More than thoughts certainly, but don’t be so sure we control our thoughts. There is a lot of subconscious thinking machinery doing the driving. See Master and his Emissary, https://channelmcgilchrist.com/master-and-his-emissary/#:~:t...

I believe my cat is merely a thinking machine by your definition.

No, cats have souls. But they certainly have thinning machines.

I believe your ontology is a naively inconsistent overessentialization of miraculous paradoxes that have confounded human thinkers since prehistory.

I’m trying to show you something miraculous. It simply involves understanding that you are not your thoughts.

A simple linguistic ontology is one of the most perverse, heuristic patterns of thought.

A rock is also more than it's thoughts, and retains some degree of consciousness. Imagining concepts like souls as a sort of litmus test for consciousness only serves to reinforce a thought-based comprehension.

I'm asking you to stop arguing inside "simple linguistic ontology".

Who is this "we" you are referring to?

In other words, when I control my thoughts, what is doing the controlling?

(see George Gurdjieff's philosophy which speaks to this issue of the `mechanical vs the conscious`, but please don't run off and join a crazy cult and ruin your life).

When I say “we”, I mean each of us. You control your thoughts. You are the doing because you choose the thought to act on.