By Leacsaidh Marlow
The Multiverse – Madness or Material?
Lifestyle
Pop culture is saturated with references to parallel universes or ‘the multiverse’. So frequently do our screens and books depict the existence of multiple worlds and existences beyond our own, but how likely is this possibility in real life?
As it turns out, many scientists would support the theory of a multiverse – although perhaps not in the sense that Marvel superheroes see it. No evidence has thus far been found which indicates the existence of any universes outside of the one which we inhabit and perceive, yet multiple modern scientific theories rely on this potential to explain many areas in cosmology and quantum mechanics which as yet aren’t understood. It’s important to note that being able to travel between alternate universes in the way that, for example, Spiderman’s multiple parallel egos do, is incredibly unlikely – but the possibility that these parallel egos do exist is far more likely. A theory called ‘inflationary cosmology’, which explains how the universe expanded rapidly following the Big Bang, has also been used to suggest that this ‘inflation’ could repeat exponentially in the same manner, forming many parallel universes.
“multiple modern scientific theories rely on this potential to explain many areas in cosmology and quantum mechanics”
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Illustrations by Massimo Giachino
All of these universes would not be visible to us, and may not have the same scientific properties, such as physical laws, that ours does. Furthermore, Everett’s 1957 ‘Many-Worlds Interpretation’ implies the existence of multiple worlds in the same space and time that our universe inhabits. His interpretation holds up against many quantum mechanical theories and can even be utilised to provide solutions to the ‘measurement problem’ (the issue of applying quantum rules to large systems like our universe) and issues of randomness in scientific observation.
“This is undoubtedly a fascinating concept but also potentially a very scary one.”
This interpretation pertains not just to physical laws though – it is also applied to social understandings of parallel universes. By this understanding, there could be a separate ‘version’ of you in each parallel existence – living all the lives that you could’ve lived in this one if you had made different decisions. This is undoubtedly a fascinating concept but also potentially a very scary one. For many, the act of making decisions, especially large ones, can be paralysing. Often we are aware when deciding, for example, which university we wish to go to, that the choice we make is going to irrevocably change our lives. But what if it is true that a vastly different universe may exist, with a different ‘you’ living a different life, all because you decided to buy strawberry ice cream instead of chocolate one Thursday evening? It becomes infinitely harder to make these smaller decisions because you’re aware that even the tiniest of choices may set you down an immeasurably different life path.
