Concerning meditation, suffice it to say that, at a certain point, I knew without any shadow of doubt that I had to stop. For me, it was having no beneficial effect whatsoever. My body rejected it. Shortly afterwards I came into contact with the experiences of Krishnamurti (see above) and what he had to say on the subject hit me like a bombshell and confirmed my body’s reaction to the whole thing. The body has an extraordinary intelligence of its own – as I then and have since observed.
Now I no longer have any need to meditate or undergo deprivation to attain anything.
I am not trying to discount any reasonable possibilities of the things you suggest. My thoughts on the matter are purely subjective.
All I’m saying is that, for me, the above processes account for all our human behavior and experience.

Before giving up how long have did you meditate for? It takes time to to become effective..and its worked wonders for me! It is basically the only thing that has worked for me..so far. You do stop if you if it stops which is exactly my point! You create a void. Now a void could be an endless empty space or an endless empty space filled with infinite possibilities. It’s extremely serene. Also…it is your ego that prevents you from entering the meditative state for it is not accepting of its oppression, and eventually extinction. An ego is not necessary for survival. By destroying our egos we return to the closest possible point of a natural human state.

try meditating ;D the whole point of this is too slow the thought process down,and focus soley on a single thought,if you are not capable of releasing them all which i do not believe is impossible!with practice you will eventually learn.after reaching a deep meditation eventually a thought or two will prevail yet at this point you will have lost all attachments to it.

I would say that, at the natural level, and with no conclusive evidence to the contrary, there is no reason to assume any difference between the way other organisms think and the way man thinks.

I quote from a handout from Cornell University:

Are insects automatons? Some people might think so, but, in fact, insects are capable of some remarkable cognitive processes that we normally attribute exclusively to vertebrate organisms. Insects can learn colors, sounds, locations, and times of day. They can navigate using a compass (the sun), and they can communicate in remarkably complex ways. Probably the most striking form of insect communication occurs in honey bees, which employ a complex dance language that conveys, distance, direction, quality and even the elevation of a food source.

End quote

And from CBS News

If you’ve always suspected that animals are smarter than they get credit for, that there’s more going on behind those eyes than a desire for food or attention … you’re not alone.
In some species, especially elephants, great apes and marine mammals, the old phrase “dumb animal” borders on heresy.
In fact, the line between human and animal intelligence is fading fast.
“I think it is fair to say that literally, monthly, there are fairly major discoveries about things that we long thought were unique to humans, now look like some of the building blocks are in place in other animals,” said Harvard professor Marc Hauser.

End quote

Units of the thought/memory process appear to exist at the molecular level, so size of organism plays no roll. Even brain size might not be an important factor.
Thought using knowledge in this context applies to knowledge essential for the survival of the individual and the species. This involves adaptation to changing circumstances through experience (shared gained knowledge) and the use of existing knowledge for day to day survival including reproduction.
All organisms appear to operate at this level in precisely the same way.

In his present neurotic state, thinking in man has become a complex structure: a palace of self deception. He not only creates non essential things at great cost, that are eventually going to disappear or disintegrate, but he also kills millions of his own species and destroys his environment. Millions are hungry and destitute while others swim in riches.
All this shows the true nature of the thought structure that he has developed. Wanting anything other than the basic needs — food, clothing and shelter — that is where his self-deception begins, and there is no end to this self-deception. So all this thinking has no meaning at all; it is just wearing him out.