If the Higgs boson gives mass to matter, does it have a mental or spiritual analog that gives substance to thought?
Every once in a while, you probably have a thought that you believe to be insightful, possibly even brilliant. You believe you have done some substantial thinking, that you have revealed a “truth.” If the thought becomes part of your permanent memory, it can manifest itself by influencing both your behavior and ensuing thoughts.
Any particular thought is irrelevant here, but there is a question you need to ask yourself about thinking. What makes you believe in the “substantiality” of your thought? Is there some force-emitting neuronal process that imparts substance? Does it generate substantiality equally? Do, for example, the thoughts “I am out of bread, milk, and eggs” and “E=mc^2” carry an equal substantiality? Yes? No?
“Silly?” you say. “All thoughts are ‘insubstantial.’”
Yet, some seem to be life-changing or to act as the foundation of belief or action.
You seem to have an ability “to weigh” them and to consider some “substantial enough to warrant changing behavior.” So, back to the original question. What gives “substance” to thought? What underlies certain ways of thinking or thoughts that makes them different from other ways of thinking or thoughts? Is it their relationship to action? Or, will you argue that there is “pure reason” that isn’t somehow bound to any action? But if you do, then how do you consider pure reason as substantial thinking? Reasoning is a process that even thoughts about it employ.
Search for the underlying force that, like the Higgs boson, gives substance to your thinking.
Every once in a while, you probably have a thought that you believe to be insightful, possibly even brilliant. You believe you have done some substantial thinking, that you have revealed a “truth.” If the thought becomes part of your permanent memory, it can manifest itself by influencing both your behavior and ensuing thoughts.
Any particular thought is irrelevant here, but there is a question you need to ask yourself about thinking. What makes you believe in the “substantiality” of your thought? Is there some force-emitting neuronal process that imparts substance? Does it generate substantiality equally? Do, for example, the thoughts “I am out of bread, milk, and eggs” and “E=mc^2” carry an equal substantiality? Yes? No?
“Silly?” you say. “All thoughts are ‘insubstantial.’”
Yet, some seem to be life-changing or to act as the foundation of belief or action.
You seem to have an ability “to weigh” them and to consider some “substantial enough to warrant changing behavior.” So, back to the original question. What gives “substance” to thought? What underlies certain ways of thinking or thoughts that makes them different from other ways of thinking or thoughts? Is it their relationship to action? Or, will you argue that there is “pure reason” that isn’t somehow bound to any action? But if you do, then how do you consider pure reason as substantial thinking? Reasoning is a process that even thoughts about it employ.
Search for the underlying force that, like the Higgs boson, gives substance to your thinking.
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