The multi-universe

From: John W Burgeson (jwburgeson@juno.com)
Date: Fri Aug 01 2003 - 09:46:19 EDT

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    here is a MetaNexus post on the subject. I thought it was illuminating.

    John Burgeson (Burgy)

    www.burgy.50megs.com

    Metanexus Views. 2003.07.30. 920 Words.

    Below is an essay entitled "Which universe do you live in?" by William
    Grassie, the executive director of Metanexus Institute. In the essay,
    Grassie examines the reasons why cosmologists are attracted to multiverse
    theory and why this may be the 21st century equivalent to debating how
    many
    angels fit on the head of a pin. Comments are invited.

    William "Billy" Grassie is founder and executive director of the
    Metanexus
    Institute on Religion and Science <http://www.metanexus.net>. Grassie
    also
    serves as executive editor of the Instituteıs online magazine and
    discussion
    forum with over 60,000 weekly page views and over 6000 regular
    subscribers
    in 57 different countries. He has taught in a variety of positions at
    Temple
    University, Swarthmore College, and the University of Pennsylvania.
    Grassie
    received his doctorate in religion from Temple University in 1994 and his
    BA
    from Middlebury College in 1979. Prior to graduate school, Grassie
    worked
    for ten years in religiously-based social service and advocacy
    organizations
    in Washington, D.C; Jerusalem, Israel; Berlin, Germany; and Philadelphia,
    PA. He is the recipient of a number of academic awards and grants from
    the
    American Friends Service Committee, the Roothbert Fellowship, and the
    John
    Templeton Foundation. He is a member of the Religious Society of Friends
    (Quakers).

    -- Editor

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
    Which universe do you live in?
    By William Grassie

    The success of modern cosmology in understanding the history and
    structure
    of the universe has led to a profound crisis in the field, which has
    significance for the dialogue between science and religion. The
    topography
    of the universe discovered by astronomers, physicists, and cosmologists
    is
    extraordinary. Our sun, at a distance of 93 million miles, is but a
    small
    star in a vast galaxy of some 100 billion stars. This galaxy is but one
    of
    a hundred billion other galaxies stretching back some 13 billion years at
    the speed of light into an infinitely dense and infinitely hot
    originating
    mystery. One thing this new cosmology teaches us is that whatever
    humanity
    in the past has believed about God is way too small. Most cosmologists,
    astronomers, and physicists, however, are not interested in doing
    God-talk;
    but those of us who do talk-the-talk should certainly be paying attention
    to
    the current cosmos conversation.

    The situation is such. Imagine that you walk into a classroom and notice
    that there is a pencil standing on its point on the table. In all those
    years in elementary school, no matter how hard you tried, you could not
    make
    a pencil stand up on its point. But here one day in graduate school, you
    walked into an empty classroom and there is this pencil standing on its
    point. So you call in the physics department to help study this strange
    occurrence.

    One possibility is that there is some strange, invisible force that
    causes
    this pencil to stand on its point. Gravity aside, physicists are averse
    to
    postulating strange, invisible forces, so perhaps this strange pencil is
    just a weird fluky event, however improbable. Physicists, however, donıt
    tend to go for weird fluky improbabilities.

    Such is the case in contemporary cosmology in what is referred to as the
    fine-tuning problem. There are a dozen such fine-tuning issues that
    confound cosmologists. The expansion rate of the universe, the ratio of
    matter to antimatter, the specific values of the weak and strong nuclear
    forces, the mass ratios between electrons, protons, and neutrons, the
    list
    goes on. If any of these variables were ever so slightly different, then
    none of the complexity we see around or inside us would be possible. In
    other words, life and consciousness could not have evolved. Where
    biologists see random drift and natural selection in the messy story of
    life, physicists see elegant improbabilities in the ordered and
    intelligible
    nature of the cosmos.

    Some extend the weird role of the observer in fixing the uncertainty in
    quantum events to apply to the universe as a whole. Perhaps the universe
    as
    a whole is a kind of quantum event, which requires an observer with
    something like human consciousness to observe it. The distinguished
    physicist Freeman Dyson reflects ³The more I examine the universe and
    study
    the details of its architecture, the more evidence I find that the
    universe
    in some sense must have known we were coming². This interpretation is
    referred to as the anthropic principle. It comes in weak and strong
    flavors. This interpretation implies a kind of future necessity of our
    just-so universe, such that present day consciousness determines past
    actualities. Physicists, however, are also averse to invisible
    necessities
    in which future possibilities determine past realities.

    At this point, the normal graduate student trying to figure out why the
    pencil is standing on its point would probably be happy to reconsider the
    possibility of an invisible force. Our team of physicists and
    cosmologists
    are very clever with mathematics which allow them not only to discover
    realities, but also imagine possibilities which may not be real at all.
    Such is the case with multiverse theory, the big new fad in contemporary
    cosmology. The theory goes something like this: we just happen to live
    in a
    universe in which the pencil stands on point. There are an infinite
    number
    of parallel universes, in which the pencil realizes every other potential
    state by falling down. While there are sophisticated mathematical models
    that might predict the existence of multiple universes, as there have
    long
    been for multiple dimensions, it is not clear that we could ever have
    empirical knowledge of these other universes.

    Far be I, uninitiated and dimly lit, to weigh in on these complex
    cosmological considerations. I do not understand the math or the
    physics.
    ³Since our theories are so far ahead of experimental capabilities, we are
    forced to use mathematics as our eyes,² notes Brian Greene, a Columbia
    University string theorist and author of a popular text, The Elegant
    Universe. Greene continues ³Thatıs why we follow it [mathematics] where
    it
    takes us even if we canıt see where weıre going.²

    In the past, mathematics has brought us to many stunning new insights
    about
    the universe. There may be compelling reasons to suppose our universe
    really is one piece of a vast multiverse (in which case, the theists will
    need to infinitely revise the scale of Godıs exuberant creativity ). On
    the
    other hand, multiverse theory may be the 21st century equivalent of
    counting
    how many angels will fit on the head of a pin. In the latter case, all
    of
    these sophisticated mathematical contortions are merely a way of avoiding
    postulating an invisible, intelligent, and conscious force underlying the
    fine-tuned structures of the universe.

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    This publication is hosted by Metanexus Online
    <http://www.metanexus.net>.
    The views expressed here do notnecessarily reflect those of Metanexus or
    its sponsors. To comment on this message, go to the browser-based forum
    at the bottom of all postings in the magazine section of our web site.

    Metanexus welcomes submissions between 1000 to 3000 words of essays
    and book reviews that seek to explore and interpret science and religion
    in
    original and insightful ways for a general educated audience. Previous
    columns give a good indication of the topical range and tone for
    acceptable
    essays. Please send all inquiries and submissions to
    <editor@metanexus.net>.

    Copyright notice: Columns may be forwarded, quoted, or republished in
    full
    with attribution to the author of the column and "Metanexus: The Online
    Forum
    on Religion and Science <http://www.metanexus.net>". Republication for
    commercial purposes in print or electronic format requires the permission
    of the author. Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 by William
    Grassie.

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