Is the Universe a Giant Brain? Exploring the Conscious Universe
Think of your brain. It is an organ like any other but composed of soft cells which are vital in thinking, sensation and perceiving. Now, think of everything there is in the entire Universe – stars, planets, galaxies etc. To their amazement, on the contrary, some scientists found something striking. Your brain and the way it looks and works is how the Universe functions. What if the Universe itself is conscious? This cool idea doesn’t deserve to stay in fancy books. And thus, let us investigate this idea armed with real data and explanations.
What Is Consciousness?
To begin with, let’s turn our attention to the topic of consciousness. Consciousness is everything within you that makes you alert, aware of the tissue and surroundings as well as to reason with emotions. Everybody has that time when they feel hungry and can picture how their next birthday will be or may be looking forward to a specific toy. That is all because you have some consciousness in you that is functional.
But wait; what if the Universe has a mind as well? No one would usually imagine this, yet there exist people who are truly looking into this idea. They pointed out some peculiar similarities between your brain and the Universe.
Neurons and Galaxies: A Surprising Pattern
Your brain consists of billions of small cells known as neurons. Neurons are like small people who are in touch with each other and are likely to send a message to each other. It is this structure that enables thinking, body movement as well as sensations. There are about 69 billion neurons in your brain!
Let us now focus our attention on the Universe. The Universe contains at least 100 billion parts which we call galaxies or humongous bulks of stars, planets and other cosmic items. Similarly, like the galaxies, the furniture of the universe is also arranged in a structure called the cosmic web. This arrangement of galaxies bears a striking resemblance to the arrangement of neurons in your head!
How Are the Brain and the Universe Alike?
Now, isn’t this an interesting tidbit: your brain and the Universe follow the same pattern. Research has shown that concentric analysis of the human brain, even limited to 2.5 mm (or 1/10th of an inch) will reveal what seems to be a small section of the universe that occupies 500 million light-years. Isn’t that absurd?
But that’s not the end of it! Each brain neuron makes about five connections with other neurons. In the same way, each galaxy in the cosmic web contains four other galactic connections. These aren’t precisely the same, but they do resemble each other quite closely. Why is that so? Does it mean that the structure of the Universe is the same as that of the human brain?
How Much of the Universe Is Dark Energy?
The human brain consists of roughly 77% of water. This water nourishes your neurons and keeps you alive through signals. But how does it work in the Universe? Well, the Universe isn’t water-type, it consists mostly of something referred to as dark energy. This dark energy constitutes around 73% of the Universe. It is not penetrating, and although scientists do not fully understand it as yet, they believe it is what allows the Universe to expand.
Just as water is a substance that is essential for the functionality of your brain, dark energy may provide the function of providing “effectiveness” to the Universe.
Could the Universe Be Conscious?
Bigger question arises now: Can Universe possess consciousness? For anything to be deemed as conscious, it has to have awareness of itself and inter-relationship with other things. Inside of your brain, the neurons communicate efficiently in no time which makes you think and act fast. This isn’t how the Universe, unfortunately, works. It is so extensive that the messages from one galaxy to another would take billions of years to reach each other!
Some specialists still defend the idea that the Universe has everything including some form of consciousness within it. Only one there would be perceiving degree of consciousness not quite the level at which ours operate at.
What Is the Cosmic Web?
In past discussions, we have explained what the cosmic web is, however, let us go further and define it in simpler terms. The cosmic web is A large-scale structure located within our universe. It consists of galaxies that are interlinked by filaments a dark matter that cannot be seen. It can be compared to how neurons in the human brain are.
Within this cosmic web, extremely large groups of galaxies are formed, with large voids present between such galaxies. These groups of galaxies act as superhighways while moving in the space much in the same way as the other neurons use while shuttling impulses in the brain.
According to the interpretation of scientists, this web may unlock the secret, regarding whether the Universe could ‘think’ or receive and process information somehow. It is as if the galaxies were the brain cells and the cosmic web was the connecting system of these cells in human’s head.
Dark Energy and Dark Matter: The Unknown Forces
Perhaps one of the major unresolved queries of the Universe is the so-called dark energy and dark matter. Moreover, these two combined account for almost 95 % in the Universe! This means that all the things which we can actually see like stars, planets and galaxies are just a very small piece of the major scheme.
Dark matter is something scientists believe is there to keep the galaxies intact, although not a single person has ever seen it. Dark energy, on the other hand, is simply the force which causes the Universe to keep on accelerating.
Can such forces still be the basis of how Universes this particular one ‘thinks’? Several scientists hold that had one explained dark energy and dark matter more positively, more answers regarding Universe’s deemed consciousness may be made available.
Consciousness on a Bigger Scale
In order for the Universe to be aware, it should have some notion of everything taking place in its galaxies, stars, and condition of its planets. Given how huge the distances between the galaxies are, this makes it unlikely that the Universe could ‘think’ as people do. Some of the scientists, nevertheless, think that the consciousness could be much more streamlined than it may appear.
Isn’t consciousness more than just the brain and neurons? Perhaps it is the interaction of stars and galaxies as systems. And if it’s true, then the consciousness of the Universe could be of an entirely different kind. After all, it has billions and billions of galaxies and star systems and planets which spins around them in ways that we have hardly begun to grasp.
What Scientists Think About a Conscious Universe
The idea of a conscious Universe is not accepted by all the scientists. Some of them regard it as lighthearted, while others are not convinced. Beneficial as it is, this has no basis as there is still a long way to go.
There are even some scientists who are studying panpsychism, which is an idea which makes the most unorthodox of assumptions- wherein even non-living entities possess consciousness. Advocates of this approach even contemplate attributing some degree of consciousness to a rock or a star.
Although panpsychism is still in the realms of theory most of consensus, it highlights the fact that scientists seek to understand the properties of consciousness on other scales.
The Multiverse: Are There Other Universes?
Here’s another spin of the mind: what if there are other universes? Other scientists speculate that we may exist within a multiverse, a system consisting of countless universes. What if this is the case? It would imply that the Universe we exist in is merely one of other universes, each seemingly distinct; having its unique laws, constitution and perhaps even consciousness.
If such universes exist in reality, they must have interconnection in a fashion we cannot begin to comprehend. Some scientists also ask whether such universes would be able to ‘exchange information’ like the neurons of a brain. Thus, they may have been speculating that primates, in this case, brain processes, would have force feedback.
The Mystery Continues
Can we say that the Universe is also conscious? The answer is not satisfying because we cannot say that with confidence. Still, it’s a very interesting question that remains unanswered. What’s certain is that both your brain and the Universe have some remarkable things in common, whether it’s the intricate webs of elements or shedding light on the billions of cells that construct them both.
With the cosmic knowledge increase we may come up with different approaches on how to conceive consciousness: not only on an humanize level but also on the level of the Universe. And who knows? Perhaps we will one day learn more about our thoughts – the Universe has been contemplating us all along, as we presume it to do!
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