The two most complex entities known in existence are the universe and the human mind, both of which we essentially know nothing about and that reality is simply unfathomable.
The universe is the most complex entity in the universe. I know that might sound a little counterintuitive but it’s true. While the human mind is a very close second, the universe is complex in ways that we know absolutely nothing about. It is this vast expanse of unknowns that, to quote “No Way Home”, we know frighteningly little about. Although we are the only humans that we know of to exist, we are also only 1 planet, in 1 solar system, in 1 solar system neighborhood, in 1 galaxy, in 1 local galactic group, in 1 supercluster, in 1 local supercluster group, in the 1 observable universe. And while that is enough to make you question every aspect of existence, the crazier part is that in the “1” observable universe, the key word is observable. There is an infinite number of entities that we can’t see and an infinite number of entities we don’t even know about. Our expansive observable universe could be 1 of ten’s hundred’s, thousands, millions of other universes that we have no idea exist. Our universe was estimated to have formed about 13 billion years ago and even though that number has been backed by extensive research and science, that statistic has about 1% accuracy. To think that while we are the only humans we know to exist, there could be other solar systems or galaxies or even other universes populated with people just like us or even more advanced beings that we can’t even begin to fathom. It’s thoughts like those that lead me to believe that movies like “Star Wars” or “Avatar” or “Lord of the Rings” are a lot more realistic than generally believed. Who’s to say that in another galaxy there isn’t an entire solar system with people or creatures that resemble the characters in Star Wars. Who’s to say there isn’t a planet somewhere in another supercluster that resembles Pandora that’s populated with Na’vi like beings in Avatar. Who’s to say there isn’t a continent somewhere in another universe in which dragons, hobbits and magical life forms resemble Middle Earth of Lord of the Rings. There is no way to know in our time right now and there might never be a way for us on Earth to know what is beyond our galaxy and our observable universe and that fact is perplexing, intriguing, terrifying, fascinating and simply mind-blowing.
While the universe is one of the most riveting and thought provoking topics to me, something that is almost equally as captivating is the human mind. The human mind truly blows my mind, silly as it may sound. We know about 10% of how the brain functions and it’s quoted as being a remarkably unknown frontier. Scientists do not even fully understand how the brain of a worm works with only a few hundred neurons and our human brain has around a hundred billion neurons. From an evolutionary perspective, the first species of humans evolved from apes about 4 million years ago and since then have evolved generally every few million years. As humans evolved from hominids into homo sapiens over time, their brains evolved as well. The first few species of humans, to our knowledge, didn’t have even remotely the same brain capacity and general capabilities that we do today. Hell, walking on two legs was only well developed in the second few species of humans. Since then, our brains have continued to grow and expand as time passed. Later species were able to communicate to a certain extent as well as gather food and provide for themselves. However, those abilities are somewhat incomparable to our modern versions of them. Their way of communicating was not through language or words or writing, they would make various sounds or pictures on cave walls. They obviously didn’t go to the grocery store to get food, but it wasn’t as simple as going outside their cave and growing it themselves either. They were built differently biologically which enabled them to gather food using their sharp teeth and they had strength in a way that we don’t to hunt for their food. It sounds very primitive and crude when laid out like that but it’s those early stepping stones that led to our species of humans today. While the evolutionary perspective provides insight into the rich history of our species, it doesn’t explain much about us today outside of how we got here. The perplexing thing about it all is that while we know a substantial amount about our ancestors, we know so much more about ourselves while still knowing virtually nothing. It’s a weird concept to grasp that we know so little about the thing that we are using to think. I know that kind of makes no sense and I guess that’s what I am trying to highlight. While our modern human species have used our brain’s to learn so much over the last few hundred years about the world, each other and ourselves, there is still so much unknown about our brains themselves. It’s the most vital organ that keeps our bodies breathing and thinking yet we cannot seem to figure out how it exactly does everything that it does. There is so much power in the brain itself when you put it into that perspective and it’s simply fascinating to think about. Our brain gives us the ability to not only live and breathe, but to think, feel and do every single day. Without it or without it functioning properly, we are nothing, hence death. At the end of the day, the human mind, just like the universe, is just mind blowing. Our brains have advanced tremendously over time and we now have the capability to use them to advance ourselves and our world just as our ancestors did to get us to this point, but the fundamental understanding of how exactly our minds have done it has remained a constant question mark for millions of years which is simply mind-blowing.
The universe and the human mind are the two most complex systems known in nature. In a way, I think our minds are a great representation of our universe. We know so little about both entities yet they both serve incredibly vital purposes in our lives. We wouldn’t be here without the existence and advancement of either one over time. They mirror each other in a lot of different ways both from a scientific standpoint and an existential, philosophical standpoint. From a scientific perspective, the universe and the mind are similar in their complex structure. A majority of these similarities stem from their smaller entities such as neurons in the brain and galaxies in the universe. The brain has around 70 billion neurons and the universe has around 100 billion galaxies. They’re both organized into structured networks connected by filaments. Within these, the flow of energy and information between the neurons in the brain and galaxies in the universe is only about 25% of the mass and energy within each respective system. Another aspect between the two that’s eerily similar is the general composition whereas the brain is about 77% water and the universe is about 72% dark energy. While the scientific facts lay out the concrete similarities between the two, the philosophical discussions are more interesting to think about as there is much more room for hypothetical possibilities. To me, it raises an infinite number of questions about who we are, what we’re doing here, what our purpose is and overall what the fuck are we. Are we in the universe or is the universe in us? Is there some higher power out there beyond our own universe that created something so complex that no one but them understands it? If so, who are they and what else is out there beyond our little planet and galaxy and universe? Are we supposed to be figuring something out as a planet to find that beyond? Are we some sort of science experiment? Are our minds supposed to be representative of our universe? I could go on and on for pages with the infinite number of questions I have about our world, in our mind and beyond. But maybe that’s the point. We all have so many questions and the fact of the matter is, we have no one to answer them. Although there are a lot of people who believe in God/gods and that they can answer these questions, God/gods are not living breathing beings. They are hypothetical higher powers who are thought to have all of these answers to all of our questions who protect us and teach us about ourselves and our world. Whether or not you believe in God/gods, the facts still stand that there is no one to answer these questions while we spend our time on Earth, at least at this point in time. That brings me back to the question of is this the point. Is our universe and our mind so complex that we don’t try and figure it out. If you try and figure it out, you will just spend your life coming up with millions of questions with no answers. So maybe, just maybe, there is a reason behind that. We can’t figure it out and maybe we’re just not supposed to. Maybe that reason is to give us a purpose while we’re here and maybe that purpose is to enjoy our lives while we have them. Somehow I always circle back to the purpose of life centering around enjoying it. However, this raises another question to me. Say there is some higher power that we cannot even fathom and they put us here, in this complex universe with just as complex of a mind. Say they made it so unbelievably complex so that we can’t even try to figure out how we got here and what really is beyond our world. Say they did that so we can just enjoy being alive during our relatively short time on Earth. So say all of that is true. My question is, what if the reason we haven’t been able to figure it out is because we as humans, have created a society and a world that is utterly complex for no reason and we simply as a whole, have lost the fundamental purpose to enjoy our lives. Our world is filled with hate, war, conflict, prejudice and inequality not to mention that we have been slowly killing our planet for years. What if the reason our minds and our universe remains so much of a mystery to us is because we lost an overarching sense of peace and fulfillment in all of our lives. Our planet didn’t start off divided, it became that way as time went on. I mean at the end of the day, we're all human beings. Yet we live in a world divided not only geographically, but by race, sexuality, religion, socioeconomic background, education and power. So much of the conflict in our world stems from people refusing to accept our differences as well as our similarities. I mean seriously we create so much division between us but underneath everything we are all made up of the same structure. I would like to think that the way, we as humans, can finally figure out what the hell we are, is to just stop thinking about it and enjoy your damn life while you have it. Of course, this is a lot easier said than done and I personally love contemplating life like this. But at the end of the day, no matter how many questions I can come up with, there is still no one to answer them. So after a while, I think, for me at least, it’s a reminder to not think about it so much and its grounding. It’s that realization that puts my feet on the ground and my head out of the clouds in a way. So while I have a million questions about all these unknowns in the universe and the mind, what I do know is that I am a human being with an entire life ahead of me and entire planet full of people and places to learn about and explore so why not do just that and enjoy the hell out of my life.
The universe and the mind are the two most complex entities known to exist and despite knowing so little about both, that reality can serve as a reminder in our little corner of the unknowns, while we have it, to just enjoy life.
Enjoy your life. I love you and of course if it is just me reading this, I love you and I am so proud of you.
2/25/22
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