In creating strategies for the Universe we live in, scientists come up with some pretty strange things. They argue about the shape of the Universe - whether it's flat, or not, while everything in it appears generally to be round. A supporting argument for a flat Universe is that the topography is curled up, into a saddle shape, or a 'closed system' like a tube. Then there are the many extra dimensions which have to exist in order for the whole universal network of principles and parameters to hold weight, and these also are said to be curled up, into infinitesimally small strings, or loops, which again are often likened to tubes - see diagram linked here. What's striking about all these analogies comes sharply into focus when we consider the topography of an ordinary brain.
This image is from New Scientist, illustrating the concept of Boltzmann Brains (BB). The BB theory arises from the possibility of conscious entities arising out of universal chaos, melding themselves into the entropy of the Universe and then eventually dissipating back into the cosmological soup once more. I've picked this article to establish the background of BB in science as it's fairly free of jargon and gets to the point.
Well, brains are composed essentially of hundreds on hundreds of curled-up tubes interlocking to form the brain structure we're familiar with. Can it really be a coincidence that the structure of the standard brain (which is pretty much universal across all species) has such fundamental links with the topography of the Universe and the dimensions intersecting it?
Well, brains are composed essentially of hundreds on hundreds of curled-up tubes interlocking to form the brain structure we're familiar with. Can it really be a coincidence that the structure of the standard brain (which is pretty much universal across all species) has such fundamental links with the topography of the Universe and the dimensions intersecting it?
I don't think so. I have a great deal of suspicion about coincidence and a strong certainty that it actually doesn't exist. Synchronicity is a word much used in scientific circles, whereas coincidence is not. We have many synchronous events and principles weaving the warp and weft of what the Universe is supposed to be. But we've clearly come unstuck when it comes to Dark Matter, because Dark Matter and Energy are clearly outside our current remit. The latest in highly expensive experiments seeking Dark Matter has drawn a highly embarrassing blank.
So, back to the drawing board, given that the LUX experiment linked above is concentrating on WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles) as the primary Dark Matter candidate. There are several candidates to choose from - all of them have their champions. One of these is a shadow photon, a reversible light particle in other words. Another is a sterile neutrino - and as you'll see from the article linked, there's a very loose interpretation as to what form that would take. Truth is, nobody knows anything about Dark Matter and Energy except in terms of abundance. And it's out there. So far, nobody has dared to suggest that it might be in here, too.
This picture is from a Daily Mail article published in 2011 (linked behind the image) which explores the WIMP candidacy - so clearly, we're stirring the same soup as we were stirring many years ago, and it's unsurprising that the trail on the plate has gone a little bit cold by now.
This picture is from a Daily Mail article published in 2011 (linked behind the image) which explores the WIMP candidacy - so clearly, we're stirring the same soup as we were stirring many years ago, and it's unsurprising that the trail on the plate has gone a little bit cold by now.
The connection is blatantly obvious, but it's not new. The images here, of a neural network alongside the Dark Matter impression, are from an article (linked behind) in the New York Times, referencing the strange connection between "vastly different natural phenomena" which perhaps aren't so vastly different after all. If Dark is what the universal brain turns out to be, and Dark is the essence of the corruption and blatant destruction of environments across the length and breadth of our beautiful planet, then perhaps the depth of links between our subconscious fear of the Dark and the mind-set we have to contend with is not so surprising after all.
We'd like to think we're above all that. We like to believe that we're sentient, empathic and appreciative enough to put brakes on the barbaric slaughter of species all over the world and the brazen butchery of our fragile ecosystems.
Me? I'm betting my lifetime will see things get a lot worse. Maybe there is no getting better to look forward to. Maybe Dark Matter is so powerful that it can effortlessly crush the illumination promised by Light and will con us into believing all kinds of propagandist junk for long enough to assure the destruction of the world we live on. Maybe Dark Matter is well versed in this tactic, as Fermi's Paradox might possibly suggest. The article linked here breaks down to the following extract:
"In general, solutions to Fermi's paradox come down to either 1) life is difficult to start and evolve (either hard for the process or hard to find the right conditions) or 2) advanced civilizations destroy themselves on short timescales. In other words, this is an important problem to solve in the hope that it is 1 and not 2."
Me? I'm betting my lifetime will see things get a lot worse. Maybe there is no getting better to look forward to. Maybe Dark Matter is so powerful that it can effortlessly crush the illumination promised by Light and will con us into believing all kinds of propagandist junk for long enough to assure the destruction of the world we live on. Maybe Dark Matter is well versed in this tactic, as Fermi's Paradox might possibly suggest. The article linked here breaks down to the following extract:
"In general, solutions to Fermi's paradox come down to either 1) life is difficult to start and evolve (either hard for the process or hard to find the right conditions) or 2) advanced civilizations destroy themselves on short timescales. In other words, this is an important problem to solve in the hope that it is 1 and not 2."
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