In my school office, we’ve been exploring how thoughts and words affect our emotions. Inspired by Dr. Masuro Emoto, a Japanese scientist known for his controversial studies on how thoughts, words, and prayers impact water, we conducted an experiment.
Dr. Emoto’s research suggests that water can form beautiful crystals when exposed to positive words or thoughts, and asymmetrical blobs with negative ones. Considering humans are mostly water, these findings imply our thoughts might similarly affect us. The basic idea is positive thoughts lead to positive feelings, and negative thoughts to negative feelings. Curious to see this in action, my students and I replicated Dr. Emoto’s experiment in early March.
Here’s what we did.
We recently conducted an intriguing experiment inspired by Dr. Emoto, involving rice and the power of words. Here’s a more reader-friendly breakdown of what we did and what happened:
Preparation: We started by cooking some rice. Then, we took two clean glass jars, putting about 2 tablespoons of cooked rice in each. We sealed the jars tightly with lids.
Labeling: On sticky notes, we wrote “you fool” on one and “thank you” on the other, and attached each note to a jar.
Placement: We placed these jars side by side on a counter in my office.
Experiment Process: For a week, we alternated between sending negative thoughts and harsh words to the “you fool” jar, and positive, loving thoughts to the “thank you” jar.
Initial Observation: For the first week, there was no noticeable change in either jar.
Break Period: Then came a 10-day spring break during which the jars were left unattended in my office.
Post-Break Observations:
- “You Fool” Jar: Upon returning, we noticed a green, gray mold had started to grow on the rice in this jar.
- “Thank You” Jar: This jar, however, only showed a yellow/orange mold.
Further Developments:
- Over the following weeks, the mold in the “you fool” jar grew rapidly, turning into a foamy green/gray mass and causing the rice to clump together.
- The “thank you” jar, on the other hand, maintained its light yellow/orange mold, and the rice still resembled its original form.
Conclusion: It was clear that the mold in the “you fool” jar was growing and fermenting at a much faster rate compared to the “thank you” jar.
We were fascinated by our experiment’s results, showing how words might affect the rice’s fermentation. Despite leaving the jars unattended, the “thank you” jar, labeled with words of gratitude, resisted rapid fermentation unlike the “you fool” jar. This suggested that positive words might offer a form of ‘protection’.
I shared these findings in a staff meeting to highlight the power of our words. It was a reminder that we can choose positivity or negativity and feel the impact of that choice.
The students are keenly observing the jars’ progress in my office, reinforcing the importance of mindful speech. Though we’ll eventually discard the jars, this experiment has been a valuable lesson in the influence of our thoughts and words on ourselves and our environment. It’s an enlightening activity to try and observe its impact.