any thoughts on this ?

for beginning is the left picture really an authentic photo of a brain cell. if so there is really a striking similarity here, which makes me wonder if this is really only occurring as coincidence ?

any input from the guys with more scientific knowledge ? i always seem to find patterns of micro and macro cosmos around us especially when using some entheogen, like the whole universe has some sort of fractal nature

I think this is a bit arbitrary choice of a part of the universe to "picture" it. It would be akin to say that clouds are related to elephants because you once might photograph one that kinda looks like an elephant.

In any case I do think that there are patterns that repeat in different scales in the universe, for example opposites is a constant theme (sexes, particles, charges, etc). And there are all the mathematical patterns too like fibonacci and so on. I do think psychedelics can enhance the pattern finding function in the mind.

The universe is in either way very impressive, and so are neurons

^This.

yes i agree with you completely. i was just interested if this was researched more deeply. these kinds of phenomena usually inspire people with their research and ideas.

for example in the case of the spiral, it has been studied for many years. there are many mathematical model's representing the physical structure of a shell or a galaxy. and these mathematical model's can be later applied in computer science or architecture or maybe other natural science fields.

edit :

also, endless you say that only this part of the photo gives resemblance, but if you have looked at the 3d model you will notice it is no more different in the structure than this part, maybe the matter is a bit more dispersed.
otherwise when i look the 3d model of the universe it look's very much like a tissue full of neurons and many connections.

i am not implying that they are in some way connected, but that i find a great similarity in the physical structure.

The world essentially operates, not through the activity of individual things, but in the connection between them, in a sense, in the space between things.
i don't think you can find another single image that better illustrates the fact that nature uses repeating patterns and that everything is more interconnected than we consciously realize...

edit : forgot to mention, it is a quote by Lynne Mc Taggart that very nicely fits the topic .

That's always a nice comparison, but I think endlessness put it perfectly.

I would also say that there are a LOT of things you could relate to neuronal networks at a first glance. Certain plant structures, the aggregate pathways of amoebic populations such as slime mold, the cities and roads in a map, sand dendrites in a beach, the closeup texture of volcanic rocks... The somehow fractal pattern of a few interconnected neurons is not that unique, imo, so it should not shock us too much whenever it appears at large scales. Just imagine clusters of matter or activity interconnected by the shortest paths, slightly distorted by the influence of the surrounding matter, and there you go.

It is a nice reminder of the correspondences between micro and macrocosmos, and it is pleasant to consider it like "evidence" for any theory that relates the universe to the mind, but that is all imo. We just happen to love unification theories.

some might say this is because those shapes are highly efficient flow systems. this same shape occurs on many scales on many levels through out the universe. It structure is the same as a tree, as a lightning bolt, as mycelium, as the way rain falls on a hill side eventually forming rivulets and streams and rivers to the sea, our cardiovascular system, and so on and so on.... these patterns form in part because they are very efficient patterns for the flow of energy under their particular circumstances.

as above so below. the universe seems to emulate itself on many levels

The heat signature of the observable universe happens to look similar to a human brain cell in some photos.

Stars *seem* to be pumping out basic organic matter and thus seeding the universe with the stuff that might become recognizable to us as life. Or so I've read. Let's pretend it's true for a second and extrapolate therefrom.

Hyperspace exists to many psychonaughts as an ecology of souls. A psuedo-dimension, a quasi-plane of existance, a meeting place for sentient minds of different worlds, different orders of existance and what-not to meet up and learn.




Maybe the Universe really is like a big brain cell. Maybe this is the literal meaning of "mankind was made in the image of god". Maybe space is full of stars with planets that are seeded with organic matter, many of them having evolved carbon-based life which often evolves into beings with tryptamine based consciousness.... and hyperspace is a nexus, a meeting of the minds and entheogenic university where the gods teach us lesser beings (when they feel like it) and pranksters get up to shenanigans and much else happens besides.


EDIT, Last night I didn't realize this was in the science forum. Disclaimer: I perhaps speculate beyond the evidence a tiny bit.

I think the human brain is far more complex that we could possibly imagined.

I really recommend The Tree Of Knowledge (Terence McKenna) [FULL] if you haven't watch it. Below is the link.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09354zHyLRg

Nice...

Funny that you posted that image. I've seen it before, but what's ironic is this morning I found this article on google news:

http://arstechnica.com/s...necting-galaxy-clusters/

The first sentence of that article made me think of this image, and the old esoteric saying 'as above, so below'.

You can find a previous discussion about this picture here.

Edit: Second thread posts moved to previous linked thread... message redundant now

you forgot the mycelium pic

Indeed.