A Universal Process: How Mind and Matter Seem to Work
Abstract
"There are scientific reports suggesting striking similarities between the structures of networked systems, ranging from the tiny brain cells to atoms, to the Internet, and all the way up to even the galaxies. It is further argued that the similarities might be due to the existence of a universal natural growth process. At the microscopic level we do not yet know what that mechanism might be, however, we do have some significant clues at the macroscopic level, which do indicate that both mind (a network of the brain cells) and matter (i.e., network of atoms, molecules, planets, and galaxies) operate similarly. This article attempts to briefly explain such similarities using an abstract growth process and a structural representation along with some general concepts from computing, cognitive and natural sciences. This operational structure is well aligned with the latest em- pirical research on cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Technology tools whose pedagogical use is also aligned with our operational structure of the mind have been found to consistently increase student engagement and achievement in secondary schools. The same growth process and structural representation seem to describe the behavior and growth of the matter in the universe in many ways we can all relate to. Our interdisciplinary experience and analysis of analogies in different fields offer support to reports by the physicists and biologists about existence of a universal growth mechanism."
