You must have heard one more time from somewhere that our brains are literally made of the same ‘star stuff’ as the universe.truncate But it gets way weirder. A 2016 study claimed scientists had stumbled upon another shocking similarity linking our brains to the Universe:
entropy
Before we dive right into the research, let’s speak a little about consciousness. It means being aware of yourself and surroundings. And with this being that intrinsic part of our existence, researchers still kind of didn’t crack where it comes from and why it even exists. But what if consciousness isn’t mystical at all? What if it’s kinda like a side effect for our brains trying to maximize disorder, push itself into a state of entropy?
First of all, what exactly is entropy? Consider an egg. When it’s undefeated, the yolk and white are contained inside their own respective areas, so it has low entropy. Scramble the egg, now it’s a disordered mess—high entropy. The second law of thermodynamics says, however, that in a closed system entropy can never decrease. So here’s already a principle explaining why time always seems to be moving in this ‘forward’ direction; the Universe is forever increasing in disorder.
In 2016, a research team from France and Canada applied this concept to our brains. That is exactly what the researchers were asking: Could there be some patterns of this ordering inside our brain networks when we are conscious, similar to what may be measured by entropy?.
Now, a new theory based on another kind of probability theory—statistical mechanics, lets them model the networks of neurons in the brains of nine individuals; seven of them had epilepsy. They compared how similar brain networks connected while people were asleep, awake, and during seizures, as compared with normal alert states. What was the result? The participants’ brains were filled up with more entropy when they were at high levels of consciousness.
The findings that the researchers reported were surprisingly simple: “normal wakeful states are characterized by the greatest number of possible configurations of interactions between brain networks, hence representing highest entropy values.” Hence, the team went on to argue that maybe consciousness really is an “emergent property” of a system seeking to maximize information exchange.
Of course, there are some big caveats: the sample size was tiny, only nine people. So it’s hard to draw firm conclusions. Moreover, everyone’s brains responded differently to various states. Lancaster University physicist Peter McClintock described the results as “intriguing,” but said more studies with bigger samples were needed.
They now plan to dive deeper and actually try to measure the thermodynamic state of different brain regions. That will assist in finding out if what is going on is real entropy or just another kind of organization. It is also hoped to see how neural organization changes while a person is conducting different cognitive behaviors, such as focusing on a task versus being absent-minded.
So what is the purpose of consciousness? Could it be only a byproduct of our brains’ tendencies toward disorder? The research indeed clears the way for new paths of inquiry to the mystery of consciousness but leaves in our hands the realization of how much more is still left not known. Oh, well that is half of the fun, isn’t it? Keeping us curious about the mysteries and thus in touch with the laws that govern the universe.
It’s not about merely knowing the thinking subject; it’s about our place within the cosmos. Who would have thought that by studying our brains we might uncover secrets of the very fabric of the universe?
