Are we living in someone's mind?

The universe is someone's mind, and we're just living in it. This is today's topic.

It seems crazy, but I've got two very interesting images to show you. These were taken during some research conducted 16 years ago. The image on the left is of a nerve cell from a mouse's brain that has been dyed red. The image on the right is from a computer simulation of the universe and depicts a structure called a "cosmic web."

What's a cosmic web? You might think that outer space is mostly a vacuum containing very little matter. Actually, gravity forms stringlike substances in between galaxies, formed from matter and dark matter located throughout the universe. These "strings," combined with a countless number of galaxies, form a massive network throughout the universe. Researchers compared images of this cosmic web with a neuronal network formed from brain cells.

As you can see here, the structures of the brain and the universe are very close. However, this by itself doesn't prove that the universe and the brain are structurally similar. Why? Humans are, by nature, very good at finding similarities between different things. For example, when we look at cracks in a wall or clouds in the sky, we start to see the shapes of animals. This is because our brains tend to search immediately for similarities. Therefore, just because images of a brain cell and the universe resemble one another, doesn't necessarily mean that their structures are actually similar. However, some seemingly definitive research was published in 2020.

Comparison between the brain and universe

The neuronal network of our brains resembles the cosmic web of the universe in all aspects: structurally, morphologically, and in terms of network characteristics and memory capacity. These findings are the result of a quantitative comparison of human brain cells and a simulation of the cosmic web, and are therefore highly credible.

The human brain contains 86 billion nerve cells, and a neuronal network formed by these cells. In contrast, our observable universe contains a cosmic web consisting of approximately 100 billion galaxies. Some similarities in how both networks are structured have been discovered.

For example, the most and least dense parts of the neuronal networks in our brains differ by a factor of exactly 100, or 1 micrometre versus 100 micrometre. Shockingly, the same range in density has been observed in the universe. The most and least dense parts of the cosmic web also differ by a factor of 100, or 5 million light-years versus 500 million light-years. This degree of similarity is hardly ever observed in the natural world, among the structures of different objects with a web pattern.

The researchers who published this research investigated the nodal points of the neuronal network of the brain compared with those of the cosmic web. Their analysis showed four to five axons extending from each nodal point in a nerve cell, and around four galaxies connected to each nodal point in the cosmic web. Even more interestingly, if the entire cosmic web network were to be used to store information, we would be able to store approximately 4.3 petabytes of information.

In contrast, the human brain can theoretically store 2.5 petabytes of information. 4.3 petabytes and 2.5 petabytes might first seem to be quite a difference. However, even a slight difference in the structure of the neuronal network of the brain can result in an exponential difference in the amount of information that can be stored. Therefore, the 2.5 petabytes of the brain and the 4.3 petabytes of the universe are actually extremely close.

It's as if the cosmic web is a structure meant to store the amount of information that a human-like intelligent being would accumulate over the course of its life. Furthermore, moisture accounts for 77% of the mass of the brain, while dark energy accounts for 70% of the mass of the universe.

There are also many other similarities. The fact that the human brain resembles the universe so closely seems to suggest something deep. This will surely be the subject of future research, but now I'd like to provide my own opinion and conjecture.

Why is the structure of universe similar to brain

The myths and legends that have been passed down over the years in many countries all over the world provide a very similar outlook on the universe. "The universe was created from the body of a 'god' and has consciousness." For example, "Ymir" (the primordial giants from Norse mythology), "Pangu" (the creator of heaven and earth from Chinese mythology), "Gaia" (a goddess from Greek mythology), and "Geb" (from Egyptian mythology), are all from different legends but all tell the same story. We live in the body of a "god." If we consider these legends from a modern perspective, we might think that they are merely the primitive beliefs of our ancestors. 

However, there are some modern orthodox physicists with a similar perspective on the universe. Professor Avi Loeb is the former head of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and had held that position longer than anyone. In a 2021 issue of the "Scientific American" science magazine, Professor Loeb posted an article with the following title. "Was Our Universe Created in a Laboratory?"

If a Sci-Fi author wrote this it would probably be dismissed as nonsense. However, this was written by a well-known academic, and therefore attracted a lot of attention. He argues the following.

4 types of intelligent life

Intelligent life in our universe can be classified into four types.

• Class A life would be at the highest level, and would be capable of creating other life.
• Class B life would not be capable of creating life, but these beings could modify their own natural environments. For example, they could modify a planet to make it habitable.
• Class C life would be capable of only partially modifying the natural environment. If the planet on which these beings live would change too drastically, they would face extinction. Modern humanity is classified as class C.
• Class D life would not be any less intelligent than class C beings but, due to evolving or developing in the wrong direction, would ultimately face self-destruction.

Professor Loeb believes that class B and lower life is created by class A beings. He also believes that, if we continue to develop along our current path, we will drop from class C to class D. With regard to why we have not been able to meet other intelligent life in the universe, Professor Loeb believes the following. The universe that contains our planet was created by class A beings using "quantum tunneling," and is what he calls a "baby universe." In other words, we are in class C and exist in a different universe from class A. 

Maybe this is easier to understand. We are in a laboratory created by class A beings. If Professor Loeb's "laboratory theory" is correct, then we cannot dismiss the possibility that this "laboratory" is itself some kind of living being. Whether this living being is the class A being itself is unknown. At the very least, this could explain why the structures of the universe and brain are so similar.

I'll digress a bit here. It should be easy to understand what class A, B, or C beings might be like. But what about class D beings? I've given this a lot of thought, and I believe that class D beings would be similar to the "asuras" of Buddhism. Asuras live in the "asura realm" and have many amazing abilities, but are extremely morally degenerate. Asuras have very strong passions and are belligerent, and are said to be willing to do anything to accomplish their goals. Modern humanity seems to have begun to fall into the asura realm.

Science and technology have given us many amazing abilities. However, in order to continue to develop, we have sacrificed our natural environment. And in order to accomplish our goals, we have sacrificed countless other lives. We are controlled by our endless greed, and we seem to be dragging our entire civilization into a dark future. I'm not sure exactly why Professor Loeb argues that we could fall from class C to class D. However, if we don't think a bit more about our future as we develop, I think it really could happen. 

Let's get back to the main topic of this article.

The secret of the universe

Based on Professor Loeb's hypothesis, I'd like to take another look at the relationship between the universe and the brain. I mentioned earlier that dark energy accounts for 70% of the mass of the universe. We still don't know what dark energy is. However, I mentioned earlier that water accounts for 77% of the mass of the brain. Imagine the following thought experiment. Imagine that there are intelligent beings living in our brains. What would this look like to these beings?

They could of course observe the nerve cells and neuronal network. But what about the water, which accounts for the remaining 70% of the mass? Water is clear and is found all throughout the brain. These beings would literally be swimming in water, but would be unable to observe it.

Let's take the thought experiment further. If we could travel outside the universe, the mystery of dark energy would probably be solved. Also, consider how similar the network structures of the brain and universe are. Couldn't we assume that the brain and universe also function similarly? For example, two molecules of the same structure will also have similar characteristics. When a pharmaceutical company develops a new drug, these characteristics are used to evaluate drug toxicity.

This similarity "that is, a correlation between structure and function” can be seen in many other examples. If this correlation also exists between the brain and universe, the universe is highly likely to have consciousness just like us. Let's discuss something other than brains and universes for a moment.

After roughly half a century of development, the network structure of the Internet now closely resembles the network structure of the brain and our universe. Within the network structure of the Internet, the nodal points would be PCs, smartphones, and other similar devices. These devices, like the nerve cells in our brains, are constantly exchanging and transmitting information with each other. So, does the Internet also have consciousness?

No, the Internet does not have consciousness... yet. What about the Internet of the future? No one knows. Why? The devices currently serving as nodal points in this network are still not very "smart". However, as AI develops and these nodal point devices reach a certain level of intelligence, the massive network known as the Internet may begin to develop consciousness similar to us. This might sound wild.

However, Professor Loeb, advocate of the "laboratory theory," has said the following. "Modern science is becoming more close-minded, and this could result in scientific progress being held back." Although Professor Loeb has some very fantastic theories, he may be attempting to open our eyes to new possibilities.

I hope that reading the articles on this website will get you to think a little bit about our world. That's what really motivates me to keep creating articles. Thank you for reading!