If it was possible to measure the speed of thought would it be faster than the speed of light??
No. “Thought” is a series of complex electrochemical signals. These signals travel much slower than light.
Quite sure of that, are you?
What do YOU think it is Karl?
I think he is correct but I have only a complex electrochemical signal to base that on.
Before we hear Wood Thrush’s “thoughts” on the matter what is your opinion on “thought” if it’s not the processing of “complex electrochemical signals” in the nifty little meat machine that sits on our shoulders?
Pray tell!
As a general rule, nothing can transmit information at a speed faster than C. Even if it is possible, it’s very difficult, and would require a lot more than just a mass of protoplasm. Furthermore, any hypothetical method for transmitting information faster than C would also be capable of transmitting information back in time, and that opens up a whole new can of worms.
This question really stretches the definition of the word speed, lots of things can happen faster than light but aren’t necessarily going faster than light. Confused? click here
I don’t know what “thought” is.
I guess, though, that the nature of “thought” is inextricably linked to the nature of “consciousness”. In other words, the OP involves the mind-body problem - one of the quintessential philosophical conundrums. Of course, this has never been resolved and has recently come to the fore again in discussions of artificial intelligence (eg. the Chinese speaking room).
So, my terse response above was meant to say something like, “Wow, you’ve solved one of the seminal issues in epistemiology”. Well done!
Well, asking about speed, a quantifiable measure, places the question squarely back into the body side of the problem, IMHO.
Right. I see. So a “heavy” thought (with mass being a quantifiable measure) must also “place the question squarely back into the body side of the problem”
Don’t try to be too clever for the room. You’re not.
Fwiw, I’ve read somewhere where nerve impulses travel at like 300mph. Not sure about that, but if you can figure out how that impulse to lift your arm was generated, it’ll get there pretty quick.
Not to mention electricity travels a little bit under the speed of light in a circuit, I don’t see why electrical activity in the brain, CNS, or wherever would be any different.
I’m siding with KarlGauss here, exactly what is thought, how could you measure its speed, what does ‘speed’ mean in this context, etc. The question is really ambigious and probably invalid.
Yes, in a question like this, the definitions are just as – if not more complicated than the answer itself.
I.e.: What do we mean by “thought”? What do we mean by “speed”? Are we talking about physical aspects of this or more metaphysical ones (although this difference can probably eventually be bridged)?
Of course, taking quantum physics into account can make any discussion of the speed of light being a barrier quite complex.
Complicated? Hardly so. Metaphysical considerations aside the OP’s question postulated a drag race between (human I assume) thought and light.
“Thought” (in this physically bound context) is defined as the processing function(s) of the brain which is a hunk of meat, densely packed with neurons which mediate the process of “thought” via electro-chemical signaling across their complex web of interconnections.
“Speed” (in this context of mental processes vs light) is the quantifiable measure at which the aforesaid proceeds. This speed is boundaried by the speed at which electro- chemical signals can travel in the brain. This speed is measured in the hundreds of miles per hour. Light speed can vary depending on medium through which it travels but is generally approximated as 186,000. per sec through a vacuum.
The brain is obviously much more powerful as a general purpose processing machine than any computer extant(and can run all afternoon on the energy from a Snickers bar!) but this a measure of differences in efficiency and complexity not the mediating “speed” at which the aforesaid processes proceed.
Very nicely put. Much more elequently stated than I could have ever done. You’ve captured my sentiments better than I.
I think that nothing may be more complicated than an understanding of thought and consciousness.
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**Don’t try to be too clever for the room. You’re not.
**
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I’m not trying to be clever. I’m just trying to be intellectually honest. I want to make sure that our discussion isn’t too naive, too misleading in the simplicity of the working assumptions.
Chronos is right. Information (any information) cannot travel faster than the speed of light. If it could you’d lift your arm before you wanted to lift it.
The electricity in the brain does travel at light speed. So does the electricity in a computer. However, there are steps in the processing either in the brain or in a computer that introduce delays to the ‘thinking’ process.
From what I understand a human can perceive a ‘timeslice’ no smaller than 1/24th of a second (or thereabouts…I’d have to look it up). Whatever it is it is CONSIDERABLY slower than lightspeed.
Lastly, while our brains may not function at light speed we do have a LOT of neurons in there. For arguments sake let’s say a given neuron can only turn around a piece of info once every 1/30th of a second (I have no idea what the real number is). However, we do have billions of neurons working up there, at least before college we did. While all of them may not be firing in a given moment many millions or billions are. Taken as whole they may achieve a process that would be faster than light if you compared it against a strictly ‘linear’ brain where only one item can be completed before the next is taken care of.
Jeff_42 said:
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Not quite. For silicon the maximum velocity of electrons is 100,000 m/s which is 3000 times less than the speed of light.
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gEEk
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Then that’s the speed of light in silicon. Speed of light in a vacuum is something on the order of 186,000 miles/sec. I’ll take your figure in silicon at face value. I assume the speed of light is also slower in our brains as most of us have maybe just a bit more than a vaccum between our ears (can’t wait for the ribbing on this one).
If we all lived in silicon then we’d measure the speed of light at 100,000 m/s and that would be the top speed. I believe scientists have slowed light down considerably more than that…something like 50 mph. Doesn’t matter, the speed of light speed limit is still consistent.
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