THINKING OF THOUGHTS

There is nothing in this world that is 'nothing'. The only reason we might consider something as 'nothing' is because we have not found a way to measure it yet. Simply put- anything in this world we can perceive with one of our 5 senses we have figured out a way to measure. For example- sound, which we perceive with our ears, can be measured a number of ways with devices that we employ and are expressed in units according to what we measure eg. a 'decibel' is the power or intensity of the sound or a 'sone' is a unit of perceived loudness. 

So, there is no such thing as nothing. Even when we wave our hand gently through the air, though we cannot perceive the air with any of our 5 senses, the air is not nothing, it is a combination of gasses made up of different chemical compounds. Every corner of this earth has something in it. Scientists have never even created a ‘perfect vacuum’, they have only ever managed a ‘partial vacuum’. However, even if every single atom and particle could be removed from a volume, it would still not be "empty" due to vacuum fluctuations, dark energy, and other phenomena in quantum physics.

Now we know that there is no such thing as ‘nothing’ if we look at what everything is made of… from the chair you are sitting on, to the computer you are reading this on, to the eyes you are using to read these words… it is all made of the exact same thing- atoms. That is right, your right hand, when broken down, is made of the exact same thing as the right leg of the chair you are sitting on. The difference between the atoms in the chair’s right leg and your right hand is its state of vibration.

Which brings me to the title of this note… ‘thinking of thoughts’. If there is no such thing as ‘nothing’ and every single ‘thing’ on this earth is composed of atoms at different vibrations then- what is a thought? A thought must be a ‘thing’. Something we can measure. Dr Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, spent a lot of time studying vibration and what he hypothesised was that thoughts can be measured and are at a state of vibration somewhere between sound and heat. Dr Bell says

“Suppose you have the power to make an iron rod vibrate with any desired frequency in a dark room. At first, when vibrating slowly, its movement will be indicated by only one sense, that of touch. As soon as the vibrations increase, a low sound will emanate from it and it will appeal to two senses.

At about 32,000 vibrations to the second the sound will be loud and shirll, but at 40,000 vibrations it will be silent and the movements of the rod will not be perceived by touch. Its movements will be perceived by no ordinary human sense.

From this point up to about 1,500,000 vibrations per second, we have no sense that can appreciate any effect of the intervening vibrations.

After that stage is reached, movement is then indicated first by the sense of temperature and then when the rod becomes red hot, by the sense of sight. At 3,000,000 it sheds violet light. Above that it sheds ultra-violet light rays and other invisible radiations, some of which can be perceived by instruments employed by us.”

Dr Bell goes on to say that the gap between sound and heat (40,000 vibrations per second to 1,500,000 vibrations per second) is so vast and considering there is no human sense that can recognise the vibration, there is something there that we are yet to discover just as we did not know that ultra-violet light was there until we found a way to measure it. Just as radio signals are broadcast through the air and we cannot hear them until we use our radio to tune into the frequency. Napoleon Hill, one of my all-time favourite Authors, believes that our thoughts vibrate even higher- well past ultra-violet light at 3,000,000 vibrations per second.

Thoughts are seemingly nothing that originate nowhere but we do know that that is not how the world works. Are thoughts the one and only exception or are thoughts things that have their own vibrations and electrical impulses that we send out into the world and when you delve even deeper what is the cause and effect of these thoughts? Do thoughts send out messages to our surrounding world through our brain, through our skull, into the gases and bring back to us what the equivalent of that thought and the power and rate behind the thought was thinking? That was a mouthful. After everything you have just read… what am I talking about? Yes, of course, you might know it as The Secret, The Law of Attraction, Karma, God, Allah, Good Things Happen To Good People, Like Attracts Like and so on and so forth.

Thinking about thinking took me all afternoon and had me read everything from how light is formed, to what electrons are composed of, to how light bulbs and batteries work and back to atoms! To think about thoughts from a scientific and measurable point of view was pretty cool so I thought I should share!