How fractals can help you understand the universe | BBC Ideas

What is a fractal, and how can fractals help us understand the universe? Classic examples of fractals in nature are broccoli and snowflakes. They can offer a fascinating explanation for how the world works!
Written by Brandon Pestano, animated by Christopher Brooks.
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[@bbcideas]

Comment below if fractals blow your mind! Don’t forget to subscribe because we post new videos every week 😊

[@gregorboyd]

Trippy

[@Gregory_12]

my 2nd favorite fractal is the coastline of Britan

[@jonathanjollimore7156]

WOW

[@kathrynleach631]

Wow what this means to art, mathematics , medicine,music, and everything!!!!

[@haruyasumi616]

ᶜᵒᵐᵐᵉⁿᵗ ᵇᵉˡᵒʷ ᶦᶠ ᶠʳᵃᶜᵗᵃˡˢ ᵇˡᵒʷ ʸᵒᵘʳ ᵐᶦⁿᵈ ᴰᵒⁿ’ᵗ ᶠᵒʳᵍᵉᵗ ᵗᵒ ˢᵘᵇˢᶜʳᶦᵇᵉ ᵇᵉᶜᵃᵘˢᵉ ʷᵉ ᵖᵒˢᵗ ⁿᵉʷ ᵛᶦᵈᵉᵒˢ ᵉᵛᵉʳʸ ʷᵉᵉᵏ

[@lusv4316]

The whole of reality is a fractal. As above so below. There is no such thing as big/small as everything exists inside itself, the only thing that separates us from other dimensions is size and what frequency we are tuned at. Inside atoms there are universe and and our universe is inside something like an atom, ad infinitum

[@taramoon9307]

Any evidence for this absurd assertion?

[@Dollface829]

Agree Lus V

[@scootermcclevis6450]

@@taramoon9307 take some LSD then it becomes very clear that our solar system is an atom within somthing else

[@yourlocalplug7724]

@@taramoon9307 how is it absurd.. it honestly makes very good sense

[@Lee-os1if]

Cool to think about, makes our universe seem insignificant considering there are trillions of other atoms(universes) out there

[@NatureGloseScience]

I had my educational "revolution" as an educator and learner not in school but in my late 20's when I discovered nature's patterns, including fractals in a Time Life hardback at a book sale in the early 90's. Now, I help my students look for math all around them starting with nature's patterns, including fractals. Why aren't we taught this in schools? Why isn't this the MAIN way we learn maths? I know! I'll do my part and help bring it to the forefront of education starting with the homeschool community this last decade. Thank you for such a beautiful and gorgeously informative video. We're just scratching the surface of how to use fractals. I believe it's the portal for us to have incredible technological advancements and help bring humanity back into harmony with the earth.

[@capealio]

Cymatics?

[@juntjoonunya9216]

That's not how humanity works. Technology is of the devil. God made everything to be harmonious without technology, just with obedience. To say it's imperfect without some widget is an insult to God and his creation

[@7amseel]

That's exactly what made me furious as a teenager when I got fascinated by all the cool things about time, space, and maths, etc. (in non-academic context) that why isn't that the MAIN way academia teaches science and everything. Since then, I have read a lot about educational systems and how they are broken. But it's beautiful thing you are changing this way of teaching around you. You are awesome. Thank you!

[@Hellothere-fc9kh]

Psychedelics bought me hear

[@liminality8791]

Same. Which one(s)? My psych of choice is LSD. I wanna try DMT but haven’t had the chance yet

[@guitarguy4372]

You get 50% for English.

[@marcocelentani6680]

I think that is the same for everyone else watching this video hahah

[@PurpleLemurs]

Only weed brought me here

[@Fun-io9kv]

Try "After Math" 😉

[@c-fink]

The end of this video absolutely blew my mind. I’m now convinced that the universe is just a part of an infinite fractal. And that there is no end to what everything is made of. But does that mean that every universe is the same? Does that mean they are all similar? Fractals in nature are not 100% exactly the same right?

[@OfficialGOD]

The dualism is an illusion, which is proved by the paradox.

[@Tryalittlebit]

@@OfficialGODI think we’re missing the point if say that dualism is an illusion. It’s a product of our sensory experience. If we can say that there is an understanding of reality and nature that can be reached beyond the senses, you’re still acknowledging that the sensory experience is a valid and accessible experience. Not just that, but it’s our understanding of the world through our senses that brought us realizations like fractals and sacred geometry. I think it helps to look at it as a being with two distinct parts that are either working in tandum or working in competition with one another. This balancing act, I see, is what gives rise to the whole. The whole being indistinguishable from its parts.

[@casz7098]

I believe the fractal concept can be applied to every single thing or idea in our reality. If you really think about it you can apply it. If you can't it's probably just because you haven't found a way to figure it out. I've been obsessed with this concept over the last 4 years while learning to trade the markets because it can be applied on the charts.

[@adancy2428]

I assume you have also been studying Gann?

[@casz7098]

@@adancy2428 no I've just been obsessed with the idea and how it relates completely to FX chart analysis. I will check out Gann though! Is Gann a trader?

[@adancy2428]

@@casz7098 Well you are in for quite the discovery once you start studying Gann. Yes, William D. Gann.

[@casz7098]

@@adancy2428 Thanks for the heads up 😀

[@casz7098]

@@adancy2428 I was watching videos from the financial analyst channel and after 2 videos he didn't really teach anything other than the 24 trading rules. Do you have any video recommendations?

[@alezt14]

This shows how massive things like universe come from a very simple thing. Absolutely amazing!

[@sl3ptsolong]

God - simple... *smites thee*

[@bikramadityarajendrapatra3447]

Shit there's a lot to know about us and our surroundings and I fear the truth 😥😥😥

[@bikramadityarajendrapatra3447]

I fear where would I be after this without knowing the reality

[@MKBergamot]

How funny would that be if God was inside the microscopic universe this whole time 😂

[@juntjoonunya9216]

​@@bikramadityarajendrapatra3447 that is good as God is the truth and you are too fear him

[@aamirbashir7081]

Surprised to see such a small response to this beautiful video

[@mustafajuventino9964]

People are too busy watching "influencers" 🙄

[@1995yuda]

people don't REALLY understand what this means. If they did many of them would perhaps go crazy.

[@Enbix]

@@1995yuda yeah, a bad trip feels like that, kinda like cosmic horror.

[@1995yuda]

@@Enbix true

[@enoch4499]

My schizophrenia hallucinations fascinated me and I found this looking for a visual representation of what I was seeing. Rainbow fractal geometric patterns constantly changing, forming images of objects, faces, alien creatures and intricate designs. Much like I have heard psychadelics causing very similar images for many who recount what they saw.

[@tranquilenvironments]

God bless you.

[@OfficialGOD]

Yeah schiz is just DMT baseline overload

[@darkfeather6857]

Yes, shrooms do the same thing. It's what made me believe in God. I knew that we were all connected and so was everything in the universe, like a symphony of beautiful music. The idea of a creator with no beginning, ending, limits, is exactly what fractals are. The fingerprints of God, maybe.

[@rebecca_stone]

I've been seeing fractals permanently in front of my middle vision since my early teens - and that's why I searched for this. They get more vibrant at certain times, sometimes even slightly distracting, but always pretty, and always there, like eye floaters. I don't have schizophrenia. Glad to see your comment here that you can see them too. Interesting that they're not drug-fuelled in us, yet still fractals.

[@Username-ng8jy]

Acid. I see fractals. Skin trips me out. Everyone has their skin grow in fractal patterns like the mandrel bot set. But no two ppl have the same pattern. I can’t explain. But my theory is that I’m seeing their skin cells and the pattern they grow.

[@god9687]

Then it dawns on you: “Of course, I’m fractal. I am consciousness. I am imagining myself. I am whatever I conceive myself to be because there is nothing outside my endless Mind.”

[@neosiaxiom4211]

Thanks for the existential crisis-

[@mustafajuventino9964]

Lmao

[@KAM-rl6tz]

😁

[@firewolf756]

Same

[@verifiedgentlemanbug]

Lmao 😂😂😂😂👍🤣🤣🤣👍👍😂😂

[@Sabinathor]

I just wrote in the search field ” universe like a fractal”... and pointed me here! The Universe it’s more like a holographic debunking process of a hologram in fact... what we see is just a part of a more complex reality, but the pattern is similar. Fractals and holographic structures do have something in comun: any sub-part contains the the structural pattern (the implicate order) of the whole. Cool. :))

[@rykerhall3523]

New discovery: At the end of a fractal is Shrek.... Shrek is love Shrek is life Shrek is the universe

[@rileysimango2695]

Crazy

[@waffles9771]

Shrek University wants to know your location

[@fadhlihamid1446]

NO

[@fadhlihamid1446]

HATE

[@fadhlihamid1446]

SHREK

[@hugodesrosiers-plaisance3156]

A fractal isn't infinite if you think of it as bend around a 4th dimension, it becomes a closed cycle. I mean this in the same way that the surface of a sphere is finite, but unbound, in this way also th Universe folds onto itself, finite, but unbound.

[@abadazadytgaming7200]

I like your fractal way if thinking, you could be right you could be wrong, love you.

[@c-fink]

Can you explain the 4th dimension part?

[@dhruveshkhandelwal8104]

how do you even visualise 4th dimension

[@peamutbubber]

Infinite 3rd dimensions

[@OfficialGOD]

Its an illusion.. so called "reality"

[@thenerdywalker516]

We live in an amazing universe. Thanks for the video

[@solicopa]

Thank you for this video and sharing this knowledge

[@djiinyyy]

Really interesting video! Thanks!

[@ttbalog]

Awesome!

[@priyadarsinin]

Interesting perspective!

[@lamtuengo4851]

I really love videos from BBC. Thank you so much

[@bbcideas]

Thanks for watching!

[@bikramadityarajendrapatra3447]

@@bbcideas do u reply?

[@jrno93]

excellent video

[@EMYogawithPaola]

amazing!

[@esportswomen]

Good primer. Well done to the team.

[@jamesfrearson9630]

This was the explanation for me I needed.

[@jimparsons6803]

Liked the clip. It might very well be that fractals are the mathematical link between the the Quantum Mechanics to that of Classical Mechanics. A sort of shortcut that Einstein and Niels Bohr were on about?

[@garyskinner2422]

Yes i thought this myself, strange

[@gwizzzy]

I love it

[@sovereignboss1841]

Pretty complicated yet simple.

[@techazharul3308]

good video

[@TheGunnCat]

Fractals help me perceive the motivations behind human behavior. It could be a wonderful tool for helping people understand themselves along with psychedelics and psybient music.

[@nuggetpolice9116]

Crazy how my favorite math concept just happens to match my view of the universe and I had no idea… fascinating

[@aniokay]

Loooooving the acid rock music to this. Fractals ARE trippy

[@TheCortymast]

Amazing video! What is the background music?

[@gilgamesh156]

Pink Floyd- breathe (in the air) but he’s using an instrumental version

[@gauravchaubal9993]

Nice video! Where can I get access to BBC Horizon documentaries? I live in India.

[@Enbix]

Psychedelics are amazing! 😍🍄

[@OmarKayi-bs7ky]

WoW!

[@aaronalienseeker801]

Correlative fractals, an order of multiplication and arrangement of iterations simply as infinite as ourselves rendering and percieving... ❤️ 🌍"Something"..

[@lightisconsciousness117]

Thank you!

[@harimakani2316]

fractals are everywhere ,in physical and also in nonphysicals

[@marcocelentani6680]

pink floyd in the backgroud are spot on

[@owenkutzscher3038]

ayo song name?

[@marcocelentani6680]

@@owenkutzscher3038 its mosttly "breathe" but at some points its mashed up wirh other songs in the album I think. Just listen to the whole Dark side of the moon and you'll be fine 😇

[@turtleindustries5134]

SOMEONE has tried Dmt

[@cjlocastle]

love the floyd in the background lol

[@TonyEnglandUK]

Absolutely fascinating. I truly believe we're at a point in life that humans are about to figure everything out.

[@RjBenjamin353]

Nah!!!

[@TonyEnglandUK]

Well, ​ @qwertvoltaire1190 won't but I mean mankind in general.

[@RjBenjamin353]

@@TonyEnglandUK Mankind, always destroys itself over and over again because of its own greed, and stupidity

[@TonyEnglandUK]

@@RjBenjamin353 Talking of "stupidity", how does something destroy itself more than once? It's a rhetorical question, let's move on, bye.

[@RjBenjamin353]

@@TonyEnglandUK how old are you 15? Read your history you DAss

[@KizaWittaker]

Gives a new meaning to "being made in the image" of God

[@Jordan-ez2gn]

Dude what is this music, I love it!

[@gilgamesh156]

Pink Floyd- breathe (in the air) but he’s using an instrumental version

[@Cipirano]

It is void, how few people educate themselves...

[@jacksmith2870]

the pink floyd in the background is a nice touch

[@waltermclauren4746]

I had always thought that natural selection produced everything, until I saw the Nova video about fractal geometry. So, who "created" Loren Carpenter? Just as people did not see what Benoit Mandelbrot saw, the creators of this video are not seeing WHO created them and everything else in the universe using, among other things, this concept of geometry.

[@garyskinner2422]

@Alexander Franke Ofc he can lol

[@OfficialGOD]

Your day itself is a fractal of your previous day and so on

[@DarkBurster]

ever since i saw what was inside an atom in science class and it looking like a solar system, I have always thought that what if there were another universe in there? Just that they live in a different fractal level and crazy time dialation since those electrons are spinning so fast. And whats the deal with atoms releasing so much energy if we separate them? We still have no idea where that energy comes from, it could be from a smaller fractal level universe. Thats just what i think anyway, btw i am high af

[@simulatednerd]

u get it

[@Seenall]

Conclusion: Irregular fractals requires manipulation to loop, perfect fractals loop infinitely

[@TheCohesiveGarage]

Everything is everything

[@jonathanjollimore4794]

Yea

[@CobaltHanna]

How come the triangle at 1:13 has a finite area?

[@Gregory_12]

because the shape, "has infinite perimeter, but finite area"

[@pebloignacio3946]

Name of the song?

[@mindzai_glass8993]

breathe by pink floyd. Thats not the actual song here but I can almost guarantee they got "inspiration" from that song lol

[@zurikasamuels]

❤❤❤

[@apeezy9901]

This song sounds kinda like Breathe from Pink Floyd

[@chair9260]

Man ilove fractals

[@alonsomontes6579]

Who here knows the name of the song playing in the background?

[@ponkypink3389]

Everything is a fractal

[@OneBigPuzzle]

Psychedelics helped me understand this

[@anunderratedonion7967]

Someone has made it

[@ecurb10]

Hmm....that last graphic going from the universe, through galaxies and stars and down to molecules etc - that's not really fractalling is it? It didn't show any recuring patterns, unlike the Madalbrot set. It just showed things getting smaller and smaller, totally different each time.

[@user-tu7rh2hr1n]

Might we have a new universe inside a quark

[@GeneralPopitka]

Mandelbrot set contains infinite number of self repeating, but not exactly the same patterns which is similar to the last graphic thing, so you could just zoom in some different point to see slightly different results. Anyways, at some point you might get to some stuff that repeats in multiple zooms (like atoms and quarks), but not mentioning they differ from themselves it might be a good comparison to mandelbrot set relation with logistic maps, where the second is written in 3rd dimention of mandelbrots, and remains stable and less chaotic when fractals are getting less visually satisfying.

[@olubunmiolumuyiwa]

@@user-tu7rh2hr1n What's the justifaction for that belief?

[@lakshmanankomathmanalath]

💙💙💙😊👍

[@jojolafrite90]

Planck scale? The fact if you could zoom infinitely on things, nothing would exist anyway because it would be a Zeno paradox Universe?

[@bikramadityarajendrapatra3447]

Is it confirmed?

[@EBTS-3]

Human perception is an incredibly thin spectrum of reality. And Atoms behave different while perceived !!

[@OfficialGOD]

Exactly ^ it is an illusion of your perception

[@kaerlighe9]

Fractals could be humans illusionary way to describe infinity

[@user-qw3ww5wr7l]

Loving the Pink Floyd

[@Learna_Hydralis]

Better title will be "How fractals can help you understand that you can't understand the universe".

[@Pitimesis]

Good video, the universe is fractalization that never ends, there is no smallest particle or largest galaxy its infinite, the only think that stops us from accepting this notion is or ego. Once you dissolve your defensive ego you truly become one with the UNI-verse..!!

[@bensfractals43]

“Wait, Fractals are real?” A few minutes later I’m gonna witness the details of this fractal! *Slowly gets closer to plant* *poke* “OW OH SHIT MY EYE AAAAAAAAAAAA SNSNJDNBDBDUBNNNJMCJKNJINKJN”

[@sovereignboss1841]

So boring that I fell asleep

[@OfficialGOD]

Wtf

[@oliviawilliams578]

[@livvelarde9362]

is pink floyd playing in the background

[@Lxeo130]

I have to watch this for homework 😭

[@syntrexfpv1347]

Please tell me if I am correct, A fractal is an object/shape that if we had the potential to make a magnifying glass that could infinitely zoom and it will continuously repeat its shape/design/sides/edges forever?

[@MonteGibson2113]

There are metaphysical fractals too, which aren’t shapes. You’ll find that principles do the same thing shapes do in fractals. The principle manifests at both the highest and lowest levels and everywhere in between.

[@thejullyx1650]

por que me ponen esto de tarea (homework)

[@user-cf6oi1ou8h]

Does anyone feel like they’re also a fractal falling into another fractal (kinda like living another life) because we are god wanting to know our own image..?

[@user-cf6oi1ou8h]

And maybe the only way to stop the chain is by someone realizing their ego is the reason they want to even understand the fractal nature of the universe in the first place

[@user-cf6oi1ou8h]

@what. nbba What are you sober?

[@EBTS-3]

@@user-cf6oi1ou8h I had a dream I kept falling of platforms that were layers on a Huge pine tree, on a super starry night, each layer was bigger and it felt like there were endless more and like I had been to them before... It was all snowy and each layer had smaller pine trees and almost like a winter village this comment just reminded me ! Snowflakes stars and pine trees are generated in a fractal form o.o stwange

[@user-cf6oi1ou8h]

@@EBTS-3 thats insane!

[@rekzzii8320]

just like with l$d right, if you ever taken it you know about the infinite loop

[@mrflinstone57]

Hmmm so is the universe massive, or are we just super small?

[@FLEURONTOXICA]

Perlin noise for earth

[@dimvoly]

Sorry, but you gotta proof read the script for accuracy. The term should be planetary systems, not solar systems. There is just one solar system and it's the one in which we live.

[@DanG626]

Tim & Eric: 🤯 Bpuaaaaaaaah

[@jojo1865]

"מה רבו מעשייך ה' כולם בחכמה עשית, מלאה הארץ קניינך"

[@havasrobin6249]

Zooming in, seeing the internal parts of a larger machine (galaxy, atom, etc.) is not a fractal.... it's just looking at constituent parts. A quark is not in the same form as a proton, which is not in the same form as an atom, which is not in the same form as a molecule.

[@bash7343]

It’s the scale of things that is fractal. Matter can be infinitely large and infinitely small.

[@c-fink]

@@bash7343 yeah I think you’re right. Fractal refer to the word “fragment” not exact smaller replicas. Correct me if I’m wrong but fractals in nature aren’t exactly the same the smaller they get. They follow a similar structure but aren’t exact

[@lisagal1755]

Hater

[@michaelvasquezbacus769]

This can be the bases that God Exist

[@morgenthau5986]

⛈️

[@albertsiltal2600]

If you know one part: You know the entire group. Then: Put "you" where ever you want. ❤ (De nada)

[@simtlethings8534]

What is the difference between natural fractal and man-made fractal?

[@spencerrogers1103]

I wish I was god 2

[@sfhu474]

Nothing...

[@markjason2]

man- made fractal is still a natural fractal. human is not really creating from nothing. We are all arranging all the existing atoms of anything to a new form. We aren't creating new things, we are just rearranging them so there is no difference on both.

[@chrismf1407]

DMT brought me here

[@fisch69]

I believe you mean to say they brought you HERE..😂

[@Thumb_]

Are you trying to reply to the comment about psychedelics? You just made a comment on the video.

[@muttnick]

So you could say the dimensions we perceive are just shapes on a fractal?

[@JCW418]

Fractal vise or engravers vise

[@jonz23m]

Wouldn't add galaxies to these examples. Since we don't actually know what they are.

[@WW-ek6tm]

I smoked Bufo, now here I am looking up fractals and things on nature -_- here we go 😆

[@LE0NSKA]

reality is fractal bro

[@FretZeroGuitar]

not that they create really - they have their design & programming from Creation from the infinite Creator

[@moogul21d]

this video is great on acid

[@tora2401]

Love triangle or love fractal?

[@primetime3422]

Maybe fractals are a thing because we live in a simulation. As it could just be easier to put in an equation that has an infinite output in many key things than just design it ourselves. Like say a river. Or a forest or mountain. If we r in a simulation we the starting point could be the 1800s and the creators might just wanna see what happens. Why go through the effort to meticulously design each and every mountain when you could put in an equation and generate a mountain with a few numbers and the press of a button. I dunno all I do is watch utube.

[@LAMEZ_]

interesting thought

[@TheWiredWolf]

could be true, I also wonder why seeing fractals is a common occurrence when someone is tripping on psilocybin mushrooms, maybe you are stepping away from what the simulation wants you to see and viewing the source code itself

[@primetime3422]

@@TheWiredWolf Why might stepping on one specific mushroom trigger such a reaction?

[@TheWiredWolf]

@@primetime3422 you’re joking right lol? I meant tripping as in while high on mushrooms (after eating it) not stepping on one haha

[@primetime3422]

@@TheWiredWolf ooooh ok that makes more sense of how something could maybe trigger an unforeseen glitch in the matrix

[@juntjoonunya9216]

I think creation is fractal and morality is fractal structure too based on God's rules and in nature you can see it play out especially in humanity where the fractals are mainly negative, destructive where everywhere else all just fractally perpetuates life

[@anishthakur8938]

but it contradicts string theory which says that everything in th universe is actually made of strings vibrating in different patterns

[@Gregory_12]

string theory is just a theory

[@garyskinner2422]

@@Gregory_12 In theory yes

[@TheCortymast]

How does this contradict string thery? A fractal is alwase based on one ground structure scaled up. The strings are like the core of the fractal that tessalate outwards

[@anishthakur8938]

@@TheCortymast coz according to fractal theory..any object could be magnified forever.. but according to string theory which is actually widely accepted nowadays is that every matter is made up of strings vibrating in a particular way which eventually makes the matter.

[@victorgrundmann2806]

@@anishthakur8938 Who said the strings weren't magnifiable forever?

[@afsdsasasf]

having an anxiety attack. So what is outside the Mandelbrot?

[@Lone_Star86]

We don't know

[@generationm2059]

Want to know what is also a fractal? This comment.

[@generationm2059]

Want to know what is also a fractal? This comment.

[@generationm2059]

@Generation M Want to know what is also a fractal? This comment.

[@generationm2059]

@Generation M @Generation M Want to know what is also a fractal? This comment.

[@generationm2059]

@Generation M @Generation M @Generation Want to know what is also a fractal? This comment.

[@c-fink]

@@generationm2059 @Generation M @Generation M @Generation M Want to know what is also a fractal? This comment.