What is thought?

How does science work? And what's all this about quantum mechanics?

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sthitapragya
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What is thought?

Post by sthitapragya »

Is it a form of energy? Is it a particle or a wave? Does it have mass? Does it have a temperature? Velocity? Does it occupy space? What happens to it after it is created? Does it dissipate or decay? Does it have a life span? Does anyone have any idea? I have searched all over for something on this but there doesn't seem to be anything.
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Bill Wiltrack
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Re: What is thought?

Post by Bill Wiltrack »

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There is a material element to thought - if that is what you are going after.


Everything is material. Even if it is only a split second firing of electronic neurons between synapses in our brain.

Thought is material. ALL thought is material. The philosopher Ouspensky states that there are higher elements or hydrogens in the human machine. Perhaps the material engaged in the process of thought is finer or less apparent than most elements or matter.

I like your line of questioning though. Thought provoking...




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Dontaskme
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Re: What is thought?

Post by Dontaskme »

sthitapragya wrote: I have searched all over for something on this but there doesn't seem to be anything.
You are searching with something that doesn't exist for something that doesn't exist.

And is why that can never be found.

Or

It is that which is right here now where it's always never not been.
sthitapragya
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Re: What is thought?

Post by sthitapragya »

Dontaskme wrote:
sthitapragya wrote: I have searched all over for something on this but there doesn't seem to be anything.
You are searching with something that doesn't exist for something that doesn't exist.

And is why that can never be found.

Or

It is that which is right here now where it's always never not been.
That is why I have put you on ignore. You have nothing to contribute. I didn't ask you for your opinion. I asked if you had read anything about it anywhere because I would like to read it. You obviously know everything and don't need to read anything. So I have no use for you. I read your post and replied because I hosted the thread and it is the courteous thing to do. But if you plan on continuing with your nonsensical babble here, I will just ignore you again.
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Harbal
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Re: What is thought?

Post by Harbal »

Bill Wiltrack wrote:.



..........................
There is a material element to thought - if that is what you are going after.


Everything is material. Even if it is only a split second firing of electronic neurons between synapses in our brain.

Thought is material. ALL thought is material. The philosopher Ouspensky states that there are higher elements or hydrogens in the human machine. Perhaps the material engaged in the process of thought is finer or less apparent than most elements or matter.

I like your line of questioning though. Thought provoking...




.
If there was an emoticon for "pleasantly surprised" I'd stick a couple in.
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Hobbes' Choice
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Re: What is thought?

Post by Hobbes' Choice »

Bill Wiltrack wrote:.



..........................
There is a material element to thought - if that is what you are going after.


Everything is material. Even if it is only a split second firing of electronic neurons between synapses in our brain.

Thought is material. ALL thought is material. The philosopher Ouspensky states that there are higher elements or hydrogens in the human machine. Perhaps the material engaged in the process of thought is finer or less apparent than most elements or matter.

I like your line of questioning though. Thought provoking...




.
But electricity is not material is it?
sthitapragya
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Re: What is thought?

Post by sthitapragya »

Bill Wiltrack wrote:.



..........................
There is a material element to thought - if that is what you are going after.


Everything is material. Even if it is only a split second firing of electronic neurons between synapses in our brain.

Thought is material. ALL thought is material. The philosopher Ouspensky states that there are higher elements or hydrogens in the human machine. Perhaps the material engaged in the process of thought is finer or less apparent than most elements or matter.

I like your line of questioning though. Thought provoking...




.
I was thinking that logically it should be some form of energy because if thought was matter it would again need to convert to energy to cause the brain to create an electrical impulse and that would be inefficient, though that is not enough reason to believe it is not matter.
Dubious
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Re: What is thought?

Post by Dubious »

A confluence of interconnecting neurons whose bit sequence is based on how many neurons are tied together to create the thought, the memory or whatever. A thought is the brain's version of Assembly Language.
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HexHammer
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Re: What is thought?

Post by HexHammer »

sthitapragya wrote:Is it a form of energy? Is it a particle or a wave? Does it have mass? Does it have a temperature? Velocity? Does it occupy space? What happens to it after it is created? Does it dissipate or decay? Does it have a life span? Does anyone have any idea? I have searched all over for something on this but there doesn't seem to be anything.
..have you lived a sheltered life as a kid?
Why are you unable to study brain functions? Do you need others to think for you, like an external brain, because you can't think for yourself?
sthitapragya
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Re: What is thought?

Post by sthitapragya »

HexHammer wrote:
sthitapragya wrote:Is it a form of energy? Is it a particle or a wave? Does it have mass? Does it have a temperature? Velocity? Does it occupy space? What happens to it after it is created? Does it dissipate or decay? Does it have a life span? Does anyone have any idea? I have searched all over for something on this but there doesn't seem to be anything.
..have you lived a sheltered life as a kid?
Why are you unable to study brain functions? Do you need others to think for you, like an external brain, because you can't think for yourself?
Woah! your girlfriend ran away with your dog or something? where is this rage coming from? What did I do to you? I suggest you deal with your anger issues, my friend.
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Greta
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Re: What is thought?

Post by Greta »

sthitapragya wrote:Is it a form of energy? Is it a particle or a wave? Does it have mass? Does it have a temperature? Velocity? Does it occupy space? What happens to it after it is created? Does it dissipate or decay? Does it have a life span? Does anyone have any idea? I have searched all over for something on this but there doesn't seem to be anything.
Brain waves http://mentalhealthdaily.com/2014/04/15 ... eta-delta/.

I expect that brain waves, like any other (aside from complexity), would have all the qualities you mentioned aside from mass. Very complex waves. Here's an image of them charted: http://www.biocybernaut.com/wp-content/ ... ves_02.png

They appear to be suitably chaotic :)
sthitapragya
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Re: What is thought?

Post by sthitapragya »

Greta wrote:
sthitapragya wrote:Is it a form of energy? Is it a particle or a wave? Does it have mass? Does it have a temperature? Velocity? Does it occupy space? What happens to it after it is created? Does it dissipate or decay? Does it have a life span? Does anyone have any idea? I have searched all over for something on this but there doesn't seem to be anything.
Brain waves http://mentalhealthdaily.com/2014/04/15 ... eta-delta/.

I expect that brain waves, like any other (aside from complexity), would have all the qualities you mentioned aside from mass. Very complex waves. Here's an image of them charted: http://www.biocybernaut.com/wp-content/ ... ves_02.png

They appear to be suitably chaotic :)
Thank you, Greta. However, from what I understand brainwaves seem to be different from actual thoughts. There are only 5 kinds of brain waves. Thoughts on the other hand are innumerable. Brainwaves seem to help us produce thoughts. But my question pertains more to the thought itself.
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Greta
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Re: What is thought?

Post by Greta »

sthitapragya wrote:Thank you, Greta. However, from what I understand brainwaves seem to be different from actual thoughts. There are only 5 kinds of brain waves. Thoughts on the other hand are innumerable. Brainwaves seem to help us produce thoughts. But my question pertains more to the thought itself.
Our brain waves are never clean delta, alpha or whatever waves but a complex mix of all waves. When people's brains are said to be in an wave state, that only refers to the most dominant wave type.

My first thought (ha!) is that thoughts are the stories that the brain waves represent. All very abstract.
sthitapragya
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Re: What is thought?

Post by sthitapragya »

Greta wrote:
sthitapragya wrote:Thank you, Greta. However, from what I understand brainwaves seem to be different from actual thoughts. There are only 5 kinds of brain waves. Thoughts on the other hand are innumerable. Brainwaves seem to help us produce thoughts. But my question pertains more to the thought itself.
Our brain waves are never clean delta, alpha or whatever waves but a complex mix of all waves. When people's brains are said to be in an wave state, that only refers to the most dominant wave type.

My first thought (ha!) is that thoughts are the stories that the brain waves represent. All very abstract.
So let's see if I got this right. A thought is a complex brain wave which is interpreted by the brain as language. Does that sound about right?
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Greta
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Re: What is thought?

Post by Greta »

sthitapragya wrote:
Greta wrote:
sthitapragya wrote:Thank you, Greta. However, from what I understand brainwaves seem to be different from actual thoughts. There are only 5 kinds of brain waves. Thoughts on the other hand are innumerable. Brainwaves seem to help us produce thoughts. But my question pertains more to the thought itself.
Our brain waves are never clean delta, alpha or whatever waves but a complex mix of all waves. When people's brains are said to be in an wave state, that only refers to the most dominant wave type.

My first thought (ha!) is that thoughts are the stories that the brain waves represent. All very abstract.
So let's see if I got this right. A thought is a complex brain wave which is interpreted by the brain as language. Does that sound about right?
I don't think stories necessarily need a language - the unspoken content and subtexts are huge. You could say that language can provide a skeleton on which all the unspoken material can hang from when it comes to recall.
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