THE UNIVERSAL CODE Roberto Alvarado, Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences, and Honors College Faculty Mentor: Andrea Kirk, Honors College The possibility of the existence of a universal code will be examined and emphasized by using scientific knowledge about all living things, and about the universe itself even though the approach taken is rather philosophical. In doing so, questions such as “could the behavior of all matter be merely the result of a set of instructions emanated from a universal code?” can be answered. Personification and analogy will be the main tools of language used in addition to the assumption of a “law” which is the cornerstone of this project--the law of wisdom. Having applied these tools, our understanding of the universe and its connection with all living things will be enhanced. What came first, matter or the set of instructions? An architect must have a blueprint, or the set of instructions, before anything is built. As the Bible points out, wisdom, or the set of instructions, came first. Having considered this, something much more profound arises in regard to the human body and its relationship with the universe. First, humans seem to make things in their own image. For example, for a car to be “alive,” it needs to have something flowing through its body, which is fuel. For a computer to be “alive,” it needs electricity flowing through its body. For a human to be alive, he needs to have blood flowing through his body. What is needed for the universe to be alive? Time is the blood of the universe, and atoms are the cells of the universe. So, finding a universal code would mean that the human body is a mere reflection of the place he lives in–the universe This idea comes from a book that is perhaps the most fascinating and controversial book ever written in human history-the holy bible. Specifically, it comes from the book of Proverbs, chapter 8, verses 22 through 31. After reading the first sentences, immediately one important question arises: why is wisdom so essential and crucial that it had to exist before the creation of the world? The answer may be that all things or all matter in the universe must “know” what to do, and what to be so that things do not collapse and remain balanced. So, in other words, matter possesses wisdom, that after all, if matter is personified, becomes a reality. Cipra, Barry A., "Sweet Structural Mysteries of Life", SIAM News, Volume 41, Number 9 (2008). Holy Bible: Today’s New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, Schrodinger, Erwin. "What is life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell." What is life? (1944): n. pag. Web. 11 Dec The universe alive Having used personification and analogy, it is intuitively obvious to the casual observer that the existence of a universal code, which is analogous to the genetic code or DNA, is highly probable. In this case, it can be concluded that the universe is a mere reflection of all living things, which can be expressed as follows: Time is the blood of the universe Atoms are the cells of the universe Universal code is the DNA of the universe 1.Analogy Analogies are among the most potent tools for communication in all of human language. They convey very complex, broad, and unfamiliar concepts with everything that is familiar or common to the casual observer. 2. Personification Personification is the act of attributing a personal nature to an abstraction or thing. This a very powerful tool in the human language since feelings and emotions can be assigned to non-living objects. ABSTRACT HYPOTHESIS ORIGINS THOUGHTS CONCLUSIONS SOURCES TOOLS OF LANGUAGE USED The behavior of all matter in the universe may be merely the result of a set of instructions emanated from a universal code. Once all matter is personified, it is soon realized that matter “knows” exactly what to do, when to do it, where to do it, how to do it, and what to be for each case. However, if they know what to do, they know the rest except what to be. Therefore, the law of wisdom can be simply expressed as follows: “All matter in the universe knows what to do and what to be” Examples: 1.The speed of light is exactly *10^8 m/s in empty space. Photons, the particles of light, know that they must travel through empty space exactly at this speed; not slower, not faster. They even know their speed limit when traveling in air or water as if there were traffic signs before entering to either one of these. 2.Electrons know how massive they have to be, and who they can or cannot hang around with (they cannot hang around protons). They know their place in the atom, which is outside of the nucleus. 3.All matter knows what fundamental force it has to obey, and to what extent. Particles know that they have to obey electromagnetic forces and pay not too much attention to gravitational forces. THE LAW OF WISDOM Things to remember: Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things. They provide structure for the body, take in nutrients from food, convert those nutrients into energy, and carry out specialized functions. DNA is a instructional script sitting in the nucleus of a cell. Its coding language has four letters A, C, G & T. All of the elaborate functions of the cell are directed by the order of letters in this script. DNA UNIVERSE Things to remember: All matter is made of atoms. Atoms are the building blocks of the universe. Acknowledgments Wendy K. Wilkins, Ph.D., Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Gloria C. Cox, Ph.D., Dean, Honors College Andrea Kirk, Ph.D., Honors College