Is the universe conscious?

[Geoff-Allen]

Greetings everyone.

Hope you are all having a lovely time here on ze forum!

Here is an article you may find interesting -

Some of the world’s most renowned scientists are questioning whether the cosmos has an inner life similar to our own.

For centuries, modern science has been shrinking the gap between humans and the rest of the universe, from Isaac Newton showing that one set of laws applies equally to falling apples and orbiting moons to Carl Sagan intoning that “we are made of star stuff” — that the atoms of our bodies were literally forged in the nuclear furnaces of other stars.

Even in that context, Gregory Matloff’s ideas are shocking. The veteran physicist at New York City College of Technology recently published a paper arguing that humans may be like the rest of the universe in substance and in spirit. A “proto-consciousness field” could extend through all of space, he argues. Stars may be thinking entities that deliberately control their paths. Put more bluntly, the entire cosmos may be self-aware.

Scientists Now Believe That The Universe Itself Is Conscious

Enjoy your day!

 

[exchemist]

Greetings everyone.

Hope you are all having a lovely time here on ze forum!

Here is an article you may find interesting -

Some of the world’s most renowned scientists are questioning whether the cosmos has an inner life similar to our own.

For centuries, modern science has been shrinking the gap between humans and the rest of the universe, from Isaac Newton showing that one set of laws applies equally to falling apples and orbiting moons to Carl Sagan intoning that “we are made of star stuff” — that the atoms of our bodies were literally forged in the nuclear furnaces of other stars.

Even in that context, Gregory Matloff’s ideas are shocking. The veteran physicist at New York City College of Technology recently published a paper arguing that humans may be like the rest of the universe in substance and in spirit. A “proto-consciousness field” could extend through all of space, he argues. Stars may be thinking entities that deliberately control their paths. Put more bluntly, the entire cosmos may be self-aware.

Scientists Now Believe That The Universe Itself Is Conscious

Enjoy your day!

This is very much a fringe view and not one that is gaining traction.

I note that Matloff seems to place emphasis on something called the Parenago Discontinuity, by which blue stars have a lower spread of velocity than red ones. Bizarrely, he seems to attribute this to "volition" on the part of the stars. I found this explanation of Parenago's Discontinuity on the internet in about 2 minutes:

" With a modern knowledge of stellar evolution and Galactic structure, we now recognize that this result means young thin disk stars (younger than a billion years) have lower velocity dispersions than old thin disk stars. This means that young thin disk stars have more circular orbits around the center of the Galaxy than do old thin disk stars. The young stars also stay closer to the Galactic plane. Parenago thought there was such a difference between the early-type stars (O, B, A, F up to F5) and the late-type stars (late F, G, K, and M) that there was an actual discontinuity between the two groups of stars. Today, however, most astronomers think otherwise. Instead, giant molecular clouds scatter young stars to and fro, explaining why those stars that have made many orbits around the Galaxy--i.e., old thin disk stars--have higher velocity dispersions, greater distances from the Galactic plane, and more elliptical orbits than younger stars, an idea that was proposed by Lyman Spitzer, Jr., and Martin Schwarzschild, both of whom Ken Croswell interviewed for his book, in the 1950s."

Source Is the Parenago Discontinuity a real thing?

Matloff is not an astronomer and seems to be speaking purely ex ano, so far as I can make out. I note also he is described as a "veteran", which could be code for "an old scientist who is starting to lose it". This is a well-known phenomenon, unfortunately (Tesla, Pauling, Hoyle.....).

 

[Mock Turtle]

Worth a read, but do we have to have such (and being click-bait):

Title: Scientists Now Believe That The Universe Itself Is Conscious

First sentence: Some of the world’s most renowned scientists are questioning whether the cosmos has an inner life similar to our own.

 

[Eyes to See]

The universe is too large for us to fully comprehend its magnitude. And yet the most complex thing in the physical universe we know of is our very own human brain.

The human body is a universe unto itself.

The universe when looked at from outside looking down from what I have seen almost looks like the connections inside a brain. Of course inanimate material is not conscious. But God who created it indeed is!

Since you mentioned Sagan, it triggered the memory of a song...here it is, I think you'll enjoy:

And one more bonus one:

 

[PureX]

The universe is conscious and self-aware, through us, just as our own brains are conscious and self-aware through billions of individual neurons.

 

[ChristineM]

Greetings everyone.

Hope you are all having a lovely time here on ze forum!

Here is an article you may find interesting -

Some of the world’s most renowned scientists are questioning whether the cosmos has an inner life similar to our own.

For centuries, modern science has been shrinking the gap between humans and the rest of the universe, from Isaac Newton showing that one set of laws applies equally to falling apples and orbiting moons to Carl Sagan intoning that “we are made of star stuff” — that the atoms of our bodies were literally forged in the nuclear furnaces of other stars.

Even in that context, Gregory Matloff’s ideas are shocking. The veteran physicist at New York City College of Technology recently published a paper arguing that humans may be like the rest of the universe in substance and in spirit. A “proto-consciousness field” could extend through all of space, he argues. Stars may be thinking entities that deliberately control their paths. Put more bluntly, the entire cosmos may be self-aware.

Scientists Now Believe That The Universe Itself Is Conscious

Enjoy your day!

I know a few scientists and i dont believe this to be a popular view

But...

In my imagination as a child i pictured planets, moons asteroids as particles, elections etc and suns as the nucleus of solar system sized atoms.

Solar systems grouped to make cells, all the cells together made a universal being. In a world of such universal beings.

The last scene from the film Men In Black brought my child hood daydreaming back to me

 

[Aupmanyav]

.. that the atoms of our bodies were literally forged in the nuclear furnaces of other stars.

A “proto-consciousness field” could extend through all of space, he argues.

Before I start, perhaps the underlined is not true. We have our own star to do the job.
Though thinking stars are an over-reach of imagination, let us think about 'to what the universe reacts?'. I will not be able to list all things (not that bright of intelligence, members may chip in with their views). But the universe will certainly react to any relocation of mass, however minute; and the reaction, however minute; will in time (so many millions of light-years) will reach the boundary of universe if there is any.

 

[Mock Turtle]

I think perhaps quantum entanglement is the main fly in the ointment for me, but doesn't necessarily then indicate some kind of universal consciousness.

 

[Geoff-Allen]

I know a few scientists and i dont believe this to be a popular view

But...

In my imagination as a child i pictured planets, moons asteroids as particles, elections etc and suns as the nucleus of solar system sized atoms.

Solar systems grouped to make cells, all the cells together made a universal being. In a world of such universal beings.

The last scene from the film Men In Black brought my child hood daydreaming back to me

Hi Christine

Thanks for sharing - I think I saw something similar to your thoughts on an old ep of "Cosmos"?

Lemme see if youtube has it ...

Couldn't find it so far - some of the videos are FULL episodes.

carl sagan cosmos universe particle - YouTube

All the best!