Ask HN: Can Language Carry Physical Energy? Challenging E=Mc² with Semantics
I’ve been exploring the idea that language—specifically, meaningful information—might have a measurable physical effect on biological systems. Inspired by both information theory and quantum biology, I recently wrote a paper extending Einstein’s classic equation:
E_total = mc² + λS
where S represents a quantifiable measure of semantic information (using NLP models and acoustic features).
My core question for the HN community: Could semantic content—what we say, or how meaning is encoded—actually carry energy that has a measurable impact in the physical world?
For example, I ran double-blind experiments on plants exposed to different types of speech. Results suggest that positive, meaningful language increased ATP production and thermal output in plants (compared to controls and scrambled speech).
Has anyone seen similar research or run experiments on information/meaning as a physical variable?
Are there alternative ways to test or falsify this idea?
Where would you look for the strongest arguments for or against treating “meaning” as a real factor in energy equations?
Looking forward to a spirited discussion!