Universal Mathematics: All Life on Earth Is Bound by One Spooky Algorithm | Geoffrey West

Universal Mathematics: All Life on Earth Is Bound by One Spooky Algorithm
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Are we all connected? Mathematically, yes. It might seem like a stretch, but all living organisms on earth are connected by a unified theory. The more into the (metaphor alert) nuts and bolts of it all, the more science is finding just how connected we all are by way of energy and resources being supplied to cells-and by a methodology known as quarter scaling. The larger something is the longer it lives. Let's say there's a dog that is 500 times bigger than a mouse: in essence, we can then estimate that the dog's lifespan will be about 125 times greater than the mouse. An elephant's heart beats a lot slower than a human's heart, but our hearts beat slower than a mouse and a dog. It's all interconnected!
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GEOFFREY WEST:
Geoffrey West is a theoretical physicist whose primary interests have been in fundamental questions in physics and biology. West is a Senior Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory and a distinguished professor at the Sante Fe Institute, where he served as the president from 2005-2009. In 2006 he was named to Time’s list of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World.”
Geoffrey West is the author of Scale.
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TRANSCRIPT:
GEOFFREY WEST: So I think it’s one of the more remarkable properties of life actually, but just taking mammals: that the largest mammal, the whale, is-in terms of measurable quantities of its physiology and its life history-is actually a scaled up version of the smallest mammal which is actually the shrew, but a mouse is very close to that.
And everything in between, that they are scaled version of one another and in a systematic predictable way to sort of 80 percent or 90 percent level. So the kinds of things that you might measure might be as mundane as the length of the aorta, which is the first tube coming out of your heart, or it could be something as sophisticated and complex as how long each one of these mammals, for example, is going to live or how long it takes to mature.
So all of these things scale in a very predictable way and they scale in a way that’s nonlinear. So even though it’s simple it’s highly nonlinear, and that can be expressed in the following way.
So perhaps the most well known of these is the scaling of metabolic rate. And metabolic rate is maybe the most fundamental quantity of life because metabolic rate simply means how much energy or just how much food does an animal need to eat each day in order to stay alive. And everybody’s used to that and is familiar with that. It’s sort of roughly 2,000 food calories a day for a human being. So you can ask “what is that for different mammals?” and what you find is that they’re related to one another in a very simple way despite the fact that metabolism is maybe the most complex physical chemical process in the universe. It’s phenomenal because metabolism is taking essentially almost inorganic, something that’s inorganic an making it into life.
And so here’s this extraordinary complex process and yet it scales in a very simple way. And you can express it in English, it can be expressed quite precisely in a very simple mathematical equation but in English it’s-roughly speaking-that every time you double the size of an organism from say two grams to four grams or from 20 grams to 40 grams or 20 kilograms to 40 kilograms or whatever and just doubling anywhere.
Instead of what you might naively expect-double the size, you double the number of cells roughly speaking; therefore, you would expect to double the amount of energy, the amount of metabolic energy you need to keep that organism alive because you have twice as many cells-Quite the contrary you don’t need twice as much. Systematically you only need roughly speaking 75 percent as much. So there’s this kind of systematic 25 percent, one-quarter “savings.”
And it turns out that anything else you measure as I mentioned a moment ago scales in a similar way with this sort of 25 percent role occurring in some interesting way.
So, for example, if you take mammals: we have beating hearts, we have a circulatory system with a beating heart. So every time you double the size there’s a systematic decrease in heartrate as most people are familiar with. An elephant’s heart beats much slower than ours and ours beats much slower than a dog’s or a mouse’s, for example. And that also obeys this kind of quarter-power scaling, so in a very systematic way we see this repet...
For the full transcript, check out bigthink.com/videos/geoffrey-...

[@bigthink]

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[@parityviolation968]

Well... Besides the observations about how metabolism/energy-management scale with size, He did just talk about all life obeying the same mathematical principles without telling us what these principles exactly are... To me it was beating around the bush, now I have to google him and try to find any papers with information about what he was not talking about...

[@216trixie]

I know. You'd think that in 9 minutes he'd have plenty of time to uncover and explain all these principles. smh.

[@parityviolation968]

It's not like he has to convey the entire mathematical formalism of quantum field theory in 9 minutes to people without any background in QM, complex and functional analysis and special relativity.... 9 minutes are enough to at least tell what these principles are without getting into the nitty-gritty of the mathematical description. It felt more like watching one of these videos that popup browsing the w³, where some dude is doing a half an hour long pitch to sell sth, talking around it without actually about it. But keep shaking ya head

[@B.Whittaker]

@@parityviolation968 your name is dope on multiple levels

[@thesuccessfulone]

Fluid dynamics govern how fast our hearts can beat based on their size, the formation of canyons, and the transfer of water from the roots to the leaves.

[@agronb7520]

there's an algorithm for everything. in 3D we see it as mathematics.

[@adamberk2597]

If life conforms to mathematical principles, and mathematical principles are universal, does that mean intelligent life on other planets could actually be really similar to us?

[@polmishap5287]

if communication was a factor you would find there would be a common language at least

[@moxioami]

Finally, a video where Speed x1.25 or x1.5 is helpful (interesting talk, though!)

[@oakleymc9300]

I could listen to this wise man forever. Keep him around!

[@Bruce_Lee777]

oakleyMC haha me to bro

[@triedbuttdied]

he looks like Archimedes

[@Alakabram]

TriedButDied was he a chill dude to hang around with?

[@ExtantFrodo2]

*"didn't you hear what he said about natural laws governing life expectancy?"* We engineer shit. Who cares about what limits evolution has? Mice live 2-3 years. Bats live 50 years. There's more at play than just scaling. There are physical correlations which must apply to biology as much as anything solid (surface area to volume for example). To suggest these don't constrain how life evolves would be delusional. Metabolic rates may scale to some extent by size, but please don't tell me that a plant that weighs as much as me has a similar metabolic rate. We are constrained through our lineage and history more than by our size. As for metabolism, there's costs involved in maintaining internal temperature that scale by volume and the species' mechanisms for moving heat into or out of the inside. If you don't think heat is a major factor in metabolic viability consider what happens when your immune system kicks into full gear. Historically it was quite often fatal. A major reason you can't run 60 KPH is because you couldn't cool yourself fast enough. When he says "the same mathematical principles apply to a mammal as applies to a tree" he is only speaking of each example in the framework of similar kinds. I just don't see anything to be impressed about here.

[@dewanfariharamisa5664]

and I know this vid is in your history for once and for all

[@daithiocinnsealach3173]

We are conscious conglomerations of atoms repeating themselves with slight variations over long periods of time. The repetition happens at every level.

[@duckmeister5385]

I came for the Fibonacci sequence and left both disappointed and enlightened.

[@coltonpasnik]

Him and Max Tegmark would have an interesting conversation.

[@RandimArray]

Sounds intersting but all the sources are missing, would be nice to have them, BigThink should add them

[@DavidAKZ]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set www.sciencedirect.com/science/book/9780120790616

[@MarkAhlquist]

RandimArray Google

[@GumbyTheGreen1]

Big Think, PLEASE start offering these people a teleprompter! Most technical people with ideas worth sharing are deep thinking introverts who have a hard time explaining things both clearly and concisely to a lay audience without writing the talk ahead of time. Many of these videos are missed opportunities as a result.

[@melancholiac]

I could not agree with you more.

[@nikolademitri731]

I suggest listening to his interview on Sam Harris's podcast. It's much longer, and he gets to go much more in depth, and it's quite fascinating. Much more rewarding listen than this. It's hard to get all the interesting aspects of his research on scaling into a ten minute bigthink vid.

[@Bereft777]

I think that 1/4 rule could be applied to thermodynamics and heat loss as a waste of the metabolic process.

[@mikeoxsbigg1]

Jeff Garinger I agree completely.

[@mycount64]

I recall some application to the surface area plays into the equation also which relates to the inverse square law... i do not remember exactly. a cube with 6 units of surface area... then create a cube with 8 cubes and the surface area is now 24 units... eh I don't want to think about it right now... so there it is.

[@thekidfromoz]

Hey Jeff! That's an interesting point! I'm currently too hungry to do 'proper' research and completely unqualified to make a presumption. Perhaps a well fed individual with adequate credentials could lend some insight!

[@khalidmumtaz100]

@@mycount64 Could you think about when in the right mood and explain this in some detail? I don't get how you make a cube with 8 cubes? Thanks!

[@melancholiac]

A unit cube (1x1x1) has 6 sides. Double its length, height and depth and we have 2x2x2_= 8 times the volume. But we have 4x6= 24 which is 4 times the surface area.

[@plasticscally8409]

What a wonderful insight. Size affects viability of an organism in its environment & vice versa, described in mathematics. The way of natures nature laid bare. Fantastic.

[@thstroyur]

On the origins of interspecies 'portability', it is interesting to ponder that of all possible metabolic pathways possible, Nature chose the one which uses ATPs as 'cell-energy-currency' (also GDPs, etc.) essentially randomly; many organisms in the Gaean primitive biosphere, once settled into this 'economy', started producing banks and clerks (ATPases, etc.) around it, so that these scaling laws our bud mentions (reminds anyone else here of the critical exponents of condensed matter?) are 'universal' because all cells (?) use the same 'economy', but the scaling factors themselves stem from the ATPist system. Maybe this is simply a corollary of what he's talking, I dunno

[@breakfree3109]

wow this is one of the coolest things I've heard in a while, and I think this discovery will have numerous implications

[@blindeagle6842]

I'm a mathematical disaster- but I agree with the title b'cos all things on and around earth are linked together in what might be a perfect calculation or computing, in other words coding.

[@technoholic562]

We're in the matrix

[@muthukumaranl]

God...i wish math was taught in this way to arouse curiosity back in school/college...given that its the one sense that lets us see/perceive a version of reality that is more true than the one evolved by the other senses that focused only on survival as a goal in shaping it....while math itself is more likely an approximated interface to the true nature of reality..its probably the closest that we can get to in the human form..

[@izzzzzz6]

Listening to this is like being given a jig saw puzzle to do but only having one tiny piece. Look first to the solar system and how all plants and the star interact. There are so many important numbers and divisions and further divisions of those. Much od the phase is relliant on the position of other planets, the moon, the relation to the sun, the suns cycles etc. It's like diving inside the mechanism of a Swiss watch x 1000.333333333333

[@nicogrunenberg9789]

Saying that the universe is written in mathematics is a fallacy. The language and way in which we chose to explain the universe, is the abstraction called math. Obviously we would see the universe follow the laws of this abstraction, since we have built upon it using only this concept. Other civilizations might use different ways to describe the universe and they would also, falsely, believe that their abstraction is the absolute nature of the universe.

[@VibratorDefibrilator]

"Double the size"... In three dimentions that means factor of: 2^(1/3)=1,259921049...=1.26 approx. Here's your quarter. Easy-peasy.

[@doodelay]

what kind of math are you doing buddy? lol

[@VibratorDefibrilator]

The rate of metabolism depends chiefly on volume/surface ratio. The smaller is the animal, the faster is the thermal exchange with the environment, i.e. in order to maintain constant body temperature smaller animals must have fasyer metabolism. On the other hand it seems rhat bigger animals have more energy losses from overcoming the gravity of the planet, but that is not entirely true just because the strenght of the muscle is given by the area of its cross section. these effects cancel each other and the rate of the metabolism must be given by the weight of the animal. This mass must be stuffed in a given volume... so, doubling the mass corresponds with doubling the volume, i.e. 26% increasing the size in every of the dimentions.

[@celinak5062]

VibratorDefibrilator +

[@GumbyTheGreen1]

@@VibratorDefibrilator But you haven't calculated the volume/surface area. You've calculated the volume/width.

[@davidwilkie9551]

Sifting and sorting pre-existing conditions of cause-effect by resonance-combinations the structures of rational-numerical relationships inflated and maintained dynamically by irrational continuity has many formal and informal descriptions. The principle of connection, ..Quantum Fields of temporal superposition mechanism, ..emergent characteristics of gauge and impulse, etc..

[@Skynet_the_AI]

I know!!!

[@oldgymrat71]

"Life" is not using mathematics to accomplishing its purposes. Mathematics is a description made by us as to how the Cosmos functions. It is NOT causative it IS descriptive!

[@fat4eyes]

Michael McDaniel Tell that to the theoriticians. They seem to forget that math does not magically explain the universe and that many many MANY models had to be thrown away because they dont fit the data.

[@BenjaminOienMB]

Michael McDaniel I agree that mathematics is a description of reality; however, I don't think the focus of his talk was wondering at how well he could fit a model to some organisms. It was more focused on how incredible it is that such wildly varying organisms follow the same model.

[@ludwigvanbeethoven9021]

Michael McDaniel are you a 100% sure? how come some theories even in what is the most abstract tend to always reveal things about the inner workings of nature ?

[@Spiderwikk]

THANK YOU!

[@HannesRadke]

So many people I know are naively impressed by mathematics as "cryptic magical symbols". It's because children are taught in school to "just accept it". If you dare ask why, you're scolded by incompetent teachers. Just accept it, just accept it. Math is gonna become a faith based system, if we don't work against it. Just like so many economists misuse it for political battles.

[@andrewbutler4822]

I love how the search for truth is becoming a bigger movement because of access to information and such

[@Skynet_the_AI]

Thank you, lol

[@LeonidasGGG]

"Mathmatics is the Universe without Substance."

[@elkovido8751]

The blueprint of the universe

[@ethanwasme4307]

I am a Christian... I've always thought... "Why would God waste time individually creating all of the creatures that inhabit the Earth, when he could create a few algorithms that would do the work for him", this also applies to the genesis of our universe...

[@yogimaharaj2587]

I think Mathematics is a tools for understanding Science and applying to develop better new technologies!

[@alfredoxz]

If you double your size you don't double your volume. In case of a cube will be that number to the 3rd. That's why the relation is non linear.

[@jkuess]

I wonder if this mathematical principle is also true for man-made constructs such as a economies of scale. Does a business that doubles in size become approximately 25% more efficient?

[@youtubejunkie8053]

I saw something similar to what he is speaking during an intense DMT experience. Life itself and the universe around us are one big mathematical equation.

[@Skynet_the_AI]

Hellooo!

[@benjammin8184]

"Kylo Ren. I am your father!" Anybody else reckon? Haha.

[@100sourav100]

IMHO all organisms including we humans and our mathematical and reasoning abilities are "limited" to a particular scale. Like the visible spectrum in the much wider range of electromagnetic waves and the sense of hearing with 20-20k Hertz, our mathematical reasoning is limited to the scale that is useful for survival. We can easily detect universal patterns in Mother Nature but quantum mechanics is baffling because it does not belong to the scale we and all other life have adapted to. A pattern is anything that repeats itself and the one thing that repeats itself is this very planet in cycles of 24 hrs and 365 days, in the presence of solar energy. Atoms like carbon in the presence of water, nitrogen etc. also tap into these cycles of repeating chemical reactions until they snowball into something as complicated as RNA. Then, you have replication followed by evolution and life.

[@100sourav100]

jeremiadus.com/2017/05/05/is-consciousness-fractal-issue-47-consciousness-nautilus/

[@abrarjunejo]

Finally someone understands the importance of math.

[@Alakabram]

Instantly thought about the Mandelbrot system

[@boutiagine]

me too, Mandelbrot set & more generally FRACTALs. I wonder if one can tie them up with PARAMETRICS

[@eboy4032]

From the beginning of the universe every physical event which transpired could be modeled with a mathematical equation. this holds true into the present moment. it begs the question are we operating on a predestined mathematical equation which lies hidden underneath?

[@LowtechLLC]

every mammal on earth gets the same number of heartbeats. except humans.

[@jaymeewolfe1387]

Mathematics exists whether we discover it or not we do not create equations we discover them

[@jbomb1414ify]

Math is just a system of principles and structures us as humans use to try and explain the unfathomable and unseen aspects of life... My description of math!

[@mycount64]

All those systems he was discussing subscribe to the mandelbrot series for their patterns. Simple algorithms with feedback loops are used to create complex structures. not sure what he has been studying...

[@TheGuruNetOn]

Is there a relation between scaling within biological network systems and management/bureaucractic systems?

[@thegreatestseal]

There is and it's in his book, Scale. I'm near the start of the book but he's already touched on the links between organism and corporation mortality due to various scaling laws.

[@TheRuz123]

That is a majestic voice.

[@ichtube]

I'm actually a mathematician and I wanted to follow but it didn't happen. I probably even agree but didn't get what was his point.

[@presidenttrump5712]

OH MY GOD I'M SO SPOOKED

[@xaedes]

What happens if you apply that to the planet earth? Can we get any valuable information out of this? Can we test gaia hypothesis with that?

[@krejdloc]

And like wow man..... 75% of our planet is water. And we live on the 25 % thats left. WoW

[@tracyhall1369]

awesome

[@wiqichohan9218]

Ap jaldi reply kr den tu please sir ye ADP kia h

[@kyoai]

Now the question is, does this mathematical principle apply to alien organisms aswell, which means that it really is a universal restriction for all life in the universe, or does it only apply to organisms that evolved from earth, meaning earths conditions are somehow responsible for these mathematical principles but for aliens it might not apply since their species didn't evolve on earth.

[@WestOfEarth]

Quarter power...for what tho? Arghh. This was frustrating. I'm sure he's a brilliant man. But his examples could have been given in one or two minutes, and then provided a hypothesis for the existence of the quarter power rule. Is it caused by Earth's gravity? The amount of sun light that hits Earth? Atmospheric pressure? Laws of Thermodynamics?

[@divergentevolution8114]

Isnt this like saying that the universe is english just because we described it in english? Math is just our communal language we use to describe and define our environment. We use it, that doesnt mean the universe does.

[@gen-x-zeke8446]

Killers and Saviors walk the same ground no matter what. Unless this proves multiple realms in real time. There are surely multiple realms both in the physical reality as well as down to Quantum level, so what realm do we exist in?

[@parthasarathyvenkatadri]

we are evolutionarily made to make connections we can actually make connections as though they make 35 % rule... or 45% rule

[@moamin.aljaro]

Interesting

[@brunomartel4639]

PLEASE INCLUDE AUTO GENERATED SUBS! THE NORMAL SUBS LAG BEHIND WHEN VIDEO ACCELERATED!

[@MathieuLaflamme]

I'm surprised he didn't mention gravity and air/ground resistance as explanation for the 1/4 rule... I was sure that was related.

[@SeanKula]

The fibonacci sequence comes to mind.

[@DavidSoda]

This means Life It's a critical phenomena.

[@stndsure7275]

Could not have said it better than previous - numbers and mathematics are not the "Real Thing"

[@Pfaeff]

How is "size" defined? Is it length, area, volume?

[@boutiagine]

How about mass? Just guessing

[@ynwht655]

to state the obvious "On Earth", otherwise ... billions of years of evolutionary theory some things work and can be predicted

[@wiqichohan9218]

Sir apse aik mashwara lana tha

[@Life_Is_A...]

That logo makes me feel like spiders crawling under my skin.

[@rafaelrincon3109]

New Title: "Vague Thoughts on Biology From a Theoretical Physicist"

[@GaetanLloyd]

So this underlying algorithm that shapes evolution and creates a "range" that viable living organisms must fall within... It would probably be different for other planets suitable for life. Because in a way, all life on Earth evolves to adapt to Earth's atmosphere, pressure, gravity, and resource availability. Think about what carbon based life would look like on a planet with a thicker atmosphere and much stronger gravity. Bones, skin, organic mechanisms would all have to be different. One can only imagine. I am sad that I will probably never find out in my lifetime.

[@stivosaurus]

Interesting stuff, eh? For a deeper look, go read his book Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies

[@adamgueraoui9038]

Knowledge

[@stasyszy]

The universe is just waves energy. Right now on earth this observation is a product of the energy slowly moving through its cycle in our neighborhood of the universe. IF the conditions of earth change the ratio will change

[@Skynet_the_AI]

Go on....?

[@Weewoo12309]

9 minutes to explain somthing that is supposed to explain an elegant trend in all life. He could have done it in 3 minutes avoiding the dilution ! Still, great work

[@boutiagine]

Pretty good job on a complex subject

[@rodylermglez]

Evolution begets mostly very efficient and optimized solutions.

[@mikeoxsbigg1]

He sounds very much like a king.

[@EighteenYearAccount]

Where do you think we got mathematics from if not nature?

[@danielfahrenheit4139]

The first human head transplant is taking place in 26 weeks by the way

[@willatulippe3010]

This guy looks like an older version of Kylo Ren.

[@Ndo01]

This is Kylo Ren in 50 years.

[@tomaalimosh]

These constants might be related to the gravity of Earth.

[@atienzo98]

Wouldn't humans and the size of their brain be one instance where the rule is not followed ?

[@patthompson8340]

LOL!

[@TreDogOfficial]

Well it is great that it can all be chalked up to mathematics, but he didn't mention a single number within the presentation...I want my money back

[@guitarsk8r11]

I'd like to know who this guy is, can you guys put his name in the description?

[@guitarsk8r11]

Oh it's Geoffrey West, if anyone's wondering.

[@ChannelMath]

the description talks about "interconnectedness", but it's nothing of the kind. All planets in the universe obey the law of gravitation, but they aren't "connected" in any relevant way. Seems like some new-age word salad just leaked out onto someone's keyboard

[@srlkngl]

illustrations pleeezzzz

[@Skynet_the_AI]

I KNEW THAT I KNOW!

[@wingmannj]

everything is by intelligent design. prove me wrong.

[@williamchamberlain2263]

Birds have 9 color receptors, humans only have 3: your designers love pigeons 3 times more than they love you.

[@MyplayLists4Y2Y]

too many generalities, but an interesting concept nonetheless - thumbs up!

[@danielfahrenheit4139]

creationists will never believe it, but just show them the picture with kid that has ears growing out of his forehead and misplaced eyes!

[@dankmemes5248]

Well i mean if all life evolved from a single cell, I would expect this.

[@philanthropist3049]

He has a huge library up stairs, surpassing president trumps children's library.

[@slowmotionjoe6263]

Gravity and time

[@copypastecopypaste]

Adam Driver from the future?

[@god_damn9661]

Came here for that "One Spooky Algorithm" (tittle) and found same old sh!t!!!

[@FlyingCowFX]

Why does he look animated?

[@marcvanleeuwen5986]

I don't see any algorithm being mentioned in the talk, just in the title. Also nothing spooky.

[@robertlong6311]

The universe is mathematical.

[@chistinelane]

Reality doesn't follow math. Math describes reality. And not even that well in some cases

[@Skynet_the_AI]

I KNOWWW!

[@fernandoaguero2814]

I suck at math. I guess I suck at life too then..

[@coretothecore1265]

Mmmm brains

[@addyplatebody]

Some believe in reincarnation, where your individual unique soul reincarnates into another life form. YOU don't reincarnate, "you" doesn't exist. IT reincarnates, and it is Life. Life has many perspectives but it is one entity. Individualism is the greatest lie ever told. We are all branches of the same tree. We are not separate, and humanity's inability to understand this simple idea will very possibly put an end to the grand story of Life (at least the current evolutionary line on this planet).

[@petelee1328]

Adam Nelson even though everything is connected to the same root, things are still different and distributed accordingly.

[@wasbedeutet151]

I think mother nature is more like a statistician.

[@delvinc822]

thank you for sharing your valuable opinions and thoughts.

[@nicethugbert]

Incidentally, I've never heard a creationist cite math as proof of a creator, only their ignorance of evolution.

[@taragnor]

The problem is with being a scientific creationist, even if you were to prove (or at least make a strong argument for) the theory of intelligent design, it still doesn't prove who (or what) that creator is. So basically even if you prove that there was a creator, it doesn't prove that the christian God exists.

[@nicethugbert]

Imagine if their claims lead to the conclusion that Satan is God. Lol.

[@malcolmbryant]

Well there's certainly plenty of evidence to support such a conjecture, sadly.

[@NikiSaraswati]

hehehe.... light plays in the evolution and revolution cycle.