On the path of exploring the infinite universe, animists brought with them a fascinating idea: everything has spirituality. Now, scientists are playing with an even bigger questionWhether the universe itself possesses intelligence
When we gaze at the starry night sky, it's hard to imagine that galaxies within tens of billions of light-years form a vast networkReticulated fibrous structureIt is called the Great Wall of the Universe, and it is dotted with statuesLaniakea SuperclusterSuch a giant node and a cosmic void. The speed of light of 300,000 kilometers per second spreads the light of galaxies throughout the universe, and our galaxy is just a speck of dust.
Amazingly, the neurons inside the human brain also form a sheetReticular structure, electrical signals carry information between synapses. This form has an amazing relationship with the structure of the universeSimilarity。As a result, some scientists speculate that the universe may have the same ability to think as the human brain.
Physicists and neuroscientists are using mathematical models and the laws of physics to explore the conscious potential of the universe. Integrated Information Theory (IIT).Such is a theoretical framework that attempts to quantify consciousness by proposing that consciousness can arise in any sufficiently complex and highly integrated system, not limited to living organisms.
If we accept the IIT theory, we can imagine that if the structure of the universe is complex enough, systematic, and highly integrated, then it might be able toConsciousness is conceived。This consciousness may be generated in the same way as the collective consciousness formed by hundreds of billions of neurons in the human brain, or even the future artificial intelligence of trillions of transistors.
From the point of view of entropy increase, any entity with a mind is a low-entropy existence, which does not seem to be consistent with the natural laws of the universe. But since the human brain's ability to think is also based on matter, perhaps the ability to think on the cosmic level is also likely to be born, or even possibleBoltzmann brain(If the known low-entropy universe is a fluctuation of entropy, then there should also be a lot of low-entropy self-consciousness in the fluctuation, such as a lonely brain.) This lonely brain is named the Boltzmann brain).
If the universe does possess some form of consciousness, then our understanding of the self and our place in the universe will be completely changed. We will not just be observers in the universe, but part of the interconnection and interaction with this larger cosmic conscious entity. This means that all thinking organisms, including humans, could be thisThe constituent molecules of the cosmic brain
However, there is a question worth pondering: in the context of information in the universe traveling at the speed of light, if the universe really has a mind, will it think efficiently?Extremely slowly？Given the limitations of the speed of light, it can take tens of billions of years for a complete mind to travel across the universe, while the observable universe is already 93 billion light-years in diameter and expanding.
Taken together, these ideas undoubtedly provide us with a fresh perspective on the universe, consciousness, and the role we play in it. While there are still many unknowns, exploring the possibilities of cosmic intelligence is an exciting scientific adventure in itself. Whatever the outcome, we are beginning to realize that the universe may be even more amazing than we think.