Anyone for multiverses?They have become quite popular these days, so why not try a few? You can use them to explain all sorts of mind-blowing oddities. They're handy for explaining away wonders. Take this world, for instance. It's finely positioned just the right distance from its star (the sun) so that it's not so hot that water boils away, nor so cold that all the water is solid ice. Liquid water is just what we need for life. By chance, the earth's axis is slightly tilted (an accidental side-effect of an ancient collision that also created the moon, which in turn stabilises earth's rotation). That tilted axis gives us seasons, so that the poles are not constantly starved of sunlight, and the tropics are not permanently baked. It's all very convenient - and a raft of other finely balanced factors make our home planet ideal for life to thrive long enough to become intelligent (that's where we humans come in).
Wonder
These factors provide good reasons
for us to wonder - and a little bit of wonder does no harm to our psyches. But the improbability of our planet's
ideal conditions don't necessarily make it unique. We now know that many stars, maybe even most stars, have
planets and that some of those planets have orbits and masses similar to the earth. Surely, says a growing
body of cosmologists and physicists, there must be some places among the billions of star systems where life
has developed. Though we have yet to see physical evidence, I can't deny the possibility. Life flourishes in
an incredible diversity of earthly habitats, so why not on other planets? DNA evidence indicates that all life
on earth carries the same genetic principles, so life on Earth either began only once, or all other designs
died out without trace. So we know that planets exist beyond our solar system and that life can spring up
in an incredible range of habitats. Readers of my past blogs will be aware that I am a Christian and may be
tempted to ask whether the discovery of intelligent life on an exoplanet will challenge my faith. Though it
isn't covered in any traditional doctrine that I know of, I don't see why it should be a problem.
Difficult
Maybe extra-terrestrial life
of some kind will be found during my lifetime, but useful contact with an extra-terrestrial civilisation is
much less likely. The nearest possible location is about 12 light years away. Conversation will be difficult
with 12 year gaps between question and answer! As for intergalactic travel, the enormous distances make it
impossible in a human lifetime.
That answers the 'is there life elsewhere?' question; but not the multiverse idea.
Neat
The concept of multiple universes
suggests that what we see here and now (which happens to work well for us) is not truly remarkable because
many universes exist at the same time (but in different dimensions). Everything that might exist does exist
somewhere and we just happen to be in a universe that favours life. Other universes may have different
chemistry and different laws of physics, so that life hasn't and can't emerge there. Our ideal universe
seems wonderful and ideal because it just happens to be one that 'works' among countless alternatives that
don't work in quite the same way. The cards have been thrown in the air and fell in every possible pattern,
including the one that we live in. The fact that our universe is ideal is not remarkable because all possible
variations on the non-ideal also exist. It's a neat argument but I want someone to show me observable evidence
for it.
Mathematics
At this point the proponents
of the many-universe hypotheses (I use the plural because there's several versions of this idea) reach for
their blackboard and chalk and begin calculating. Mathematics can be used to demonstrate the possibility of
multiple universes. But mathematics can be used to demonstrate that there is no precise relationship between
the radius of a circle and its circumference. As we learnt at school, to calculate the size of a circle, or
of its circumference, we must use the theoretical number called 'pi', which has a value of 3.14159265359
recurring - and the numbers after the decimal point carry on recurring however long you continue calculating.
Since the number can't be precisely calculated it seems to imply that there's no exact relationship between
the circle's dimensions. Mathematics can't calculate it, but that doesn't mean that the circle doesn't have
precise proportions. It simply demonstrates that the human construct we call mathematics, whilst it is an
invaluable tool, is an imperfect description of reality.
Faith
We can be deceived about reality.
Our senses don't always perceive the truth about what is happening around us. Whatever we see, hear, touch,
taste, or smell does have a reality.
Knowing that I'm a Christian, readers of my blogs may be tempted to throw back my criticisms as applying equally
to my faith. It's indeed true that faith can't be tested in a laboratory and there can be no scientific proof
of the existence of God. It's also beyond the scope of laboratories to run experiments on beauty, love, or hope
- but they exist. Actually, it is possible to test the benefits of such intangibles, and studies have demonstrated
that faith and hope, for instance, have quantifiable health benefits. What comfort is there? what hope? what sense
of value can be found in a belief that reduces humanity to utter insignificance in a universe that is itself an
accident among limitless accidents? Show me where. People who believe in a multiverse must admit that their position
is also one of faith. Choose which faith brings you comfort. I have.