The Myth Of 65,000 Thoughts A Day & How “Thought Worms” Slithers Through Your Mind
“Master your mind and you will climb to great heights.” — #ZAK
The Average Person Has 65,000 Thoughts A Day
“Our minds can drive us insane if we don’t control the mental traffic that races by, minute-by-minute.” — #ZAK
I’m sure you’ve read articles, studies, and even heard professors, psychologists or even your MOTHER, who at some point said that, “humans incessantly have 65,000 thoughts a day” and while we cannot attribute this insane number to any body of research or authority, I decided to do the math:
- 60 minutes in 1 hour
- 24 hours in one day
- 60 x 24 = 1,440 minutes a day
- 65,000 thoughts a day ÷ 1440 minutes
- Total Thoughts Per Minute: 45.14 !!
Just looking at the math, why did we ever believe that the human mind entertains about 45.14 incessant thoughts a minute?
Think about it!!
This number is insane and yet we all bought it, even the professionals!!
The Good N E W S . . .
A recent fMRI brain scans research from Psychologist, Dr. Jordan Poppenk and his master’s student, Julie Tseng at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario reports, “that the average human has 6,200 thoughts per day.” This new study debunks the previously held 65,000 thoughts per day myth which many psychologists and professionals have promulgated over the last few decades, purely by observation, however, with fMRI technology they were able to observe the transition from one thought to the next which is referred to as, “thought worms.”
“On average we have 6,200 thoughts a day or 4.3 thoughts a minute.”
I don’t know about you, but 4.3 thoughts a minute is more acceptable than 45.14 thoughts a minutes.
Now let’s take a closer look at the new study on “Thought Worms” . . . Thought worms consists of consecutive periods an individual is thinking the same idea.
Example of a 1-Minute Thought Worm:
- 1st thought worm: what should I eat for lunch?
- 2nd thought worm: have to start my presentation slides
- 3rd thought worm: I need to call my mom and see how she’s doing
- 4th thought worm: I suck at presentation, maybe Daniel can do it?
Dr. Poppenk, noted in the Queen’s Gazette, on Saturday, September 26, 2020: “What we call thought worms are adjacent points in a simplified representation of activity patterns in the brain … When a person moves onto a new thought, they create a new thought worm that we can detect with our methods.”
The below Fig.1 depicts two types of thought:
a) Continuous, random thoughts which are short blips, and
b) Contiguous, worm-like thoughts which are longer, called “thought worms”
c) Example from one participant’s 15-minute resting fMRI scan. The colour gradient convey thoughts from 0 to 900 seconds (15-min) — Notice the worm-like shapes and random thoughts which are both present in the 15-min time period:
For most people, from the time they wake up to the time they go to bed, their mind is caught up in a mental battle, not giving any space to pause and reflect.
Is it normal to constantly have voices in our heads?
Actually, it’s quite normal for the human mind to have racing thoughts.
So RELAX!
You’re normal!!
Let’s look at a little interesting brain fact . . .
The oldest and most primitive part of the human brain is our survival brain, the “lower brain,” also playfully called the “reptilian brain.” Our lower brain is designed to chatter continuously to present “what if” scenarios based on past data. The lower brain’s job to keep us safe which served our ancestors to constantly be alert lest they become the saber-toothed tiger’s lunch. Since we don’t have to be on constant alert, mind chatter robs us from creating the life we dream of.
Incessant thoughts keep us stuck, ruminating on past data from the oldest part of our brain and not giving our newer developed brain, the “Prefrontal Cortex, PFC” a chance to examine our life, make future plans and execute on our plans.
Constant mind chattering, especially if they are negative, causes cognitive congestion not leaving any space to do any productive thinking and planning.
To live the life of our dreams we need to get out of our mind’s incessant thoughts.
The space between our thoughts, commonly known as the “gap” and also well known by Zen practitioners as, “no mind,” is where magic happens. This sacred space enables us to receive profound wisdom and clarity as the “self” is completely whole and free of fear, pain, happiness, sadness or any emotions or thoughts the mind can conjure up.
“No Mind is a sacred space where we are nothing and yet we are everything that’s perfect, that’s whole, that’s complete. There is no judgment, no ego, no right, no wrong, no biases, no attachment — there is just pure bliss.” #ZAK
Since speech and comprehension occur in the left hemisphere of the brain, to bypass the constant chattering you need to access the right side of the brain. Here’s a quick 1 Minute Tip to help you silence the internal monologue in your head >> This 1 Minute Tip Will Stop Your Mind Chatter
Closing Thoughts . . .
The Mind: a beautiful servant, a dangerous master (OSHO Singles)
A recent Queen’s University fMRI brain scans research from Psychologist, Dr. Jordan Poppenk and his master’s student, Julie Tseng found that the average person has 6,200 thoughts per day. This new study debunks the previously held 65,000 thoughts per day myth which many psychologists and professionals have propagated over the last few decades, purely by observation, however, with fMRI technology they were able to observe the transition from one thought to the next which is referred to as “thought worms.”
It is normal to have voices in our heads and our job is to be the master of our minds.
About the Author
Hey there! My name is, Zahida A. Khan, originally from South America, now living in Toronto. As an entrepreneur, I’ve manifested success early until I was faced with a tangled web of deception — I had to do major introspection which lead to expanding my mind and questioning hand-me-down beliefs. Today, I’m here to share lessons learned in my business and personal life, and I’m truly grateful that you took the time to read this article.
One of my greatest joys in life is helping people navigate challenging times; offering a lending an ear, offering a safe space without judgment, and pulling out the solution which is often found within. I created a safe space to help people who are going through divorce HELL >> Join me @ Scarborough Divorce Lawyers built with love on Skool Platform.
Enough about me, I’m interested in learning if you have mind chatter and how you control it. Please comment below.
