This essay addresses the debate over whether the sophistication of the universe is the design of an omniscient deity or whether it exists as one of an infinite number of possibilities according to parallel universe theory. It explores the possibility and implications of parallel universes, comparing scientific theories and religious perspectives, focusing on Hugh Everett’s multiverse theory.
“The universe is the elaborate work of an omniscient God.” So said a devout 16th-century Catholic priest. In order for the universe, solar system, and Earth to be hospitable for human existence, all the constants that determine the universe must come together just right. The probability of this combination is incomparably lower than our chances of winning the lotto this week. Yet the current universe seems to defy these ridiculous odds. Could it be that an omniscient being, or God, designed the universe to defy such small odds? The debate has been going on for a long time and is still being debated today.
On the opposite side of the debate from the 16th-century clergy are those who believe in parallel universes. It’s not just scientists like Stephen Hawking, Max Tegmark, and other top authorities in physics. Philosophers, writers, and even many clergy believe in parallel universes and multiverses. While not all of their views are in perfect agreement, they all share the idea that there are other worlds besides our own. In this essay, I will introduce Hugh Everett’s view and discuss its validity.
Hugh Everett, who puzzled Albert Einstein as a child with questions about the coincidence that sustains the world, later opened the door to multiverse theory. According to his theorem of relative states in quantum mechanics, every time we observe a quantum mechanical system in a superposition, a new world unfolds. New branes of the universe arise, and all of them exist simultaneously. For example, suppose we give a cat a poison that has a 50% chance of killing it within an hour and put it in a box out of sight. An hour later, we don’t know if the cat is alive or dead. This is the superposition of quantum systems. At that moment, a new branch of the universe is created, and a new world is created somewhere in the multiverse. In our world, the cat is lucky to be alive, but in another world, the cat dies. Hugh Everett explains that the worlds diverge in this way, forming an infinite multiverse.
Multiverse theory provides a clear explanation for the sophistication of the universe, which was created against very low odds. The constants that make up the universe have a finite number of cases, and even if you multiply them all together, there is a finite number of cases. But in the multiverse, the number of different worlds is infinite, so there are not only our universe, but also lower-probability universes, and even worlds that are exactly like ours. Our alter egos could be living somewhere in the multiverse.
String theory attracted a lot of attention before multiverse theory because it was expected to explain our universe perfectly, but as it turns out, string theory doesn’t explain just one universe, but a huge number of universes – 500 to the 10th power. This is where multiverse theory comes in. In multiverse theory, all 10,500 universes to the power of 10 exist. The number of universes is not an issue in multiverse theory.
So, can we scientifically and logically prove the existence of parallel universes? Today, mankind has succeeded in using electromagnetic waves of various wavelengths, including light, to determine the age and size of our universe. Since we mainly use electromagnetic waves to obtain information from outer space, can we use electromagnetic waves to obtain information from other universes in the multiverse? Not so long ago, it seemed impossible, but recently, it has become possible to prove parallel universes in a different way, with the aid of the anthropic principle.
If the existence of parallel universes is proven, which is still in the hypothetical stage, the only remaining obstacle to this theory would be the conflict with religion. When Nicolaus Copernicus proposed the theory of geocentrism in the 16th century, the church fought tooth and nail to stop it. The situation is similar today. The Church maintains that our universe is a life-friendly universe, exquisitely designed by God. The parallel universe theory argues that ours is just one of an infinite number of universes, and that we live in a life-friendly one. However, the arguments in this debate are not simply binary. There are scholars who embrace both sides of the argument. For example, theoretical physicist Don Page asks why God couldn’t create a multiverse. Also, religions other than Catholicism have long embraced a multiverse-like concept. One example is the Jewish mysticism of Kabbalah, which interprets the biblical book of Genesis in a different way than Catholicism. In the book of Genesis, we read, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” The Kabbalists’ interpretation of this verse is that God made several mistakes. He created the universe several times and blessed the best one. As you can see, the parallel universe theory doesn’t necessarily conflict with religion, so it should be able to convince enough people of faith.
There is still no evidence that makes parallel universes an inevitable conclusion. But if parallel universes are true and our alter egos live somewhere in another universe, what are the implications of our existence? Even if we didn’t poison our cat out of compassion for it, in another universe we poison it, in one universe it lives, in another it dies. Some believe that the multiverse eliminates our free will. Even if we use our free will to do good, our alter ego in another universe will do evil, so what is the point of our choices? In contrast, some scholars, including David Elieser Deutsch, believe that the multiverse actually gives us freedom. “If you live a successful life, your alter egos enjoy success by making the same decisions. Your good deeds nourish the part of the multiverse where good things happen,” writes David Ely in Deutsch. Finding the meaning of our existence and life in parallel universes will be another challenge.
