RE: Why I don't believe in parallel universes
March 19, 2015 at 7:28 am
(This post was last modified: March 19, 2015 at 7:30 am by Alex K.)
Can't watch vid right now.
There are two very different notions of parallel Universe that I'm aware of. One, and arguably the more radical one, is the multitude of states one gets out of the relative state, or many-worlds, interpretation of quantum mechanics. The other is the somewhat more mundane version where many neighboring pockets of space drop out of inflation separately. If there's something like string theory or similar, where the laws of physics are not fixed but depend to a certain extent on the geometry of the 10 dimensions, these universes can settle with very different laws of physics, and are more or less neighbouring rather than parallel.
To me, the many worlds interpretation of Quantum Mechanics seems to be the most parsimonious and least problematic one, but would I bet my life on it, probably not. We can rather believe that inflation is real, and if space as a whole is infinite, there are bound to be many other universes next to ours. But we don't know whether space is infinite, so there. I find it quite plausible that there are at least some more, because nature doesn't seem to be very frugal anyways, and the thought that nature is so simple that it contains only our observable universe and what is connected to it, seems to me like it needs justification.
There are two very different notions of parallel Universe that I'm aware of. One, and arguably the more radical one, is the multitude of states one gets out of the relative state, or many-worlds, interpretation of quantum mechanics. The other is the somewhat more mundane version where many neighboring pockets of space drop out of inflation separately. If there's something like string theory or similar, where the laws of physics are not fixed but depend to a certain extent on the geometry of the 10 dimensions, these universes can settle with very different laws of physics, and are more or less neighbouring rather than parallel.
To me, the many worlds interpretation of Quantum Mechanics seems to be the most parsimonious and least problematic one, but would I bet my life on it, probably not. We can rather believe that inflation is real, and if space as a whole is infinite, there are bound to be many other universes next to ours. But we don't know whether space is infinite, so there. I find it quite plausible that there are at least some more, because nature doesn't seem to be very frugal anyways, and the thought that nature is so simple that it contains only our observable universe and what is connected to it, seems to me like it needs justification.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
