Parallel Universes: More than a Figment of Our Imagination?

While it hasn ’t been proven yet, many credible scientists are now saying there’s reason to believe that parallel dimensions could very well be real. There are a variety of competing theories, but the most basic idea is that if the universe is infinite, then everything that could possibly occur has happened, is happening, or will happen.

According to quantum mechanics, nothing at the subatomic scale can really be said to exist until it is observed. Until then, particles occupy uncertain "superposition" states, in which they can have simultaneous "up" and "down" spins, or appear to be in different places at the same time. The mere act of observing somehow appears to "nail down" a particular state of reality. Scientists don’t yet have a perfect explanation for how it occurs, but that hasn’t changed the fact that the phenomenon does occur.

Unobserved particles are described by "wave functions" representing a set of multiple "probable" states. When an observer makes a measurement, the particle then settles down into one of these multiple options, which is somewhat how the multiple universe theory can be explained.

The existence of such a parallel universe "does not even assume speculative modern physics, merely that space is infinite and rather uniformly filled with matter as indicated by recent astronomical observations," Max Tegmark, a cosmologist at MIT in Boston, Massachusetts concluded in a study of parallel universes published by Cambridge University.

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[edit on 14/11/08 by Jbird]

Thanks for posting this - I was actually researching the very same topic yesterday with a view to posting a topic around a very "out-there" theory I have. It is based on a series of dreams that I have been having for about 15 years where I occasionally experience a slice of life on another post-apocalyptic Earth.

I am glad you beat me to it ... I would have been laughed at.

universe is infinite, then everything that could possibly occur has happened, is happening, or will happen.

Ha! Awesome. I had a feeling they would come around some time.

Also, the discovery of dark flow, the fact that our entire universe is being "pulled" somewhere, at an incredibly fast pace lends credence to the idea of us living in a kind of multiverse.

Ive been researching dimentions and so on recently aswell weirdly enough personally i think that maybe when we die we move up a dimention or maybe the spirit world as we call it is the 4th dimention i dont know how many people believe this or wether its regarded as truth anyway but i thought of it yesterday

also maybe geting to these dimentions when ever we want is a possibility maybe an easier oine than we would think hopefully anyway

This reminds of the line from the late, great Douglas Adams:

In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move. Douglas Adams English humorist & science fiction novelist (1952 - 2001)

Quote Link

I am not very savvy around matters of the cosmos - can anyone explain whether the theoretical multiverses are thought to be occupying the same space, yet stacked upon one another in different dimensions, or are they stacked out like squares on a chessboard.
Are there any other alternatives?

Is it theoretically possibly to travel to these alternate universes? I need my socks back.

LOL everyone needs to just slow down a bit and think about the evidence supporting your multiverse/extra dimensions..........oh wait thats right there is no physical evidence

The multiverse is the result of many many many years of not understanding the basic nature of reality. It at this point is nothing more than a mathematical construct fabricated by mathmatitions to explain the unexplainable. Physics is a science that should rely on physical data not mathematical interpratation. Absolutely no evidence has ever been given to physically support this hypothesis. Therefore it is philosphy not science.

Do not misunderstand me I relish the idea of a multiverse but i also understand that mathematics can be sculpted and molded to fit a model without the model dictating the mathematics. The multiverse is the direct result of the flaws in our modern physical principles. The standard model and all of particle physics is inherantly flawed.

Until we have a full description of mass, and the way it is transferred at the subatomic level then we cannot advance our understanding of physics. The higgs-boson the mystical "God particle" has not been found nor has the elusive graviton (the best bet of proving multiverse).

I know what i say here will not sway your opinions about what is and what may be but i must emplore you to realize that physics is a hard science that should always be backed by observable testable data. Mathematics (which is where these theories actually come from, not physics) is a soft science. It is like clay, a lump of infinite possibility, from which you can mold anything that strikes your fancy.

There is a very basic principle that all scientist recognize but will not tell you, and that is that you can not fully understand a model of anything unless you can observe its entirety (from outside the model). Since we are infact tethered to our planet our ability to understand even the basics of physics is highly restricted, the fact that we are almost certainly always to be bound inside our universe then we are inherently lacking the necessary ability to observe our universe as a whole, forever barring us from ever finding the long sought after Theory of Everything.

www.abovetopsecret.com...'

[edit on 14-11-2008 by constantwonder]

[edit on 15-11-2008 by constantwonder]