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westdivo
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What is the formula for calculating the speed of thought? Also the speed of a thought sent and received from a human brain?
Speed of Thought
[snip]
[Answer]
I think what you are asking about is referred to as "reaction time", the
time that it takes for your body to react to something your brain sees as
requiring a reaction.
This has been studied quite a bit -- it affects things like people's ability
to drive safely and an athlete's ability to perform well (you can test your
reaction time online at this website from the Exploratorium:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/baseball/reactiontime.html).
The average reaction time for most people is a little bit more than 0.2
seconds.
Here is a little experiment you can try with your friends. Rest your elbow
on a table with your hand over the edge of the table and have a friend hold
a $1 bill between your thumb and your index finger, with about 1/2 of the
bill above your thumb and half below. At some random time, your friend
should say "go" and drop the bill. See if you can catch the bill before it
falls through your finger and your thumb (most people will NOT be able to
catch it because their reaction time is too slow).
For more on reaction time and baseball, see
http://www.exploratorium.edu/baseball/biobaseball.html
Regards,
Todd Clark, Office of Science
US Department of Energy
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Tricky question. Nerve conduction speeds vary depending on the nerve
type...they typically vary from about walking speed to the speed of a
passenger jet airplane. Your question included the thought process too...and
that depends on lots of decission making. If it is just a matter of deciding
to lift your hand it is a combo of the speeds I mentioned. If its a
reflex...it might not even involve the brain. If it involves deciding to buy
a icecream it could take minutes. One nice thing to remember is " the hand
is quicker than the eye"...how short of a time duration can the eye
register?...something else to ask a scientist. (-:
http://www.Newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen06/gen06081.htm
The speed of thought is not a measurable quantity that can be calculated with a formula. It is a complex and subjective process that involves neural activity, cognitive processes, and environmental factors.
No, there is no specific speed at which thoughts travel in the brain. Different thoughts and cognitive processes may occur at different speeds depending on the individual, the complexity of the thought, and other factors.
While the speed of thought cannot be measured directly, scientists can use techniques such as EEG (electroencephalography) and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to study the brain activity associated with different thoughts and cognitive processes.
There is some evidence that age and intelligence can affect the speed of thought, but the relationship is not straightforward. Older individuals may have slower cognitive processing due to changes in the brain, while highly intelligent individuals may have faster processing abilities due to their advanced neural connections.
Reaction time, which measures how quickly an individual responds to a stimulus, is not directly related to the speed of thought. While faster reaction times may indicate faster cognitive processing, they do not necessarily reflect the overall speed of one's thoughts.