The Universe as an Organism?

Bear with me on this one. Currently science tells us the Universe is about 13.7 Billion years old. There has been some similarities drawn between our Solar System and an atom, with the sun as a nucleus and planets as electrons/protons and that the Universe may in fact be just a massive object of which we are an indescribably tiny part...

However my own variation of theory is that this one massive object is actually a life-form, that as the Universe expanded it may have developed consciousness... That the Universe may merely be an evolving organism or perhaps, the Universe is God...

If the Universe were God it would explain why God is meant to be omnipresent, omniscient, etc as the Universe is everywhere and all knowledge is part of the Universe... It may also explain how we were made in "God's Image" as it postulates in the Bible (I'd like to take this moment to say, I'm not a Christian so I'm not plugging the Bible), after all, if solar systems reflect atoms and we're made of atoms than we are made in the image of "God" (also, we're made of the same elements as the Universe)... It would also explain how God created the Earth, since the Earth is a product of the Universe and, if the Big Crunch theory is to be believed it may explain God being the Alpha and Omega (alternatively if the Universe is eternal than it might explain why God has no beginning or end)...

The main problem is the nature of life itself... is life an eventual inevitability (an inevitable result of changes over vast passages of time)? Is it possible for something non-biological to have life, if not than what of sentient robots (that most think we will eventually develop)? Would sentient AI have consciousness but not life? The Universe has existed for a long time, is it possible that it evolved its own consciousness? Perhaps a bit out there, but its just a thought
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You are on the right tracddk. For many years i believed it to be so and im pretty sure many other people do too but the problem is that it would be so hard to even try to prove it with our current level of tech and thinking that i think the scientific community just isnt going to go there yet.

It would explain why everything large or small behave the same way like galaxies, solar systems, atoms. It has been discovered that sub-atomic particles behave in the same manner and it will be discovered that the universe does this in time.

notice that as a cell dies its nucleus behaves as does a supernova star. Black holes can be damaged cell walls or membranes. Nebulae could be the psysical form of cellular fluid. Notice also that objects in space are absorbed by other solar systems and contents from galaxies merge not unlike how atoms can attract electrons from other atoms.

It would be safe to assume that a Universe is not the final step then if it represented an organism. Think if our universe as a human being. All solar systems would represent the number of total atoms in that particular person.

My theory is that the human race is actually a virus. We are destroying the planet we are living on and have created an almost irreparable scar on it forever. If we make it off this rock into the galaxy we will surely just overrun many more planets and drain them of their resources. If overpopulating this planet has lead to destruction then imagine an entire galaxy over-populated by us. Imagine, what would happen if we were to do to all the planets in the milkey way suffer like what we do to our own planet? Would this cause the galaxy itself to suffer. Is mother nature just the immune system fighting off an infection (ex: natural disasters)? There are many who believe that nature will kill us off if were to really overstep our bounds.

I am at a loss for words.
I literally had this same thought pop into my head yesterday.
I mean the universe being an organism, not necessarily all of the other thoughts you have stated.
It makes sense to me. The Universe IS an organism. It is ALIVE!It IS energy.
I also happen to believe that we all should strive to resonate at the same frequency the universe resonates. It is almost like the human race is "out of tune" with the universe, so to speak. Also I am sure it is no accident that we are.
Anyway, good thought. You know what they say,
"Great minds....."

I have had some ideas along similar lines, but a little different. I think of the universe as a finite projection of the Infinite.


The Divine Singularity
www.abovetopsecret.com...

The Universe as Colossal Brain
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Good thought.

Not original, though.

It's called pantheism

For more information, google Spinoza and Leibniz.

Shouldn't this be in the Philosophy forum?

[edit on 30-6-2008 by Astyanax]

Check out '' The flower of Life''

Look inside of you! you (we) are it. we are all one universe. hope that made sense? so Yes its alive! its you!!

I will try to explain:
Think of this you become conscious you grow jet you know everything and can do everything but what would you do if your in this position with all this knowledge and capabilities. (remember this is not a person but an conscious living entity not bound by space and time!).

To try and make a simpler "example" and understandable!;
I would create a world like in the computer games with many little characters and I will life there lives not knowing about the fact were all one so I can feel loved and wonder about all I don't know!

infinitely small can be bigger than infinitely large (universe) there is a Universe outside.
But there is one inside all of us to!...and you know what .....
its "all the same".

(I wish I could have written this in my native language it makes a lot more sense... trying my best here! )

reply to post by Astyanax


I figured it wasn't original, but since I came to the realization myself I was rather proud of myself

It kind of fits, the Universe has been around for a very long time, far longer than the Earth by itself, so over the eons of time its possible the Universe has developed a mind, or it, itself, an organism...

I have had similar discussions recently, it's a fascinating subject. I have a few questions about this theory.

What would be the brain of the universe?

What would be the blood? Dark Matter maybe?

And what if the whole universe as we know it was just one atom in a much much larger being?

If the Sun were to represent an atom this would mean we live at a sub-atomic level and therefore would not be able to see the "blood" or brains as the total amount of atoms needed to make this would take the good majority of the universe. Dark matter would be a good example though as 60% of the universe is made up of it.

What facinates me is the space time on each level. To us cells live and die in minutes. If you were to live on this level time would appear to go much slower so we can assume that to the cell, countless millenia have passed. The bigger you are and the faster you move, the faster time will go for you. An example of this is as yoiu approach light speed, you are going faster than our conventional time. If the universe were a being, it would be moving at faster than light speeds, so in a couple of hours for the organism, a lifetime of thousands of stars will come to pass.

reply to post by LDragonFire


Perhaps the brain wouldn't have a central location, perhaps it would be spread as a vast consciousness, or perhaps it would be located at the epicenter of the Big Bang... Dark Matter might be the blood or it could be the spiritual matter of the Universe, or perhaps it is just another phase of matter (like gas or liquid) that we don't understand, perhaps it is the Universe's dead cells...

As for the whole Universe being an atom, it makes my brain hurt but its possible, and if that were the case than perhaps everything exists in an never-ending cycle of organisms within atoms within larger organisms ad infinitum...

[edit on 30-6-2008 by Titen-Sxull]

Originally posted by Titen-Sxull
I figured it wasn't original, but since I came to the realization myself I was rather proud of myself

And so you should be. I mean that sincerely, without the slightest irony.

Rather than conceive of it as a realization, though, it might be better thought of as a possibility.

The first pair of sentient eyes that opened and apprehended the universe was, in a very real sense, the entire universe seeing itself for the first time. Still, it's a long step from there to the conviction that the whole universe is sentient. I mean, is your whole body sentient? A question worth pondering.

Spinoza and Leibniz (not to mention the writers of the Vedas, the Neoplatonists and various others) were able to argue very convincingly that the universe is sentient. So you are a thinker in that tradition.

I still think this thread should be in Philosophy, though...

Originally posted by Astyanax

Spinoza and Leibniz (not to mention the writers of the Vedas, the Neoplatonists and various others) were able to argue very convincingly that the universe is sentient. So you are a thinker in that tradition.

I still think this thread should be in Philosophy, though...

Glad to know I'm not alone

I thought it might belong in another board but I tied it in with AI and the origin of life so I think I'm safe, or at least I hope... It is philosophical, but all science started with philosophy anyway... the question is what constitutes life, is it something purely physical or is it mental, can their be consciousness (a mind) without a purely biological body, can something we would consider inanimate, such as the aforementioned AI be considered alive? If not alive, than at least sentient? If AI is alive could a planet be alive, a star, a Universe? We only know that on Earth it seems the body developed long before the conscious mind, but could a mind develop before a body (or without one altogether)? Science has some questions to answer indeed...

interesting Titen Sxull.
Yes, it could well be that the universe is connected, even "Aware", but alive? Not in the way that we presently know. It certainly "reacts", to internal stimulii, (stars going nova, black holes..) and regenerates itself (dustclouds, and the birth of stars and solar systems). There seems to be something more subtle going on, something more, than science alone..
but that might be speculation itself, and not tied down by fact.
Buy here's something else to think about... Life, intelligence, it's not a virus. The universe has to create, endure, perhaps even the multiverse (superstring theory). Ultimately, intelligence will come to understand, be it ourselves, or some other race. Curiosity killed the cat? no. Shroedinger's cat may be half dead (Via quantum theory), but the progress it stood for in realising basic universal quantum theory, was very real indeed.
Once we understand how the universe was created, curiosity will drive us onward. It's only natural.
Somewhere, I think, a paradox, is waiting to be born... ?

When talking about vastness towards infinity (whether infinitely small or infinitely large), the comparisons will never stop. We could one day figure out that the universe is indeed comparible to an atom, then we could discover that there are many universes (many atoms) which make up an even bigger organism, etc. etc.

I don't see any real need to know such things unless they can specifically help humankind. Granted, this idea may lead to some kind of understanding that all things in our universe coalesce and work together, which then may lead to an advancement of technology of some sort, but aside from this possibility wondering about whether the greatest known thing in existence (namely, our universe) could be a smaller portion of something grander is of no practical use whatsoever.

I remember coming up with this theory myself a few years back, relating the whole idea of the sun and planets orbiting to a nucleus and electrons...

But then again does that mean that in our bodies nano humans are alive and kickin, launching spaceships into our electrons and dropping atomic bombs on a few protons... hmmm...

Maybe I should just smoke another one...