5 Reasons We May Live in a Multiverse

5 Reasons We May Live in a Multiverse

Author
Discussion

Halb

Original Poster:

53,012 posts

184 months

Saturday 10th August 2013
quotequote all
http://www.space.com/18811-multiple-universes-5-th...

The universe we live in may not be the only one out there. In fact, our universe could be just one of an infinite number of universes making up a "multiverse."

Tycho

11,641 posts

274 months

Saturday 10th August 2013
quotequote all
So we live in multiple universes and I somehow get stuck in the st version frown


I was reading a book about this by Michio Kaku. http://mkaku.org/

It messes with your head but is a fantastic theory which would be fantastic if true and we could travel between them.

Halb

Original Poster:

53,012 posts

184 months

Saturday 10th August 2013
quotequote all
Just about to start reading The Long War, which deals with multiple realities.

Tycho

11,641 posts

274 months

Saturday 10th August 2013
quotequote all
Looks interesting, might pick it up. Love this kind of thing along with alternate history stuff.

Multi universe theory is mind bending stuff.

Hooli

32,278 posts

201 months

Tuesday 13th August 2013
quotequote all
Discworld has to exist somewhere...

Halb

Original Poster:

53,012 posts

184 months

Friday 13th December 2013
quotequote all
Hooli said:
Discworld has to exist somewhere...
I'd hope so...

Halmyre

11,224 posts

140 months

Friday 13th December 2013
quotequote all
Hooli said:
Discworld has to exist somewhere...
Only in a universe where "magic" exists.

I recently read an interesting short story by Alastair Reynolds that has as its central theme the theory of multiple universes where the timeline splits depending on the outcome of an event. One of the characters points out that, if you repeatedly toss a coin, there must be a universe where it will always come up heads (or tails), which slightly fks with my head.

Simpo Two

85,599 posts

266 months

Friday 13th December 2013
quotequote all
By definition you can't have five universes because 'uni' means 'one'. So each sub-verse is a 'quinverse'.

perdu

4,884 posts

200 months

Friday 13th December 2013
quotequote all
Hmm, probably a polyverse (some polyverses...many polyverses...huge numbers of pol...) then.

Might make sense of Wallace's wrong trousers too.

It can be cheese then.

I read the Pratchett/Baxter collaborated story The Long Earth last year. Didn't get tempted into buying their newer one about a Long War.



But there's magic everywhere, innit!

Edited by perdu on Friday 13th December 21:18

Gaspode

4,167 posts

197 months

Friday 13th December 2013
quotequote all
Tycho said:
So we live in multiple universes and I somehow get stuck in the st version frown
Actually, this one might be the best...

dodgyviper

1,197 posts

239 months

Saturday 14th December 2013
quotequote all
Halmyre said:
I recently read an interesting short story by Alastair Reynolds that has as its central theme the theory of multiple universes where the timeline splits depending on the outcome of an event. One of the characters points out that, if you repeatedly toss a coin, there must be a universe where it will always come up heads (or tails), which slightly fks with my head.
Do like Reynolds books. Fine imagination.

However, I've never liked this 'tossed coin - outcome is chance etc'

The outcome isn't chance at all. If you were able to record and measure every parameter from spin rate, height attained, height of launch point, constitution of the ground at impact point etc etc then outcome is always predictable. We call it chance simply because we can't measure the process in realtime well enough to give an accurate result .

To say that the outcome is different, must imply that the energy vectors preceding the outcome have changed.

Which implies the tosser has tossed differently.

There are no decisions in nature. Merely changes of state which are utterly predictable (if you're a certain robot of Arthur Let's acquaintance ).


Its humans that make decisions and I doubt they fall outside of the robotic computational abilities of smart arse robots .



Dr Jekyll

23,820 posts

262 months

Saturday 14th December 2013
quotequote all
dodgyviper said:
However, I've never liked this 'tossed coin - outcome is chance etc'

The outcome isn't chance at all. If you were able to record and measure every parameter from spin rate, height attained, height of launch point, constitution of the ground at impact point etc etc then outcome is always predictable. We call it chance simply because we can't measure the process in realtime well enough to give an accurate result .

To say that the outcome is different, must imply that the energy vectors preceding the outcome have changed.

Which implies the tosser has tossed differently.

There are no decisions in nature. Merely changes of state which are utterly predictable (if you're a certain robot of Arthur Let's acquaintance ).
But the whole point is that you can't measure the process totally accurately even in theory. Once you get to the quantum level a particle might be in any of multiple locations, in effect it is in all those locations, both the ones that ultimately lead to Heads and those that lead to tails.

dodgyviper

1,197 posts

239 months

Saturday 14th December 2013
quotequote all
Lol I knew that but didn't think before I wrote.

However, I suspect the reason I didn't recall it is for the simple reason that I don't get it.

Always felt that the probability measurements were simply very accurate mappings of reality at a sub atomic level without understanding why these things actually occurr.

The latest I heard - there is only one electron in the whole universe. Mindcopulation

Genuine question, has anyone ever scientifically witnessed a macro event that was astonishing in its unpredictability due to quantum mechanics.

May be answering my own question but are diffraction experiments an example?

Dr Jekyll

23,820 posts

262 months

Sunday 15th December 2013
quotequote all
But if there are an infinite number of universes there must be some where I win the lottery every week.

In fact there must be an infinite number where I win the lottery every week, but nowhere near as many as where I don't win it at all.

confused

trashbat

6,006 posts

154 months

Sunday 15th December 2013
quotequote all
If there's an infinite number of universes, there must be one where there's none. Stick that in your stupid science pipe.

im

34,302 posts

218 months

Monday 16th December 2013
quotequote all
We'd all better pray there are indeed parallel Universes because we're (the Human Race) going to need one to escape into when this one goes into deep freeze prior to being ripped apart at a sub-atomic level.

Something similar to the machine in the TV series 'Sliders' would be just the ticket.


The Nur

9,168 posts

186 months

Monday 16th December 2013
quotequote all
im said:
We'd all better pray there are indeed parallel Universes because we're (the Human Race) going to need one to escape into when this one goes into deep freeze prior to being ripped apart at a sub-atomic level.

Something similar to the machine in the TV series 'Sliders' would be just the ticket.

I was thinking about Sliders just the other day. That and Quantum Leap.

Simpo Two

85,599 posts

266 months

Monday 16th December 2013
quotequote all
im said:
We'd all better pray there are indeed parallel Universes because we're (the Human Race) going to need one to escape into when this one goes into deep freeze prior to being ripped apart at a sub-atomic level.
I thought we were going to be burned to a crisp when the sun turns into a red giant.

All we need is a spaceship in which to travel to more friendly climes. Migration if you like.


Or start a big self-sustaining community underground?

Catatafish

1,361 posts

146 months

Friday 20th December 2013
quotequote all
Simpo Two said:
I thought we were going to be burned to a crisp when the sun turns into a red giant.

All we need is a spaceship in which to travel to more friendly climes. Migration if you like.


Or start a big self-sustaining community underground?
You've got a few billion years to put your feet up before that particular "end"

There is also another group of parallel universes - those running in the computers in other universes/multiverses/realms. No way of telling which, if any, you occupy.

Halb

Original Poster:

53,012 posts

184 months

Friday 20th December 2013
quotequote all
The Long Earth is a book which deals with parallel Earths.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Earth