how big is a thought or how many atoms does it take to make one and where is its physical location?

Question

are thoughts held at the atomic level or at the string level (as in String theory)...

Answer 1

First important thing to address and get out of the way before this question can be answered is that we don't yet have a complete picture of the inner workings of the human brain, let alone the origin of thought.
That being said, there are some things that we know and many theories. I'll go point form from here:

1. It's almost a moot point to ask how big is a thought, nevermind trying to quantify it in terms of linear scale. Since thought itself is not fully understood we will have a hard time determing it's "size".
However... it is generally believed that the "thought" occurs when an electric spark crosses the gap between two neurons (axon to dendrite). This is called a synapse. From this point the electrical impulse triggers a chemical signal which causes a chain reaction of events, ultimately storing this event into memory (long or short term). A single thought may constitute many of these actions being processed in parallel.
Note, memory is a completely different thing from thought. Memory is something that is stored and accessed, like a hard disk, and a thought is something almost spontaneous and more computational in nature, like an instruction thread being executed within a CPU. Although some thoughts do access memory, memory itself cannot constitute an original thought, it can only represent it (it is a simulacrum).

2. The origin of thought is debatable, though most scientists will probably point to it's mechanical manifestation (#1 above) as the basis for it's existence. Some don't believe that thought occurs internally, rather it is an external event. Let me give you a couple of other conceivable theories that have been pondered.
If the chemo-electrical activity of neurons is considered to be a thought, where does that thought come from? Well, we can trace the cause-effect relationship backwards as far as you want: the memory or "post-thought" is the result of a chemical signal which was only triggered because of the electrical impulse which was sparked due to another, preceding, chemical reaction which is fueled by various molecules that owe their existence to our bodies which are replenished and maintained by the food that we eat, the matter that we are made of, and the air that we breathe which is attributable to the environment in which we find ourselves which only exists because of cosmic events that unfolded due to the probability of it's existence (which means it happened only because it could) amongst infinite quantum possibilities. *stop for breath*. If this is the case, then the universe or existence itself creates thought by virtue of the fact that anything exists at all. The only thing that differentiates various thoughts from each other is the configuration of these existences. Experiencing these various configurations in any way that would seem to make sense might be described as something that feels like linear TIME. Our experience of thought may only occur at this small junction in which thought manifests itself but is actually a shadow of something much bigger that itself (God? Universe as a computer or gigantic neural net? Is there a difference?). This can get interesting if you let your imagination run wild and start conjecturing... what if we are all just experiencing the thoughts of the universe thinking that they are our own thoughts? Does this make us really just parts of the universe masquerading as independent people? Do we consider this ultimate origin of thought to be God (or whatever we want to label it)?
Some call thought an "emergent property" (like temperature) which only exists because of the underlying complexity of it's structure. No fundamental particle actually has any real property called "temperature". Temperature only describes the property of a group of atoms/molecules based on their density and kinetic activity. It's the same with AI. Scientists believe that out of complexity will emerge intelligence and hope that by ordering this complexity in a way similar to the human neural net, they will be able to achieve this goal. If this is the case, we may all just be acting based on pre-determined motions that give us the ILLUSION of any real thought. We might just be marching in step like robots to the tune of the universe's orchestra.

So, what you are really asking with this question is something far "bigger" than merely trying to quantify the size of an abstract concept. You'll be getting into pondering the origin of existence, the definition of choice and destiny.
How big is a thought? It is both as large as the universe itself and as small as the tiniest vibration of a string because it is existence.

Answer 2

This is not known with any precision.

Thoughts are a product of the brain, and therefore 'occur' in the head. It is conjectured that different areas of the brain concern different activities, but these are gross generalizations.

First off, there really is no "string level"--you're talking about a representation of subatomic particles . . . certainly, regardless of the model you choose, including string theory, "thinking" is going to be a large concept that involves matter on a macroscopic level.

Answer 3

LeeAnn is probably correct. But the fact is, nobody knows how the human brain **really** works. Just bits and pieces of the puzzle.

Current thoughts (no pun intended) are that 'memories' and 'knowledge' are 'resonant' in some way in the conduction of neuron cells and their actions to stimulate or inhibit other neuron cells. When these 'resonances' somehow 'overlap' we perceive 'relationships' between things and (hopefully) new insights into how things interact with other things are born (to be stored as yet another new 'resonance' in the brain)

There is also some speculation that structures (called 'microtubules') in neuron cells may actually be 'coupled' (in some vague and none too well understood manner) into local quantum fields.

Check out
http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/
for a start into the wonderful world of 'consciousness research'


Doug

Answer 4

Define a thought.

Does it need to be origional?
If it's not, then are you including memory with a thought.
Is electrical resonance a memory?
Is chemical residue a memory?
Is the human mind the only mind capable of creating thought?
If the fundimental essence of an apple tree is to apple, and the universe peopled, and people think, does the universe then become the fundimental seat of intelligence and therefore the origion of thought, and if so, then how can we measure universal thought when we're on a scale infinately faster than it's existance?

Just a few.... notions.

Answer 5

The correct answer depends entirely on the "thought." I'm absolutely positive that when Einstein thought, "mmmmm, all energy must be equal to the speed of light squared, damn, energy and mass are the same thing !" there were a hell of a lot more atoms involved then when I thought, "I think it might rain tonight."

Answer 6

The physical location is your brain, they are held in a chemo-electrical state and I have no friggin' idea how many atoms or molecules a thought uses.
I now have an ice cream headache.

Answer 7

They would be at the molecular level, but in the present state of knowledge that is all that can be said. Nothing can be said about the physical size or number of atoms involved.

Answer 8

thoughts are held at chemical level.

Answer 9

thoughts occur through chemical and electrical signals sent through your brain. I believe they are "stored" somehow within the brain cells.

Answer 10

Mmh every one has their own theory but no proof. Have you seen " What the Bleep do we know? " You should. It 's great.