what do we mean by “good vibes?”

Vibes are everywhere: on mugs (“good vibrations”), slang (“I vibe with you”), pop culture (“vibe shift”). But does it really mean something, physically, to vibe with someone?

First, it’s true, we all have vibes.

Vibes = Vibrations = Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR)

EVERYTHING emits electromagnetic radiation. Electromagnetism is the interaction between particles, and we are just beings made up of particles.

The electromagnetic field is produced by a distribution of electric current and charge. It is now generally accepted that matter is not continuously divisible but is composed of small discrete particles.

D.S. Jones, The Theory of Electromagnetism

And I will go more into this in another post, but for the book lovers, Adam Becker wrote a great one about this.

So, we are made of particles, and particles have wave-like properties (in a phenomenon known as wave-particle duality). The EMR (waves) that humans emit is in the infrared region (Fig. 1).

Not pictured in Figure 1 are other everyday objects we encounter. Our beds, clothes, food, and even water emit radiation, aside from ourselves and our electronics. Humans, along with most objects, emit infrared radiation (780nm-1mm, perceived via heat). Vibes are everywhere.

For a quick physics refresher: waves are traveling vibrations.
Two waves can have constructive interference or destructive interference (Fig. 2)

The two waves added together may be even more asymmetrical. They might be on a totally different wavelength (Fig. 3).

So, if we as humans emit waves/vibrations, then it wouldn’t be out of the question that there are some people we constructively interfere with (good vibe), some we destructively interfere with (bad vibe), and some that just don’t make sense (like Figure 3… these waves are not even vibing).

A follow-up question may be: if humans vibrate in the infrared region (felt as heat), is there a correlation between people’s body temperatures and their compatibility? (Not to be confused with someone having cold hands, which is a circulation problem and not indicative of a cold internal body temperature. I will definitely work on a traditional Chinese medicine post next).

So here you have it. Vibes are real, take what you will with that. And do we have some control of our vibes? CC Rice would say so, in this video where she “magnetizes” her forehead (or third eye) by tapping it, resulting in her bobby pins sticking to her forehead.

Sending you good vibes, whatever that looks like for you!