The problem with “multiverse theories”: they’re just not science
This admittedly catchy idea is undermining the integrity of physics
by Jim Baggott / June 25, 2018 /
Over the last few decades “multiverse theories” have become increasingly fashionable within a relatively small—but publicly vocal—group of theoretical physicists. This group specialises in foundational problems in cosmology, particle physics, and quantum mechanics. These theories are advertised as science’s answer to much that we can’t otherwise explain about the universe we inhabit, the elementary particles we have discovered in it, and the reasons for our own existence.
It’s “theories” plural because the multiverse is used in various ways to fill gaps in our current understanding. Cosmological multiverse theories “explain” why the initial conditions that prevailed at the Big Bang origin of our universe, and the physical constants and laws which shaped its subsequent evolution, appear so exquisitely fine-tuned to allow for the possibility of life. The idea is that there’s nothing particularly special about our “Goldilocks” universe: it is simply one of a (possibly infinite) number of universes, all with different initial conditions, constants, and laws. Most will be inhospitable, but it should come as no surprise to find ourselves in a universe which isn’t.
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Read more here: Prospect Magazine
