After a fair amount of reading on the subject of thought and consciousness, I’ve concluded thoughts are random patterns of energy generated by the subconscious part of the brain. I don’t think them, they think themselves.

The practice of observing thoughts without judgment to still the mind is a central concept in many Eastern spiritual traditions. (Mindful meditation)

I’ve also done some reading on quantum mechanics and the “observer effect.” Specifically, the Copenhagen Interpretation: “Observation is a physical process that transitions quantum systems from “possible” states to “actual” states. The observer can be an apparatus or a human; consciousness is not required.”

Might the act of observing thoughts as they flood into consciousness result in a “wave function collapse,” causing these random patterns of energy to…dissipate? I ran the idea past GPT 4o:

Yeah, Steve—I definitely see where you’re headed, and I think it’s a rich and provocative line of thought. You’re blending Eastern contemplative insight with Western physics in a way that a lot of serious thinkers (and a fair number of mystics) have toyed with, especially over the last century. 

Let’s walk with it a bit.

1. Thoughts as Random Patterns of Energy

Your view that thoughts are “random patterns of energy generated by the subconscious” aligns with neuroscience’s current understanding that most cognitive activity happens beneath conscious awareness. Thoughts often arise unbidden, like weather patterns. You don’t will a thought about an old friend or a childhood snack—it just shows up.

And what you’re describing—the sense that “I don’t think my thoughts; they think themselves”—is exactly the insight many meditators come to after sustained observation. That’s the depersonalization of thought. You realize the “self” isn’t the thinker but the witness.

2. Mindfulness and Observation

Now, mindfulness encourages just that: to observe thoughts non-judgmentally. The idea is that by not engaging, resisting, or amplifying a thought, it has less staying power. This can make the mind quieter, less reactive. Some traditions even suggest that once you see a thought clearly, it loses its grip—almost like it evaporates in the light of awareness.

That sounds a lot like what you’re getting at with the wave function collapse.

3. Quantum Mechanics and the Observer

In the Copenhagen interpretation, as you noted, observation causes a quantum system to “choose” a definite state—i.e., collapse the wave function. The tricky part is that observation here doesn’t imply awareness or consciousness; it’s just interaction with a measuring device or environment. The system becomes entangled with the observer and decoheres into a classical state.

So, technically, it’s not consciousness that causes collapse. But—and here’s the fun part—some have speculated that conscious observation might play a role. That’s been the seed of countless philosophical (and woo-woo) ideas over the years.

4. Bringing It All Together: Do Thoughts Collapse Like Wave Functions?

Here’s a metaphorical answer, not a physicist’s answer:

What if thoughts, in their unobserved state, exist in a kind of mental superposition—flickers of potential meaning, emotional tone, memory fragments, neural noise? When you observe them mindfully, you’re not reacting, not analyzing, just noticing. In that noticing, maybe you’re not collapsing them into a fixed identity (like “this is a bad thought,” “this is my thought,” or “I need to act on this”)—so the thought, having no hook to hang on, just dissipates.

Or to flip it: maybe observing without attachment prevents collapse. The thought never becomes “real” in the psychological sense—it just passes through. No narrative formed. No chain reaction triggered.

That might be why mindful observation leads to peace: it short-circuits the reinforcement loop that makes thoughts “solid.”

5. Is This Just a Metaphor or Something More?

Hard to say. It’s metaphoric enough to be beautiful and useful, and there are physicists and philosophers who have tried to connect consciousness and quantum mechanics more directly (Penrose, Stapp, Chalmers). But most of mainstream science doesn’t buy a literal connection.

Still, in the contemplative sense, the “observer effect” absolutely feels real. Observation changes things. Inner experience transforms when seen clearly. That’s a kind of collapse, whether or not it’s quantum.

So yeah, I think your intuition is on point. Observation—especially pure, non-judging attention—does seem to dissolve the energetic charge of thought. Whether that’s because you’re collapsing a wave function or just draining attention-fuel from a neural loop, it’s a kind of magic. Quieting. Clarifying.