Multiverse

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

So I've been watching documentaries about the multiverse hypothesis. Am I to understand correctly that if there are an infinite number of possible universes then anything imaginable can and will exist? So there really is a universe where the Land of Oz actually exists, or a universe that looks like the Simpsons cartoon?

[Mudhammam]

The Flying Spaghetti Monster IS real too then!

[Zen Badger]

You're thinking of the Copenhagen interpretation which postulates that a whole new universe is created for every possible action.
Schrödinger's cat was actually a rebuttal to that.
The multiverse is the idea that our universe is just one bubble in an infinite sea of such bubbles.
So while there are many possibilities I struggle to think of one where the natural laws would allow a cartoon reality.

[Alex K]

There are two somewhat separate, but not mutually exclusive notions of the multiverse: on the one hand, in inflation models, many separate pockets of space can expand and form individual causally disconnected patches possibly with differing laws of nature.

On the other, there is the many worlds interpretation of Quantum theory which basically just says, include all observers in the quantum description, and never collapse the wavefunction. Where the copenhagen interpretation which Zen mentions effectively tells you to throw away all superpositions of the observer state except the one which corresponds to the measured outcome, the relative state or many worlds picture lets them all go on as infinite superpositions corresponding to all possible outcomes of all quantum uncertain decisions. Combine this with a picture of the universe where the laws of physics are set randomly by quantum uncertainty, and you get a continuum of parallel worlds superimposed onto ours, some vastly different even in their physics, some only differing in minuscule detail.


Both the inflationary multiverse and many worlds QM could be simultaneously realized, giving you even more of everything.

34 and the Lord spake unto the people of Canaan, and their sons, and the sons of their sons, and their sons sons sons, and he raised his voice and spake thusly as he formed the words that were about to come out of his mouth, as he said: 35 People of Canaan! Behold the wave of low frequencies which surroundeth all that is, from all directions equally. A fool is he who thinkeh it is uniform and devoid of variation, for it is not! 37 And truly, I, the Lord, telleth you that it hath those fluctuations with ye knoweth as density fluctuations, but behold the polarysation: it wiggeleth, and vibrateth and it violateth those criteria which thou knowest to be false in thy heart already, for thou believeth in large field inflation, but hast not yet confirmeth experimentally. Amen

"Until now, this text was used to condemn homosexuality, but in light of recent discoveries..."

[Marsellus Wallace]

I imagine a universe with 4 dimensions, where your place(where you live) is inside you and when people want to visit you, they get inside you .

[Alex K]

I imagine a universe with 4 dimensions, where your place(where you live) is inside you and when people want to visit you, they get inside you .

Now that's a thinly veiled fantasy
but very interesting thought!

[Napoléon]

So while there are many possibilities I struggle to think of one where the natural laws would allow a cartoon reality.

Ditto, I've never understood how an infinite amount of universes automatically equals an infinite amount of possibilities. If such universes are structured in much the same way, a lot of the outcomes would be quite similar I'm guessing.

[Heywood]

I imagine a universe with 4 dimensions, where your place(where you live) is inside you and when people want to visit you, they get inside you .

In 4 dimensional space stars and planets wouldn't form....so you wouldn't either. In 3 dimensional space dust clouds have an average spin which combined gravity and the law of conservation of angular momentum cause the cloud to collapse into a spinning accretion disk.

In 4 dimensional space dust clouds have 2 average spins and that would keep them from collapsing into spinning accretion disks.

[Mudhammam]

I imagine a universe with 4 dimensions, where your place(where you live) is inside you and when people want to visit you, they get inside you .

In 4 dimensional space stars and planets wouldn't form....so you wouldn't either. In 3 dimensional space dust clouds have an average spin which combined gravity and the law of conservation of angular momentum cause the cloud to collapse into a spinning accretion disk.

In 4 dimensional space dust clouds have 2 average spins and that would keep them from collapsing into spinning accretion disks.

But it seems possible that a 4 dimensional space would produce its entirely own unique structure by which it might produce something analogous to stars or planets or even intelligent beings, perhaps exhibiting some similar features and those as bizarre as Marsellus fantasizes.

[Heywood]

But it seems possible that a 4 dimensional space would produce its entirely own unique structure by which it might produce something analogous to stars or planets or even intelligent beings, perhaps exhibiting some similar features and those as bizarre as Marsellus fantasizes.

You might be right....but in the case of a dust cloud floating in space...I think it remains a dust cloud and doesn't collapse into anything(I'm not sure about this but I am sure it doesn't collapse into an accretion disk).

In any event, I think you are being overly optimistic. There is no reason whatsoever that a 4d universe should conform to Marsellus's fantasies.

It could very well be that 3d is optimal for emergent complexity to happen given our physics....in fact I suspect that this is the case(don't ask me to substantiate because I can't....I'm running on intuition here).