50 pages 1 hour read

Napoleon Hill

Think and Grow Rich

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1937

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Part 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 4, Chapter 13 Summary: “The Brain: A Broadcasting and Receiving Station for Thought (The Twelfth Step Toward Riches)”

The brain is a broadcast and receiving station for thought vibrations. A study by Alexander Graham Bell and Elmer R. Gates concluded that every human brain can both emit and pick up vibrations of thought, similar to a radio broadcast. These vibrations are transmitted through the ether and can be received by other brains, particularly through the faculty of the Creative Imagination.

The chapter emphasizes the role of emotions in “stepping up” (240) the rate of vibrations of the mind, making it more receptive to external thought vibrations. Particularly, the emotion of sex is noted for its ability to increase the rapidity of brain vibrations, thereby enhancing receptivity to ideas from external sources.

Hill explains that the process of sex transmutation, or redirecting sexual energy towards creative endeavors, results in heightened receptivity to external thought vibrations. Additionally, when the brain vibrates at a rapid rate, it not only attracts external thoughts but also imbues one’s own thoughts with a magnetic quality that makes them more likely to be picked up and acted upon by the subconscious mind.

The subconscious mind is the “sending station” (240) of the brain, broadcasting vibrations of thought, while the Creative Imagination serves as the “receiving set” (241), picking up these vibrations from the ether.