputs, plus any loops involved. It's all just TMI. (Too Much Information) Eventually the brain which evolved to reduce from TMI to decision points saves the condensed meanings to memory. After it is saved you can become consciously aware of having had that thought.

To watch the change patterns of a thought while they are happening requires an outside observer. That outside observer might be thinking other thoughts while observing yours. 

This explanation comes from my personal theory of how minds work. Working title: TMI Theory. It's fun to play with.