Brain Cell vs The Universe

[Ichingcarpenter]

Interesting

[Speck Tater]

1. So if the Universe itself is conscious and intelligent

would that qualify as "God". Not God in the sense of a "creator", but God in the sense of an all-encompassing consciousness.

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. It probably watches American Idol and

'Are you smarter than a fifth grader?' too.

I've heard of this theory before and find it interesting.

[zazen]

4. check out Zen Physics by astrophysicist/science writer David Darling

He discusses the role of quantum physics in "revealing" this consciousness (the whole "spooky action at a distance thing" that occurs with photons) in terms that people like me, who could barely pass college biology, can understand. It's soo cool. Basically, the human brain isn't the pinnacle and first instantiation of "consciousness." (Imagine!) It instead acts as a very limited filter of a larger universal consciousness, a filter than enables us to function as self-interested mammals but also tends to result (a la the Buddhists) in the insane conditioning that produces all of the other crap we inflict on the planet and each other. That's why when the brain "breaks down," as in near death experiences, brain disorders, certain drugs, and peak spiritual experiences, or just when we manage to shut up our inner chatter enough during meditation, we get a profound sense of something larger.

I speak of this intellectually, not experientially. I can rarely shut my head up enough to grasp anything.

GREAT photos. My 13-year-old just looked at them and said, Cool! Can you send them to me? Thanks.

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. It is from the NY times but here is the link I found them at

http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/pickover/pc/brain-universe.html

[zazen]

9. merci!

[caraher]

16. Just to be careful, those are not scientific results...

Almost every claim that "quantum mechanics tell us that..." followed by a statement about consciousness goes well beyond what the science tells us.

Science does frequently inspire lines of thought in other areas, but rarely do those emerge as logical consequences of the science. Instead, metaphorical resonances with pre-existing belief systems are taken as scientific warrant for those beliefs. We see this among non-scientists and scientists alike; consider that the elegance of Newtonian physics and its power to account for things like the motions of planets were once taken as further proof of a Creator who designed the universe...

Newer developments in physics have stronger resonances with the concepts of Eastern religious traditions, and I'm happy to see minds opened to new possibilities. But do this knowing that you're working with scientific metaphors and not "facts."

In saying this I don't deny that quantum theory has shattered many preconceptions about the rules the universe plays by. Thinking in terms of a "universal consciousness" does have a certain appeal and does address some of the mysteries of the quantum world, but that sort of thing is in the realm of interpretation of quantum mechanics - fascinating possibilities, but not anything that experiment can reveal.

Or put another way... if you want to believe in a universal consciousness, you do so, with equal degrees of justification, whether or not quantum theory comes along. Quantum theory neither proves nor disproves that sort of thing...

Quantum nonlocality is strange enough on its own... whether one takes the idea of a "universal consciousness" as an explanation of the odd features of quantum physics or as no better than replacing one mystery with another is largely a matter of taste.

[HeresyLives]

3. Well, Blake was close

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

[silverweb]

6. "As above, so below."

Those pictures kinda give new meaning to the _ Hermetic doctrine,_ don't they?

"That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracles of the One Thing."

Beautiful!

[zazen]

7. This is your universe . . . This is your universe on drugs.

[silverweb]

8. Do you have the original link for this?

I'd love to have it an follow up on this a bit. :hi:

On Edit: Never mind, I found it easily _here._ :blush:

And the very short (repetitious) "article" is _here._ It appears that that's all there is available on this ... for now.

[Duppers]

10. both are FRACTALS

They're the geometry of nature, large and small; they're nature's building blocks.

The universe, brains, circulatory systems, snowflakes, electrical patterns--such a lightening, etc.




Fractals often have the following features:

It has a fine structure at arbitrarily small scales.
It is too irregular to be easily described in traditional Euclidean geometric language.
It is self-similar (at least approximately or stochastically).
It has a Hausdorff dimension which is greater than its topological dimension (although this requirement is not met by space-filling curves such as the Hilbert curve).
It has a simple and recursive definition.



Example: A high voltage breakdown is also considered fractal:





Ck out:
http://www.amherst.edu/~rloldershaw/NOF.HTM

[Ichingcarpenter]

11. FRACTALS and new discoveries in math about them

Rule

The third and fourth dimensional aspect of fractals are just being
explored in mathematical threoms

[Duppers]

12. ...

strides are being made in Chaos theory.

[Exodus 3-14]

13. 'Salvation'

This is understood by alot of people, but its 'too outside the box' for most to see; sadly, the 'leap' from Physics Constants to Physiological is outside the mainstream, and Scientists aren't willing to stake their reputations(even if it means our Salvation) on examining the link between how to treat a patient, and how to solve the Eco-System Collapse(let alone the Cellestial Cycle coming in 2012).

I actually know the answer in Theory, but not the science.

Basically, we are having the equivalent of Metabolic Acidosis & Respiratory Acidosis on this Planet.

Other than that, I know the Secret of the Giza Pyramid, and how to apply it for an Alternative Fuel source(and there is no Loss to Entropy.)_

[Duppers]

14. well brilliant

hahahaaaaaaaaaa! LOL! :rofl:

so you can save the planet and show all of us the way to 'salvation.'

very nice and coherent, caption zircon. would ya like to share some of that weed?

[DavidDvorkin]

15. That makes absolutely no sense

Perhaps you need more capital Letters.

[Indenturedebtor]

17. I knew a guy

Who could fart the theme song to "The Price Is Right"

If we could get the two of you together we might finally have world peace :yourock:

------

Yeah fractals are cool! This comparison is good for the soul and speaking out of my ass here:

I find it especially facinating when coupled with my personal belief about the universe which is that Everything - all matter and energy are simply the same cosmic goo which exists only as seperate blobs of goo only for the "purpose" of exchanging information. The information itself differentiates the goo. Not original I know, but my favorite philosophy about the Universe.

If then the neuron has evolved based on some simple guiding mathematical principle which promotes the most efficient flow of information, it would make sense that the fractal images are nearly identical.

However... there are other types of neurons with different shapes so :shrug:

Thanks for sharing, that's fun :D

[Indenturedebtor]

18. Wait I know why!!!!!!!!

Just remembered.

Neurons migrate to their proper place during development following NGF's or Neuronal Growth Factors. When they get there they start extending dendrites (arms) to other neurons and to other dendrites also following NGF's.

Well we know that the universe is expanding right? And it appears that dark matter is accelerating that expansion. If that dark matter was unevenly distributed it would pull things out from the core in much the same way that dendrites are pulled from the nucleii of neurons.

On Edit: Forgot to mention that NGF's are chemical signals put out by other cells... so the NGF's provide the "gravity" of this comparison.

I'd like my cookie to be peanut butter please. :P

[Indenturedebtor]

19. Err wait

Actually it wouldn't have to be unevenly distributed to form those "dendrites". As the matter was pushed and pulled outward from the center it would form strings as the stuff that was closer to the "dark matter" would pull things behind it with its own gravity!

Any thoughts on this by someone who actually knows something?