Thought is a Chain Reaction

When I was in 6th grade an instrumental science teacher, Mr. Cagle, explained the concept of a chain reaction in such a way that it stuck in my mind permanently and caused, quite literally, a chain reaction in my thinking.

Mr. Cagle explained that engineers once did a demonstration of a chain reaction by placing thousands of mouse traps side by side, back to back in a perfectly sized room. Atop each mouse trap was a ping pong ball. Looking down at the loaded mouse traps, one additional ping pong ball was dropped from above onto the floor. “Snap” … the first trap shot an additional ball into the air after the dropped on triggered it. Now two ping pong balls drop and trigger two more traps and now four are bouncing. Those four trigger four more and now eight are airborne. Eight becomes sixteen and sixteen becomes thirty-two and so on. Here is where the magic occurs; as these traps keep popping and more balls keep flying, critical mass achieved. At one single moment every single remaining trap is popped and ever single ping pong ball is whizzing through the air. This is exactly what happens in a nuclear reaction with tiny atoms being smacked together. All at once, “boom”, they all go off and you have a chain reaction.

For me, thought can be a chain reaction. One thought leads to another and “bam”, total clarity as all thoughts connect to form a cohesive vision. As George Peppard so gracefully put it put it, “I love it when a plan comes together.”