Does reality have a rock bottom?
Reductionism is the idea that complex stuff can be explained by breaking it down into simpler parts. It's been a powerful tool in science, letting us figure out how physics and biology work by studying their little pieces. But it has limits when trying to get how complex systems really tick. That's where fractals come in, showing us the bigger picture and how all those little pieces fit together.
Reductionism assumes that to get how something works, you study its parts solo. But that ignores how they get all tangled up, making new stuff emerge that you'd never see in a piece alone.
Take our noodle noggins. They're built from billions of neurons, which we can study alone no problem. But the mindblowing stuff our brains do—think, perceive, be conscious—can't be puzzle-pieced from individual neurons.
Fractals are math squiggles that repeat the same pattern at different sizes. Like how the wiggly edge of a cloud looks alike whether you zoom in or out. Fractals are everywhere in nature and help us model systems too tangled up for reductionism.
Studying fractal shapes in our blood vessels shows how the cardio system gets efficient and robust. The branching patterns repeat at different scales, pumping life juice no matter how deep you zoom.
Some quantum phenomena may be fractal.
So, while reductionism rocked science by breaking it down, complex stuff stays puzzling. By embracing nature's complexity, fractals help us see how the pieces connect, and understand the big picture.
Some quantum biz may have fractal bones too. The electron clouds around atoms, and how chaotic quantum systems are, both echo fractals. But the math behind particles often skips fractals, so the jury's still out if quantum stuff is just fractal stuff.
The Planck length is thought to be the smallest thing that can exist, based on what we know so far. But that doesn't mean it's truly the smallest ever.
Theories like string theory and loop quantum gravity say spacetime may not be smooth but grainy, with indivisible bits. These theories hint the universe could be fractal-like, with matter dividing forever into smaller loops or strings. Trippy!
So, the Planck length is our current minuscule limit, but the true smallest size remains an open case. The universe may just be infinite turtles fractaling down, and lack a final "bottom."
What he means is that, as we come closer to an object, it tends to get rougher. An example would be like seeing a galaxy from afar and then coming close and seeing its irregularities which would be the individual stars, planets, moons, rocks, dust, etc.
So, while the Planck length is often considered the smallest measurement that we can currently comprehend based on our current understanding of physics, it is not necessarily the ultimate limit of smallness. The concept of the smallest possible measurement is a topic of ongoing research and debate in physics, and future discoveries may provide new insights into the fundamental nature of the universe.
While some theories suggest that there may be a smallest possible scale at which matter can exist, others propose that matter may exhibit fractal-like properties and continue to subdivide into smaller and smaller scales without ever reaching a fundamental bottom.
Such pondering raises questions such as "Does nothingness exist?" The seemingly fractal nature of the universe may mean a rock bottom does not exist and may be "turtles all the way down" which is simply to say that an infinite regress may exist instead.
Take a vacuum, empty of all matter and energy. Quantum mechanics says something still lurks, with particles blinking in and out. Even nothingness isn't really nothing at all.
So while reductionism was crucial for science, complex systems need a bigger view. Embracing fractal thinking helps us grasp nature's endlessly intricate beauty. Nothing's really final or detached, but one gnarly system, ever unfolding.
Feel free to rate this article and left a comment. Backlinks welcomed.