Thoughts per millisecond
Sometimes it’s funny how many thoughts can pass through your head in a very short period of time.
Last Friday, I had a very busy day, but was feeling really ill so I came back to work from home for the afternoon. I was later than I expected to be, and hungry because I hadn’t had time for lunch. So I started making a sandwich, feeling a bit shaky and dizzy as I did so. I’d just finished the preparation and was about to fill my glass with some fruit juice when I felt it slip out of my hand.
We have a tiled kitchen floor, so almost anything breakable dropped on it tends to do just that. As the glass headed towards the floor I thought, “Oh no, not again” in a bowl of petunias falling towards a planet through space kind of way. To my astonishment, the glass actually bounced off the tiles without breaking. As it headed back up, I was thinking “Cool! It’s like that scene in Mon Oncle where Monsieur Hulot bounces the futuristic glass on the floor of the kitchen…”. That thought was swiftly followed by, “…Hey, but I’d better catch the glass right now, because it’s not going to bounce a second… OK. Too late”. The glass shattered into a million tiny, shards on the floor.
If only I spent less time thinking and more time doing, I might have one more glass in the cupboard today.
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If you have to think about it, it's already too late. Next time we play cricket, you're not fielding in the slips!----- I have a theory on this: neural overclocking
Like many people, I've had the same experience during an emergency. Thoughts become so accelerated that the world seems to slow way down.
I'm guessing that in an emergency the throttle that keeps our brain running at a sustainable rate is temporarily removed. For a very short time we're overclocked.
The big question: why can't we always run overclocked? Heat dissipation? Possibly. Our brains take a lot of effort to cool as it is. On the other hand maybe we can't create neurotransmitters fast enough to maintain that rate, so we can only do it for short amounts of time without completely depleting our stores of essential chemicals.
Of course, it could be just some sort of Cosmic DRM that keeps us slow...
"I'm sorry, but this organic computational unit is not licensed to run at current speeds. Throttling down to licensed levels. If you wish to upgrade your license, please refer to your owner's manual for instructions on contacting your sales agent."
by Kevin Gunn @ 30/03/2006 6:04 pm • Permalink •
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Clearly one of those "Come on brakes! Work, damn you!" moments? skiiiiiidd
by Mr.D. @ 31/03/2006 6:04 am • Permalink •
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Wonderful ...
I hope you're feeling better now. I'm just at that stage of total woolly-headedness, thinking: this has been going on for over a week now, I must be coming out of it; and dreading what happens in the next few days, and all the commitments, if I don't.
Is there ever a time when it's convenient to get ill?
by Tony @ 31/03/2006 9:03 am • Permalink •
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Yep! When there's work to do....................
by Jonathan Briggs @ 31/03/2006 12:04 pm • Permalink •
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Yep! When there's work to do....................
by Jonathan Briggs @ 31/03/2006 12:04 pm • Permalink •
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Monday's are a convenient time to get ill in my opinion. I don't actually do anything worthwhile on a Monday anyway. Let's see, what have I done today? Got to work at 9 am, had a chat, looked at emails, forwarded the joke ones, made a cuppa, went to optician, came back, had a chat, made another cuppa, looked at emails again, checked the time, 4.30 pm! hoorah!, only an hour to go!
In fact, your glass story explains my Mondays. If time appears to slow down when I am having several thoughts per second, then that explains why my Mondays seem to whizz by even though I'm doing nothing. I obviously have about one thought per hour!
by Karen @ 03/04/2006 2:04 pm • Permalink •
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