Over the years, I have written about energy:
- 4 years ago, about energy and our economy
- last year, about one of my heroes - Lord Nelson and keeping your energy dry
- most recently, about DELIVERS & Energy - the source of all change and growth
Today, my thoughts are about the major role energy serves in our lives.
A century ago, another of my heroes, Albert Einstein, showed the world E=mc2...that is, energy and mass are directly linked and proportional. [and Einstein said more] Perhaps this is true? Perhaps, in the future, another great mind will prove there are nuances not captured in that fascinatingly-straightforward Einstein equation?
Regardless, for life, energy is necessary. For human life, energy is necessary.
Here's how Brad Sugars expressed this a few years ago, when I attended his session in Las Vegas:
- People can live about 3 weeks without food
- People can live about 3 days without water
- People can live about 3 minutes without oxygen
- People can live, perhaps, 3 seconds without electricity
Brad's point: without electricity the neurons in our brains would not fire...and life would cease.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed. That's the Law of Conservation of Energy we were taught in physics and engineering classes.
So, we know our bodies consume energy and we process it without destroying it.
In fact, we use energy to fuel everything we think, feel, and do...our muscles, our internal processes, etc.
Our brains consume energy as our neurons fire.
Scientists have measured the voltage and the current over neuronal synapses. While it would be rather intrusive work, scientists could insert a bunch of probes and do a pretty good job of figuring out just how much energy is required to fuel the parts of our brains that do our thinking work. Yes, it would be an intrusive and tedious exercise...and dangerous. So, let's not spend more time on that extreme approach.
Let's accept the fact our brains use quite a bit of energy to fuel our thoughts.
On a micro scale, all those billions of bits and pieces of our brains do work when we think.
There is a limited amount of energy available to the parts of our brains that do our thinking.
As we try to do with oil and coal and other non-renewable sources of energy, we ought to consume the energy in our brains as prudently as possible.
Reader comments (4)
Comments from the original blog platform, 2008–2021.
rick baker ·
"Energy may exhibit on the surface of action, or it may hide behind an unmoved exterior; it may be violent in its manifestations, or as calm as a resistless iceberg. Whatever its characteristics, it is of vastest importance." Frank C. Haddock 'Power of Will', (1907)
rick baker ·
"Energy enables a man to force his way through irksome drudgery and dry details, and carries him onward and upward in every station of life. It accomplishes more than genius." Samuel Smiles 'Self-Help: with Illustrations of Character and Conduct', (1859)
rick baker ·
"Action requires energy. The design of action may be fine. The motivation might be in order. But where is the energy to come from?" "With the design of action we seek to plug into systems that can provide the energy of action.” Edward de Bono 'Teach Yourself To Think', 1995
rickbaker.ca ·
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