A Brain the Size of the Universe

The human brain is an extremely complex organ with billions of neurons. Some estimate there to be about 100 trillion connections between the neurons in our brain. Numbers and quantities on the scale of billions and trillions are common in nature, but not so much in our every day lives. Unless you happen to be an astronomer.

Look at these two photos. One is a picture of the brain and one is a picture of galactic super clusters. The similarities are striking.

brain galaxies

Conveniently similar pictures aside, it’s important to remember that the difference in scale is enormous. Galactic super clusters are millions and sometimes billions of light years across. To put that in to some perspective, light travels at 186,282 miles per second. Light can travel around the world 7 times in one second. Yet it takes light millions of years to travel from one side of a galactic super cluster to another.

The almost unfathomable enormity of the universe forces us to constantly revisit our place in it. On a universal scale, we are “microscopic”, perhaps “subatomic”. To make a comparison, It’s as if we are on an electron orbiting a nucleus in an atom.

Electrons Orbit a Nucleus

Electrons Orbit a Nucleus

Planets Orbit A Star

Planets Orbit A Star

Orbits make the universe go round.

Suppose for a moment that there were tiny, intelligent organisms living on an electron orbiting the nucleus of one the atoms in your brain. The perspective of those organisms would not easily lend itself to understanding the nature of your brain, let alone the world you and I live in. To those organisms, the distances between atoms would be “vast”. Similar to the vastness we perceive between star systems. Yet those organisms would be living on a small building block of a much larger, cohesive entity, you. They would most likely have no way of knowing you exist. In fact, if you were to suggest to those organisms that “super massive” life forms like you existed, they would have a hard time comprehending it. Their physics, their methods of perception and perhaps their “time” would be dissimilar to ours. Their world would be one where quantum mechanics and quantum effects were in plain “sight”. They would most likely not use light as their perceptual information carrier of choice. Their carrier may have it’s own limitations, similar to our light speed limitations. So any suggestion to them that objects could travel faster than their perceptual information carriers may sound ludicrous to them.

Could we be in a situation similar to those tiny, “naive” organisms? Could we be living inside a giant brain the size of our universe? As we look out in to the universe with ever increasing depth, we find that it is NOT how we imagined it. There are super structures that are interconnected and moving and changing and evolving. The time frames in which these structures change and the scales at which they operate dwarf us to the extreme. We very well could be on the equivalent of an electron orbiting a nucleus, part of an unfathomably large structure.

27 thoughts on “A Brain the Size of the Universe

    1. oportosanto

      Yeah, it’s quite impressive to see that our brain resembles the whole of the universe. Those who deny a creator or a superior intelligence are certainly denying a lot of evidences.

  1. bailey

    i think about this every so often. its crazy to think we are the only ones ‘out there,’ how could that possibly be? its really humbling to think about how tiny and inconsequential our lives are. its also sad to know how poorly we treat our planet, especially knowing that once its completely destroyed, there is no where in our current view of space for us to go…

  2. Nicole Holmes

    Lots of thought in my head after reading this. When you think about the fact that our bodies themselves are such a high percentage of bacteria and “other” individual living organisms. When you look at it like in this article I can see how it can exist on a larger scale.

  3. Ane-Maria

    Wow, I ended up in an almost identical discussion. However it was proposed that the universe and everything within it is comprised of ever larger atomic structures and continues infinitum. I grasped the concept, but could contribute little other than to describe it as a mirror reflected in a mirror. You’ve managed to explain it much better with your example of the brain compared to the universe. Thanks!

  4. Snape

    The pictures are really awesome. It also reminds me that the human brain has a very complex structure. We are just watching the wonders of Physics.

  5. Reinaldo

    It’s the picture about the similarity of the neurons in our brain and the galactic super clusters is what astounded me. After seeing that picture I already got an idea on where you are going with the article and it was a great read. It’s like seeing the milky way galaxy as a small brain within the entire universe, and our solar system as a small brain within the milky way galaxy, and earth as a small brain within our solar system, and then us, our brains itself as part of this big cluster of beings living. I wonder if there are some living organisms living inside our bodies thinking if they can find other species living inside a different organism other than humans. Just a thought.

  6. Gustavo

    That first question in the last paragraph really got me thinking about this article. I mean yes, I now think that we are just a small fraction of a bigger community or world that we do not yet understand.

  7. Tim

    To those tiny being living inside our brain, could other people in our world be considered an alternate universe or would it not quantify to them at all? I heard the passage of time (although technically time is constant) should feel slower for smaller organisms than the larger ones, so if there are tiny civilizations living in our brain, then I guess it could seem like billions of years have passed by, even though it’d be tens of years for me. I sound so stupid trying to make sense of this LOL~ I still got much to learn.

  8. Brian N.

    This article was interesting but all that I read here is. I think you are doing a great job and as a frequent visitor I’d like to say thanks for taking the time to maintain thehumblefuturist.com. Also, thanks for the image file of the galactic superclusters. It’s now my desktop.

  9. Liv6

    I do enjoy exploring the thought of the similarities alluded to in those pictures, but I have a hard time believing that the universe has a “brain.” However, I do believe that there is some form of higher intelligence that operates this world, whether it be through electrical impulses in the atmosphere or through some other medium. It’s quite intriguing to ponder, really. Interesting read, thank you.

  10. thecorinthian

    I’ve thought about this same thing infinitely as I look at the lines at the palms of my hands and the veins of a leaf, both are alike but at the same time very different. I possess human cells and this leaf possesses plant cells but in our most subatomic state are we not both the same? There are symbols and motifs that repeat over and over again in our universe the Buddhists and Hindu religions are aware of this as well as theoretical and nuclear physicists like Einstein and I find that knowing this information is also like seeing the face of God in all things. Cheers, great article.

  11. turtledove

    This is an excellent article, very well explained. The similarities between the two pictures really are striking, and that really gets me thinking. This is a very deep idea, but it’s also a little scary when you think about how insignificant one human is on the huge scale of the rest of existence.

  12. sase3119

    I absolutely think we could exist inside an entirely different organism, or that another could exist inside us. There’s really no reason to believe we couldn’t, and it would explain a lot about the way the universe works – how it came to be, why concepts like ‘karma’ exist, and the concept of a ‘higher power’ in various religions.
    In a way it can be comforting to think that we are just a tiny, tiny part of something huge. On the other hand, if we are not the lowest level of the system, it’s a scary thought how much we could be impacting an entire civilization.

    1. Radiobox

      I’ve thought about this many times as well. It’s a portal of thought that can get one all looped in and out. Reminds me of the “As above, so below” concept. This message theorizes that man is the counterpart of God on earth; as God is man’s counterpart in heaven. Therefore, it is a statement of an ancient belief that man’s actions on earth parallel the actions of God in heaven. This pivots on the belief that “all things have their birth from this One Thing by adaptation.” The universe is the same as God, God is the same as man, man is the same as the cell, the cell is the same as the atom, the atom is the same as…and so on, ad infinitum.”

    2. Radiobox

      I’ve thought about this many times as well. It’s a portal of thought that can get one all looped in and out. Reminds me of the “As above, so below” concept. This message theorizes that man is the counterpart of God on earth; as God is man’s counterpart in heaven. Therefore, it is a statement of an ancient belief that man’s actions on earth parallel the actions of God in heaven. This pivots on the belief that “all things have their birth from this One Thing by adaptation.” The universe is the same as God, God is the same as man, man is the same as the cell, the cell is the same as the atom, the atom is the same as…and so on, ad infinitum.”

      Metaphorically speaking.

  13. misskrystal1982

    It is quite an interesting concept. Sometimes I will look into the night sky and try to grasp that I am on a rock hurtling through space and that there are other rocks doing the same thing. It is very humbling. It’s much the same as knowing your life means so much to you, but there are billions of other people whose lives are just as important.
    There are people you will never meet, things you will never see, and those other people are doing the things you can not do. It is all very mind blowing.
    And if our universe IS inside something else, are they also inside something else? Where does it end? It’s enough to make my head hurt!

  14. KCDavis

    I have always had this thought. Everything else is a small part to a bigger picture. So what is the bigger picture? Were does it end or how does it circle around? All questions I ponder every now and then. I hope that soon we can find the next piece of the puzzle.

  15. oportosanto

    I love the pictures you present and in fact the picture of the brain is quite similar to the super cluster. The same with the atom and the orbit of planets around a star. How can this be possible? 🙂

  16. Lamb0

    Wow, this is my first time seeing the comparison of the brain and the universe. It’s unbelievably amazing. If this is true, then if a person dies, it will be the end of those tiny organisms and the universe they are living in, which is the person’s brain. And if we are indeed living in someone’s brain, then this entity must be what most of the people call God. I’m having goosebumps.

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