This article is a little old, but this is the first that I've come across it, and it's interesting. So, without further ado;

The idea of the universe as a 'giant brain' has been proposed by scientists - and science fiction writers - for decades.

But now physicists say there may be some evidence that it's actually true. In a sense.

According to a study published in Nature's Scientific Reports, the universe may be growing in the same way as a giant brain - with the electrical firing between brain cells 'mirrored' by the shape of expanding galaxies.

The results of a computer simulation suggest that "natural growth dynamics" - the way that systems evolve - are the same for different kinds of networks - whether its the internet, the human brain or the universe as a whole.

A co-author of the study, Dmitri Krioukov from the University of California San Diego, said that while such systems appear very different, they have evolved in very similar ways.

The result, they argue, is that the universe really does grow like a brain.

The study raises profound questions about how the universe works, Krioukov said.

"For a physicist it's an immediate signal that there is some missing understanding of how nature works," he told Space.com.

The team's simulation modelled the very early life of the universe, shortly after the big bang, by looking at how quantum units of space-time smaller than subatomic particles 'networked' with each other as the universe grew.

They found that the simulation mirrored that of other networks. Some links between similar nodes resulted in limited growth, while others acted as junctions for many different connections.

For instance, some connections are limited and similar - like a person who likes sports visiting many other sports websites - and some are major and connect to many other parts of the network, like Google and Yahoo.

No, it doesn't quite mean that the universe is 'thinking' - but as has been previously pointed out online, it might just mean there's more similarity between the very small and the very large than first appearances suggest.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/11/27/physicists-universe-giant-brain_n_2196346.html

That's so neat. I've always thought along these lines, and I'm pretty stoked that science is starting to show evidence that I'm right.

Ever since I learned about atoms and electrons protons neutrons etc as a little kid... I've likened it to the solar system. I feel like this thought has been in my head for as long as I can remember. I remember being very young, (3 or 4) and having the experience of being huge and tiny at the same time. It has everything to do with a Humpty Dumpty lamp on my dresser and being halfway between nap and wake. Feeling as though I were a microscopic speck, but if I were to reach out my hand would engulf the lamp. I also feel like that may be part of the reason I like alternate realities... want to recapture that feeling of being outside and inside at the same time.

@Busta_Move Thanks for this. I've always (well, not always, but you know) thought of the universe as being one mind/consciousness so it would make sense that it would act like a brain, seeing as our brains are what enable to have the experience of consciousness.

@missblue75 I've often had trips (almost every one of them actually) where I experience that same duality you describe.

@patper said:

Right click -> view image to see the whole thing

http://www.exohuman.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/neuron-galaxy.jpg

That is awesome

Well, there's actually a chance it might be 10 branes. But I'm no physicist, I just play one on the internet.

Hamlet, nutshell, and so on.

(If the universe is a brain, it's one hell of a self-centered navel-gazer).

(I'm not a self-centered navel-gazer, I just play one on... oh, right. Nevermind).

If the universe is a giant brain, could global warming be cause by the owner of the giant brain smoking too much dope?

"macrocosm/microcosm"

"we are all one"

"as above so below"

i love how modern science likes to, on occasion, take some little observation of theirs and use it to support some half-assed thesis that usually resembles ancient thought/belief, or eastern religious philosophy, as though it were a new though and all the time lacking the profundity and grace that comes from wisdom traditions.

here is one from the Zen tradition: "Not One, Not Two". think of the universal brain and then think of your local, personal brain and repeat that phrase. you'll figure it out.

I think the entire universe is Spock's Brain.

Really cool stuff.

@patper said:

I don't think it's coincidence that the model of the atom looks very similar to a solar system and a galaxy.

it is entirely a coincidence.

An atom is 3-D, the model that you are referring to is a 2D representation. The the electrions don't even always orbit in circular paths - it depends on their orbital (some can be figure 8 for example). The Planets all rotate around the sun on almost the same plane. Even at the most basic level, an electron doesn't orbit on one plane like a plate, but in a sphere like a ball.

image: fail

Uh illustration of existence over time?

This stuff is so fascinating.