One thought, multiple lives

In the current world we live in where we are exposed to multiple of opinions through the many media we have access to, constantly expanding school of thoughts and stances of what a good life should like, we are often faced with the queston of how much influence a thought can have on our lives. We can argue that a singular thought might not have as much influence on us as an individual, but psychologists have proven that humans are a product of influence (see the social influence theory and mimetic desire).

It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who first said:

Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny’

His statement, which has been well received, postulates that thoughts are the seeds of a life lived. In this case, we extrapolate that when a man thinks a certain way, he is inviting himself to begin to live in that particular way. In essence, when a man thinks thoughts of nobility, strong character, he soon finds himself acting these out and consequently becoming a person that others can attribute nobility to as well.

But more than this, is the fact that today, we are exposed to many thoughts that are often inspired by contents from different media platforms that are often not the most pleasant or fun things to think about. More importantly, given the scale of reach of these platforms, I am often wowed at the breadth of people whose lives are often directed by these thoughts, although not at an immediately conscious level.

Today, I am bugged by this burning question: “if a thought has that potent power of directing the life of an individual, how many other lives are we co-creating by sharing and listening to thoughts that are being shared in our world today?” Is there some form of scientific relationships between the number of thoughts we are exposed to and how fulfilled we are with our personal lives? What do you think?