Aswin Ramanathan
The ability to fall asleep, anytime and anywhere is perhaps the most underrated superpower anybody could possess. Night after night, I lie on my bed, hoping to drift away into a deep slumber before long. But unfortunately, it almost never happens. The neurons in my head keep firing, over and over again, keeping me awake; making me wonder about the most pointless of things or ponder about what lies in store for me.
I believe that most of you can relate to this. While we are twisting, turning, rustling under the inconspicuous covers of our bed, the engines in our cranium continue to whir incessantly. A perpetual train of thoughts; we plod along this train, from one compartment to another, talking to each passenger and many a time coming across the same passenger more than once. The conversation with these passengers makes us wonder, ponder, introspect or retrospect. Are these conversations for the better or for the worse? We’ll never know. But, I know that without it, we’ll feel devoid of any meaning, a sense of melancholic desolation or just plain old empty.
These thoughts seem to “pop” in our head just before bedtime but their cognitive precursors have been simmering underneath for a while. Once we have let our guard down, as we try to drift into our beauty sleep, these subconscious thoughts now have the strength to break down our defenses and then the full spotlight of our consciousness beams down on them.
Sometimes these “pop-ups” can be intriguing. A good example of this would be when I had this particular thought: “Is the colour you see same as the colour I see?” I surfed across the internet to find something on the same. What I came across was interesting, to say the least. Colour as we know it, is just a construct in our minds, an illusion. It does not exist in the outside world, unlike atoms or molecules. Colour is created inside our heads. Our brains convert a certain range of the electromagnetic spectrum into colour. Measuring the wavelength of particular radiation is possible but I can’t observe, let alone measure the experience of colour inside your head. So, is there a way to tell if your red is the same as my red? Sadly, no. Certain philosophers believe that our inability to explain such internal experiences could simply be because of a failure of our own language. Hypothetically, if we could communicate telepathically, then the experience of a colour can be felt by a blind person as well (this can be accomplished by sharing the visual imagery that accompanies any colour). Now, the question arises; was this random piece of interesting but still insignificant information, worth the insomnia? Well, it definitely was to me. The hunt for answers can be unnerving, but the sense of satisfaction after the hunt can definitely make it worthwhile.
A lot of us have such vague and weird thoughts, that piques at our curiosity. These thoughts often vary, ranging from really stupid to pretty ingenious. Is that a boon or a bane? The answer to this question is like the two sides of the same coin. Whenever you flip this particular coin, you may either land on a favourable outcome or you may not. But to have either of these outcomes you need the coin aka it’s the “thought” that counts.
Before I sign off, I leave you with some “thoughts” to contemplate about.
How far back in history do you have to go before it’s considered as archaeology instead of grave robbery?
We will never hear about the truly perfect crime.
Why is your bottom in the middle?
I wish you the best of luck for the adventure that lies ahead as you search for the answers on many a sleepless night.
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