Study Finds Similar Structures In the Universe, Internet, and Brain

SternisheFan writes "The structure of the universe and the laws that govern its growth may be more similar than previously thought to the structure and growth of the human brain and other complex networks, such as the Internet or a social network of trust relationships between people, according to a new study. 'By no means do we claim that the universe is a global brain or a computer,' said Dmitri Krioukov, co-author of the paper, published by the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA), based at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego.'But the discovered equivalence between the growth of the universe and complex networks strongly suggests that unexpectedly similar laws govern the dynamics of these very different complex systems,' Krioukov noted."

Comments

A bit of Zen

[girlintraining]

I have learned after studying many differing fields of science and engineering, that as you master one field you gain insight into many others. There are certain patterns of organization that repeat throughout nature, and mimicked by man, and if you study anything long enough you are certain to see these patterns. The more you learn, the easier it becomes to learn more because natural things are mostly variations on a finite set of themes that, whether you are aware of them or not, you will discover them and from that point forward, notice them much more quickly.

This is one example. There are many more.

Cognitive Structure

[Myu]

Maybe this is just because we use the same neural mechanisms we think with to phrase scientific theories and build models of networks? Just a thought.

Re:It's math

[girlintraining]

It's not math. Math is a language. Don't confuse natural phenomena with math; It is possible to observe and even describe them without knowledge of mathematics. That said, math is one of the best ways to describe them.

the number e

[Iamthecheese]

There are certain constraints for the most efficient transfer of energy. Systems designed or evolved to take advantage of more efficient designs should exhibit similarities.

Re:Anthropic Principle

[Samantha Wright]

...which, when you think about it, doesn't mean there isn't a conscious force at work trying to brute-force a recipe for life, it just means we don't know either way. Personally, I like the image of a deity who is analogous to a frustrated graduate student trying to grow a crystal for X-ray diffraction.