The essence of an idea

Often, I had the opportunity to be part of many brilliant heated discussions with my fellow physics enthusiasts. Oh who am I kidding - fellow Geeks. But more often that so, the question that forever remains a battle of debate was about the “essence of ideas”. So today, I have taken the liberty to write about my views on the whole subject.

 An idea in itself is a thought process, that carries with it great energy and enthusiasm. So, why are our other musings not as powerful as our ideas? If every thought is nothing but an electrical impulse that flows in our brain, why does it not carry the same buoyancy of an “idea”?

Let us come back to these questions later. But, before we begin, we must understand what an “idea” is? Often, many are misled with this concept because of the common social misconception. In philosophy, the term “idea” has been used to cover a plethora of concepts. Often so, they are either mental representational images or constructs. But quite frankly, I think an idea is the culmination point of many individual thought processes over a given period of time.

Think about it?

 Every thought, ever notion, even every action we do, is directly or indirectly influenced by “Society”. When I say “Society” I mean the mass media, culture, education, a group of people and even the written word. But, what influences this abstract concept of “Society”?

For knowing this, let’s us conduct a small thought experiment. Let us go back in time.

It is common knowledge that Isaac Newton is credited with deducing mathematically – “the force that pushes or pulls (or) Gravity”. But if we effectively trace back further in history, we can see that man was very much aware with the existence of such a force, much before Newton. They referred to it as “gravitas”. The seed of this line of thought was planted not by Newton but by a Greek philosopher, Hagnon of Tarsus. Newton just found the mathematical evidence to sell this idea better.

The same thing can be effectively attributed to Albert Einstein’s very famous “Theory of Relativity”. Einstein was certainly not the first to propose it. Many physicists before him discussed, argued and debated about the cause and effect of “time dilation”. But, it was this wily German physicist who formulated a structured pattern for relativity. That much I give him credit for.

So, in a nutshell- every idea we think we are having, is not new. Someone out there, is already having it or worse had it. So, is he plagiarizing the idea? No, course not. This is because we still remain well within the matrix of imagination laid down by the said “Society”.

Coming back, what is the “Essence of ideas?” If every thought process, is influenced by the society then what is a new “Idea”?

Firstly, the “essence of ideas” is an unblemished, revolutionary, contagious, reflexive, spontaneous, reflection of careful brooding of a person or a group of people that carries by itself controversy, imagination, and of course the concept it delivers.

Secondly, coming to the latter half of the question, new “ideas” basically takes many decades to come up. According to me, the stigma of thought that people tend to have, which is again influenced by “Society” can be put in three categories, which are:

•         Ideas
•         Experimental prosthesis
•         Transcendental contraptions

Our “Society” always remains in at least either one of these phases. I have already told you “what is the essence of an Idea is?

So, when a group of people start the inception of something revolutionary, often so, the “Society” is on the precipice of this phase. This is why when “crazy” ideas are voiced by someone; he/She is looked often as an outcast.

The renaissance movement is a good example. Back then, people thought, nay believed that the “Earth” is flat. Sure, right now, earth being round is a universal truth, but in catholic England it was crazy talk.

The “Experimental Prosthesis” is where people start catching up to the “Idea” and set out to keenly prove it with evidence. The “Transcendental Contraptions” phase is when we see the “Idea” physically transform into reality. Then, again this cycle repeats itself.

Currently, our society is stagnated at the third stage, or “Transcendental Contraptions”. Thus, every thought we tend to conjure out is in line with the thought-matrix stipulated by the “Society”.

The cycle takes often a millennium to fully kick start. If you don’t believe me look closely at your history books. It is thus with great sadness that I can say, that our generation might not be around when the next “Crazy Revolutionary” idea is being pitched onto the table.