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Is that so? I was under the impression that, considering the second law of thermodynamics, the universe could only have started in a very highly organized/low entropy state.

yep, we usually call it "universe".
and esoterics as well as physics say that it is all connected(as in network).
esoterics mean it in a spiritual way, that every action you take has an influence on everything around you, but so do physics, as gravity and energy within the observable universe form a 'network' of interaction.

I'm not sure if it is necessary to include "neural" and "simulation" in this, but I guess this is nitpicking.. It just gives this experience of the universe we all have such a "we're all in a computer with chips and cpus"-feeling, that to me is an insufficient description, a result of the zeitgeist.

"Simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time" Wikipedia defining "simulation"
so our real world is just an imitation of a meta-real world process? and that meta-real world? is it also a simulation of a meta-meta-real world? what's the point of going beyond what we can actually experience as real world?

oh and btw, I would add we are the fractal result to your sentence.. for me that is the central element, that is actually new and certifiable.
I'd say the face is the result of fractal evolution.
if things stay the same, you have stagnation, leading to nothing.
if things are purely random, you have chaos, leadiing to nothing.
if you have simple oscillation, you only have two states, leading to nothing complex.
only iif you have a continuum of balance between the two over time with a causal result that never is exactly the same, will you have real complexity.
and that in my view can only achieved through fractals.
and that is the point discussion should focus on. imho.

I think, you're comparing apples and oranges, valera_rozuvan. Considering, that the big bang theory is at least close to the truth, the universe arises from a maximum order state (everything gathered in one point is max order for me). For a closed system like the entire universe the second law of thermodynamics is valid. Most systems examined in physics are similar closed systems. no energy input, no output. They also follow the 2nd lotd.
The self organising systems we can observe here on earth and maybe outside earth are unexceptional open, dissipative systems with a permanent energy throughput. They follow the concepts of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, like for example the dissipative structures of Ilya Prigogine (he received a nobel prize for that discovery). So, you can't conclude from an open, energy dissipating system like the earth (driven by solar radiation), with all the life on it, to a larger, but self-contained, closed system like the universe.