Crosswords1 min ago
Parallel Universes
do they exist or is this science fiction?
Answers
From a reputable website: https://
21:29 Sat 25th Mar 2023
TCL:
If there's an infinite number of universes, and you could set off from our Earth and explore the others, eventually you would come across one which was identical with ours. If you didn't find one for ages, you would still have an infinity of universes to inspect and an infinite amount of time to keep looking, so you'd be bound to find one.
If you think that this doesn't make sense, then I agree with you; that's why I can't really accept that there is an infinity of universes. Perhaps there could be lots, but infinity, no.
You could argue that there is an infinite number of points on a line which is only 1 inch in length, but that each point is different from all the rest because of its position not being the same as any other. However, the distance between two adjacent points would get smaller as you increased the number of points, until at the limit each point would be infinitesimally distant from its neighbours and they would end up being identical. To me, none of this is real in the real world; it's just mathematical symbols.
Errrrr. Now I'm completely lost down an infinite rabbit warren.
If there's an infinite number of universes, and you could set off from our Earth and explore the others, eventually you would come across one which was identical with ours. If you didn't find one for ages, you would still have an infinity of universes to inspect and an infinite amount of time to keep looking, so you'd be bound to find one.
If you think that this doesn't make sense, then I agree with you; that's why I can't really accept that there is an infinity of universes. Perhaps there could be lots, but infinity, no.
You could argue that there is an infinite number of points on a line which is only 1 inch in length, but that each point is different from all the rest because of its position not being the same as any other. However, the distance between two adjacent points would get smaller as you increased the number of points, until at the limit each point would be infinitesimally distant from its neighbours and they would end up being identical. To me, none of this is real in the real world; it's just mathematical symbols.
Errrrr. Now I'm completely lost down an infinite rabbit warren.
TCL; The speculation may be interesting to some, but it sems to me that the whole multiverse thing is an idea which offers no chance of testing its validity. If that is the case, then it's as useful as discussing how many genders angels have, or what is god's real name and so on. Such speculation can be so enthralling that different gangs of thinkers get het up enough to start threatening and killing each other in horrible ways. Scientists usually don't go that far, but science like religion can be used by the power hungry to cause real harm, cf Hitler and Stalin and their ideological twisting and corrupting of scientific research.
As I said yesterday it's nice to have my input valued. But I'm not sure when I'll have the time -- or, perhaps more to the point, the motivation -- to add anything much to what's written in Buen's link.
I say "motivation", because really parallel universe theories feel to me kind of... I'm not sure if this is the correct word, but, "pointless". They seem to be introduced to solve questions such as "how is it that our universe is so finely-tuned?" by positing the existence of, possibly infinitely, many other universes with subtly different values for various fundamental constants. But this just kills any meaningful understanding, in my view. Oh we just happen to be in the one universe out of squillions that works? And we also have no chance of checking whether the other bajillion universes even exist? Well, cool, OK then. I'm just not sure what you're gaining.
Maybe I'll add more, but my general impression is that people coming up with these ideas are often too busy inventing other universes that they forget to focus on understanding *this* one first.
I say "motivation", because really parallel universe theories feel to me kind of... I'm not sure if this is the correct word, but, "pointless". They seem to be introduced to solve questions such as "how is it that our universe is so finely-tuned?" by positing the existence of, possibly infinitely, many other universes with subtly different values for various fundamental constants. But this just kills any meaningful understanding, in my view. Oh we just happen to be in the one universe out of squillions that works? And we also have no chance of checking whether the other bajillion universes even exist? Well, cool, OK then. I'm just not sure what you're gaining.
Maybe I'll add more, but my general impression is that people coming up with these ideas are often too busy inventing other universes that they forget to focus on understanding *this* one first.
// I´m sorry Clare to have put all that pressure on you!! //
I don't think of it as "pressure", per se. I do enjoy commenting on this stuff, when I get the chance. Still, as a rule, and particularly if I've already said that it might be a while, sometimes you do need to be patient.
When it comes to parallel universes, though, it's all very speculative. In that sense, the best I can do anyway is just explain the differences between different lines of speculation. I will (hopefully) get around to saying something in reply to Atheist's/TCL's discussion, because I think they're misunderstanding the consequences of infinity, but that's a story for another time.
I don't think of it as "pressure", per se. I do enjoy commenting on this stuff, when I get the chance. Still, as a rule, and particularly if I've already said that it might be a while, sometimes you do need to be patient.
When it comes to parallel universes, though, it's all very speculative. In that sense, the best I can do anyway is just explain the differences between different lines of speculation. I will (hopefully) get around to saying something in reply to Atheist's/TCL's discussion, because I think they're misunderstanding the consequences of infinity, but that's a story for another time.
