"Is the universe -- correction: "our" universe -- no more than a speck of cosmic dust amid an inf

Stranger that fiction: parallel universes beguile science

Stranger than fiction: parallel universes beguile science

From the article:

"The idea of multiple universes is more than a fantastic invention -- it appears naturally within several scientific theories, and deserves to be taken seriously," said Aurelien Barrau, a French particle physicist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), hardly a hotbed of flaky science.

"The multiverse is no longer a model, it is a consequence of our models," explained Barrau, who recently published an essay for CERN defending the concept.

There are several competing and overlapping theories about parallel universes, but the most basic is based on the simple, if mind-boggling, idea that if the universe is infinite then logically everything that could possible occur has happened or will happen.

Try this on for size: a copy of you living on a planet and in a solar system like ours is reading these words just as you are. Your lives have been carbon copies up to now, but maybe he or she will keep reading even if you don't, says Max Tegmark, a cosmologist at MIT in Boston, Massachusetts.



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if so... why... other than it being a massive "computer" simulation to analyze the outcomes of this universe sized pitri dish? Any other ideas as to why?

I've always seen this universe as systems within systems. atoms, organisms, societies, worlds, star systems, galaxies, universe(s?). I see no reason why the pattern should stop at there being one universe, but who knows?

Yeah, this is the "Many Worlds" theory. In theory, while I am sitting down in my chair typing these words, somewhere else, I may be standing and typing these words...

So what do you think the purpose of these infinite other realities? The only explanation I can come up with is that they all are virtual simulations, where someone/something is looking only to see where they all eventually end up. Why? I have no idea.

Has anyone else come up with a reason for these multiple realities?

Ziltoid, I have come to the conclusion that we are only real in the mind of God. In very real sense, I think we are simulations which actively pursue the outcome that God desires...

I guess thats a possibility but it all seems so mathematical to me, and easy to fit into a super duper future computer analogy.

Interesting thread and i fancy taking a bite here.

I believe if this construct is true then it fits in very nicely with my own belief structure.

It is my opinion that us (our souls / consciousness) are put here in different lives and bodies (reincarnation) to live every possible physical and emotional experience for the duration of the 3d universe. Like a training academy.

By the end of that 3d time period (end of the universe) you are judged / graded. After all that experience are you good or evil? If the scale tips towards the good side you ascend, if not you are then put back into the universe to repeat another term when the next big bang happens.

Having multiple universes makes this learning of experience during the time of the 3d universe a lot more comprehensive. IMO the multi verse is just a 3d school for souls to learn the difference between right and wrong if you like.

I don't belong to any religion or new age cult this is just an idea i have postulated myself that i feel comfortable with. Might even make my own thread about this ideas welcome.

Anyway thats one possible answer to the OP's question

[edit on 1/1/08 by Argos]

Originally posted by Ziltoid_the_Omniscient
... where someone/something is looking only to see where they all eventually end up. Why? I have no idea.

Has anyone else come up with a reason for these multiple realities?

in order to look for the the Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything . Seriously, while the topic of multiverses interests me quite a lot what's the point of knowing that there's a lot of universes out there if we can't flit or slide through from here to there? i mean, is there a point to knowing that there's a lot of other "me's" out there who probably are thinking the same thoughts i'm thinking about right now but who might just do a different thing after submitting this post. or type this post in a different way or use different words to get my point across.

reply to post by toreishi


Because its interesting and who knows what kind of discoveries we could make along the way. I mean whats the point of mapping our own galaxies / stars / planets in our own universe when we can't get to any of them?

Physics say we would seize to exist in different universe but who knows. We only know what we know till we don't After that anything is possible...

Urantia Book

The critical views section of the Wikipedia page for The_Urantia_Book dismisses a lot of the claims

Originally posted by Ziltoid_the_Omniscient
The critical views section of the Wikipedia page for The_Urantia_Book dismisses a lot of the claims

I disagree. The dismissed "claims" of the book is due to faulty translation and human assumptions as to the meanings of the book.

As I see it, Universe is purely individual and subjective. Everyone sees and interprets the universe differently according to their own experiences.

Multiple versions of yourself? They already exist. The version in one persons universe of, say, Pope Benedict XVI is of a pious and holy man intent on making the world a better place. Another person may see him as a credulous idiot clinging on to an archaic belief system. There. We have two versions of him already, not including his own personal version.

But this idea of universe isn't really parallel. It is more of a Venn Diagram universe where we have overlapping concepts of what red is, what land, sea and sky are.

No one persons universe is any more or less real than any other persons universe, nor does it have any real position, space or scope except as rationalised by that person.

"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us 'universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." - Einstein

Occams Razor. What is the multiverse theory trying to accomplish?

If I am going to turn on the TV in one universe, and in another, I decide to leave it off. So in one universe I turn it on, and then decide to eat something. In another, I wont be deciding on eating anything, because as a direct result of not turning on the TV, I will probably have a choice between something else. So lets assume that happens, we are talking about a multiverse self replicating at a rate of 'who knows how many millions/billions of choices that a person makes at every moment in their life. Not to mention, who are these multiverses for? Myself? Arent there 6 billion other people with choices to make aswell?

For me, its a ridiculous theory. If there are other universes, which may very well be, they are certainly in my mind not parallel universes, where in one an earthquake happened, but in another it didnt. It would be universes with their own galaxies, systems, etc.

I really do believe that our belief that we make "choices" is faltered. Maybe we do make choices, but it was the choice that we were always meant to pick. Not talking about fate necessarily. Just that everyone who does what they do at any given moment was the choice they were always going to make.

Originally posted by 3_Libras
I really do believe that our belief that we make "choices" is faltered.

The whole concept of "free will" is rather faulty to me, but, I'm not going to derail the thread with my spiel on that. Most posters know where I stand on that issue anyway.

i submit that a potentially infinite number of universes does not necessitate an infinite number of variations of our own existence. wouldn't it be safe to assume there are an equally infinite number of realities that don't resemble our reality? why overlap when you can keep diversifying?

on thew other hand, matter can only be arranged in so many ways, albeit nearly infinite. and matter can only be manipulated in so many ways, albeit nearly infinite. so following that line of thinking, similar realities become an inevitability.

head scratcher. =)

[edit on 2-1-2008 by an0maly33]