Physics GRE Discussion Forums

What do you think of it? When you first learned about it, did it sound plausible to you? Too farfetched to be true? Do you think it's really possible that there are other universes as some Physicists believe?

Do you ever wonder what other versions of yourself are doing in these other universes? Do you ever think about how different you may be in other universes, for example, do you have a totally different personality in these other universes? Did you select a different career path in another universe? Marry someone that you broke up with in this universe? Tell me your thoughts. Pretty much none of my friends or relatives or anyone I know knows what I am talking about when I explain this to them, so I thought I would pose the question to all of you.

I would expect most of those parallel worlds would look suspiciously like our own. Generally important macroscopic events are not the result of single quantum mechanical events but the average of multitudes of them. I suppose there is that world where you step out of bed and your foot falls through the floor, but in most of the worlds most of the particles in your feet are going to fail to tunnel past most of the molecules in the floor. If one or two makes it, that's a parallel world where one or two made it, but i doubt you would notice and the world would look identical to the one we live in.

I'd expect them to be like the universes on Sliders, because those universes are way more fun that ours.

slugger wrote:I would expect most of those parallel worlds would look suspiciously like our own. Generally important macroscopic events are not the result of single quantum mechanical events but the average of multitudes of them. I suppose there is that world where you step out of bed and your foot falls through the floor, but in most of the worlds most of the particles in your feet are going to fail to tunnel past most of the molecules in the floor. If one or two makes it, that's a parallel world where one or two made it, but i doubt you would notice and the world would look identical to the one we live in.

I have always wondered about that. It seems unlikely that a minor difference in the movement of electrons in an atom in another universe will amount to a different life choice than the one I made in this universe. I guess there is the possibility of a radical difference due to a small difference in the movement of subatomic particles, Schrodinger's Cat certainly comes to mind as a (theoretical) example. But I guess in the real world it's more likely that a minor difference will result in no real difference in my life as a whole. But still, even minor differences can have major effects (as I believe Chaos Theory or maybe The Butterfly Effect indicates). However, have you ever wondered if there are major differences between universes, how did you turn out in that universe? Did you marry someone different? Become someone different? Isn't it one of the most fascinating things you have ever heard of? I think one of the reasons (one of many ) that I decided to study Physics is because of a comic book I read many years ago, "What if Spider Man joined the Fantastic Four?" It explained that even though Spider Man didn't join the Fantastic Four in our universe (or should I say the Marvel universe), in another universe, he did. I thought that was a fascinating possibility and I wanted to understand the science behind it. Did any of you have a similar experience?

twistor wrote:I'd expect them to be like the universes on Sliders, because those universes are way more fun that ours.

The Kromaggs are coming to get you twistor

cooper wrote: The Kromaggs are coming to get you twistor

watch out, that harley flanagan is a jerk.

slugger wrote:

cooper wrote: The Kromaggs are coming to get you twistor

watch out, that harley flanagan is a jerk.

Maybe you're just joking Slugger, but in case you aren't, the Kromaggs I am referring to is a fictional race of beings in the television show "Sliders". I am not talking about the Cro-Mags that Flanagan started.