Parallel Universes

[Egekrusher]

Do you believe in parallel universes? For those of you not familiar with the concept, here's a brief explanation:

We are in one universe of endless universes. There are in the neighborhood of 40 billion solar systems in our galaxy, with over 1.2 billion galaxies in the universe.

Now, if there are multiple universes, which there are, then that would mean that in one of those universes, the chances that someone exactly like ourselves is doing exactly the same thing we are right now are actually greater than not. There are also slightly different versions of ourselves out there in different universes, making different choices than us. There are also radically different versions of ourselves who you wouldn't even recognize, though would still be you down to your very genetic structure. They were just exposed to a different environment and made different choices than us their entire life. There are also universes that you wouldn't even remotely begin to recognize, as they would be completely alien to you.

This is a scientifically proven theory now, though it used to be merely science fiction. That doesn't necessarily mean that everyone is going to believe it, but it has been proven time and again over the last 10 years. We are just now getting the capability to test these theories with advanced microwave equipment.

Do you believe?

You can also just call me a nerd and get it over with. :)

Edit: I would also like to know what effects, if any, this has on your relgious views.

[bwind22]

Interesting topic...

I've always been kind of fascinated by this possiblity. My speculation never led me to believe that there would be another 'me' out there, but I suppose it's possible. I do, however, think that there's a pretty good chance that there is intelligent life out there somewhere.

I wonder if we'll ever find it... Or if it will ever find us... And if we'd want it to... (Initially, we'd think it's great. "Wow, aliens! Cool!" But what if they were a physically and mentally superior race and decided to enslave us... Then it wouldn't seem quite so awesome.)

P.S. There's no such thing as a "scientifically proven theory". A theory is something that is widely (or not so widely) believed, but unproven. If something is proven, it becomes a fact.

[evil_blonde]

you call THAT brief? geesh i didnt even read all of it..sorry...


i dont think youre a nerd tho

[fluffho]

i dont believe in it. time is but a concept. maye id explain, but im lazy and sleepy lol

[Egekrusher]

Originally posted by bwind22
Interesting topic...

I've always been kind of fascinated by this possiblity. My speculation never led me to believe that there would be another 'me' out there, but I suppose it's possible. I do, however, think that there's a pretty good chance that there is intelligent life out there somewhere.

I wonder if we'll ever find it... Or if it will ever find us... And if we'd want it to... (Initially, we'd think it's great. "Wow, aliens! Cool!" But what if they were a physically and mentally superior race and decided to enslave us... Then it wouldn't seem quite so awesome.)

P.S. There's no such thing as a "scientifically proven theory". A theory is something that is widely (or not so widely) believed, but unproven. If something is proven, it becomes a fact.

Let me put it this way: it hasn't been disproven yet. All the evidence so far points to this being a fact.

One of the biggest worries about meeting an alien race is this-

They are either going to be signifigantly less advanced than we are, or signifigantly more advanced than us. We are in a very odd transitional period in our history. We have reached a level of technology that this planet has never seen before, and it all really started only about in the last 200 years, with most of our advances coming in the last 100 years. The chances that we are going to meet an alien race that are on the same level of advancement as us is virtually none. So either they're going to look like idiots, or we are.

[Egekrusher]

Originally posted by evil_blonde
you call THAT brief? geesh i didnt even read all of it..sorry...


i dont think youre a nerd tho

LOL that's ok. That was as brief as I could make it and still explain it.

The "brief" explanation I read on it in Scientific American was 12 pages.

[KRUGERKID13]

to some extent yes

[jay o2 waster]

Yeah, it seems logical enough

[Stingy Jack]

Er ... I don't believe it. Sorry. Maybe I should look into it, but I'm not going to read something on an Internet forum and suddenly accept that its true. That's just my nature. BUT I will check it out with some reliable sources. You say within the past 10 years? Okay. This is quite interesting seeing as I tend to try to keep up with scientific advancements (particularly in the branches of biology and astronomy) and this is the first place I have heard that "microwave tests point to the actual existence of parallel universes". Don't get me wrong, I am quite familiar with the idea of parallel universes, particularly in relation to Einstein's work. But, I have yet to hear that we have been able to test the idea and have the tests point to an affirmation of the idea as truth.

This, in no way, affects my religious views.

Bwind22: It is very difficult to determine when a scientific theory should become "fact" or "law". Basically, the only method that science has to test hypotheses (before they become theories) is through observation under controlled environments. But, there is no saying that just because the tests do one thing every time we have observed them, does not mean that they always will do so. For example: I decide I want to test the law of gravity. I drop my pencil. It falls. I drop it again. It falls again. I drop it millions upon billions of times, and each time it falls. Of course, by this point I can pretty much be certain that whenever I let go of my pencil, it will fall. But that's just merely saying "it has done so every time before, therefore it will do it every time since." There is no way for us to really know that it will fall every time we let go. We just assume that it will. All we can do is say: "We have tested the idea this many times -- and every time we have tested it, the idea has shown to be true. So, this idea will become a theory." Then, it tested over and over and over and over again until it becomes a scientific "law". The only difference between hypothesis, theory, and law in science is the number of observed experiments that have shown the tested hypothesis to be true.

[meetthecreeper]

After reading a few books by Stephen Hawking, I would most def. say yes, although some of his writing gave me a headache. Sometimes it can be a difficult concept to wrap your mind around, mostly because I think that the human race still has it in their heads that we are the center of the universe. In a word though Yes I do believe in a parallel universe, also a lot of other things that would take too long to write here.