gravity

[jjuris]

does thought have gravity

[timo]

Thoughts sometimes cause a sudden attraction of my head towards the nearest wall, so yes.

[jjuris]

damn good answer, but not what i'm looking for

[CaptainPanic]

Possibly you can help us by defining "thought".

[jjuris]

besides chemically stored in neurons, can an actual thought, or perceived as a thought contain any kind of mass to create gravity

[swansont]

Not as such. Gravity depends on energy density, and thinking doesn't change that.

[J.C.MacSwell]

Not as such. Gravity depends on energy density, and thinking doesn't change that.

 

It might not change it, but does the thought have energy?

 

I think it does, so if that's correct, it should affect gravity, though no more so than the energy it came from.

 

OTOH I don't think the idea of the thought has energy.

[Sisyphus]

I think if you specify the abstract thought, and not chemical energy being expended (or whatever), then it's pretty safe to say "no."

[J.C.MacSwell]

I think if you specify the abstract thought, and not chemical energy being expended (or whatever), then it's pretty safe to say "no."

 

Agree, and if you specify the energy in flow and however brief, and that is the useful portion resulting from the expended energy as being the "thought", then I would say yes.

Edited April 17, 2009 by J.C.MacSwell

[gre]

Where do abstract questions (+ beliefs) like this come from? Do massive objects have thought (the moon for example)?

 

If thought has mass (and gravity), then mass would probably have thought as well, which it doesn't.

Edited April 17, 2009 by gre

[swansont]

It might not change it, but does the thought have energy?

 

I think it does, so if that's correct, it should affect gravity, though no more so than the energy it came from.

 

OTOH I don't think the idea of the thought has energy.

 

I think it's the other way around. The act of thinking might change your energy, and thus gravity, but the thought itself is an abstraction. There's no energy in it.

[J.C.MacSwell]

I think it's the other way around. The act of thinking might change your energy, and thus gravity, but the thought itself is an abstraction. There's no energy in it.

 

I'm picturing a packet of energy (or whatever) that "is" the thought at any one time during the process of thinking as opposed to the content of the thought itself.

 

I'm not sure if that is included in any proper list of definitions of "thought", but what else might it be called?

[Mr Skeptic]

Inasmuch as thought seems to require matter and energy (eg silicon chip + electricity, brain + glucose), and these things can interact gravitationally, I would say yes. But the thought itself has nothing to do with it.