Reality – It’s all relative; it’s reversible; it’s symmetric; it’s personal; it kicks back when you kick it; it’s conceptual; it’s theoretical; it’s actual; it’s abstract; it’s bio-friendly; it’s unforgiving; it’s emotional; and ultimately the reality of life, the Universe and everything resides in your mind.
Continued from yesterday’s blog…
Is Your Reality Certainty or A Fluke?
If there is one thing you are absolutely certain of it’s that you exist, and I won’t dispute that (even of you are a figment of my imagination or exist only as the creation of some kind of computer software). Seriously, you exist as a three dimensional, flesh-and-blood, absolutely unique entity inside a three dimensional Universe. However, is your reality something wildly improbable or 100% guaranteed?
On the surface, you are an absolute fluke. Think of those millions of sperm that could have won that race to your mother’s egg, but didn’t. Or that winning sperm could have fertilized some other of your mother’s eggs. Either case, you’re a total nothing in anyone’s philosophy! Now think of all the males and females available at any given time and the odds are against your parents having met, courted, married, etc. Potentially, millions of other males could have married your mother; and potentially millions of other females could have married your father. And of course your mother and father are flukes because a similar argument holds for them via your grandparents, and further backwards for them to your great grandparents, etc, etc. Go back with those sorts of odds a hundred, a thousand, a million, a trillion, generations; back through your mammalian, reptilian, amphibian, etc. ancestry; back through your family tree of invertebrate ancestors (untold generations worth), right down to your unicellular ancestors. What are the odds, all those chance meetings be they sperm and egg, or male and female, of organisms that survived long enough through to a reproductive age (and relatively few, apart from humans do), that you would someday grace the world? Zillions upon zillions to one! You’re an absolute fluke! Or are you?
There appear to be ultimately three sets of either/or conditions which ultimately govern that. The first is, is there one universe, our Universe, or many universes (a Multiverse)? Secondly, is there absolute causality resulting in a deterministic clockwork Universe where once the initial set of relationships were set into play, things evolved with 100% certainty from that point on? Lastly, is there one, and only one possible physics, or could our physics have been different, or are different in another universe?
But first some definitions are in order.
Universal Physics – One and only one kind of physics is possible, throughout all universes. If you believe in God, She didn’t have any choice in the matter!
Variable Physics – Each universe could have its own individual brand of physics, and the physics that rule our Universe could have turned out differently.
Determinism Rules – There’s 100% causality; there’s absolute certainty.
Chance Rules – Represents less than 100% causality; free will if you will.
Multiverse – Lots of separate and apart universes, perhaps even an infinite number of them.
Universe – The one and only Universe; our Universe. However, if our Universe is near infinite in space and time and stuff, then for all practical purposes it’s the same as the Multiverse since there’s enough space and time and stuff for nearly all possibilities to take place within.
Combining the various possibilities suggests how fluky you really are! But first, let’s deal with the supernatural, instead of natural scenario. If God exists and wanted you to exist, assuming there is a God of course, then you’re Probability One – no contest. You’re no fluke. Seeing however as how there is no evidence for any God (or gods), we’d better get back to all things natural and plough on.
Scenario 1: Universal Physics [+] Determinism [+] Multiverse = the exact same set of outcomes in all universes is predicted. If you exist in one universe, you exist in all universes. You’re not a fluke. But if you don’t, you don’t, full stop. However, you probably don’t since you’re existence would be equivalent to tossing a coin several billion times in a row all billion coming up heads. The assumption here is that the initial set of conditions was identical in each and every single universe within the Multiverse. If not, then they won’t be identical further on down the track. If that assumption is incorrect, you could exist in one or more universes; not exist in one or more other universes.
Scenario 2: Universal Physics [+] Determinism [+] Universe = if you exist, then you were a certainty from the get-go. If you don’t, that too was a certainty. On balance, a betting person would probably bet against your existence ever happening because only one exact set of circumstances gives the universe you, while billions of other sets of circumstances don’t.
Scenario 3: Universal Physics [+] Chance [+] Multiverse = your existence in one universe has nothing to do with your existence in any other universe. You’re a fluke in whatever universe(s) you exist in. But, the saving grace is that you do probably exist in at least one universe.
Scenario 4: Universal Physics [+] Chance [+] Universe = If you exist, you’re a fluke. The probability is extremely high given the odds against your existence such that nobody would have been willing to wager anything on your eventual behalf.
Scenario 5: Variable Physics [+] Determinism [+] Multiverse = assuming one universe has our kind of physics, then you’re existence is a 100% certainty, or 100% against. In all other universes, since the physics are different, nothing remotely like you, or anyone else, will exist. If you exist, you’re not just a fluke, but a super-fluke!
Scenario 6: Variable Physics [+] Determinism [+] Universe = if there’s only one universe, then there can only be one physics, so assuming that that universe is our Universe, the outcome is the same as Scenario 2.
Scenario 7: Variable Physics [+] Chance [+] Multiverse = in the Multiverse, nearly all possibilities are realised (except in Scenario 1), so in at least one universe, you exist. You’re not a fluke due to the vast number of universes that could contain you. But you’re still a fluke in that you don’t exist in the near infinite other possible universes.
Scenario 8: Variable Physics [+] Chance [+] Universe = again, one universe must equal one physics. Since things however are based on a throw of the dice, if you exist, you’re a fluke.
In short, the betting odds towards your existence are to count on there being a Multiverse. If you’re dealt one hand (one universe), the odds against a royal flush are extreme. Being dealt a near infinite number of hands (the Multiverse) doesn’t ensure a royal flush, but it damn well improves the odds. So, if you exist and there’s one universe, our Universe, you’re a real fluke. In the Multiverse, you might be a fluke in any one universe, but there are so many universes that in that broader context, you’re not a fluke.
Do you want to improve the odds in favor of your existence? There’s a variation that could apply to the Multiverse theme called the Many Worlds interpretation of all things quantum. In the Many Worlds scenario, absolutely all possibilities are realized within any given ‘moment’ within the timeline. In terms of eggs and sperm, at any given moment, the universe splits into as many universes such that all sperm available fertilize all eggs available, and that applies regardless of species (so all possible males that can meet and mate with all possible females do so – or vice versa); all possible seeds that could have been are, and produce viable plants somewhere.
You might note the subtle combining of both the Multiverse and the Many Worlds concepts. Each universe within the Multiverse has the additional complication (or added attraction) of having to jump through the Many Worlds hoops.
Universes within the Multiverse can have differing timelines. Thus Cleopatra, assuming a Cleopatra, in another universe might have been born into a 21st Century Egypt, or Australia Egypt
That’s a real headache inducer! So, to repeat, take a near (or actual) infinity of universes, each with its own unique timeline (which will not of necessity mirror our own). Then, multiply all those existences by all the possible forks in the road encountered by each of those universes since all paths are taken. Anything not forbidden is compulsory. You’re wildest dreams may not come true in this, our Universe, and on this particular pathway you’re experiencing, but somewhere you did, or will – but ditto that your worst nightmares, so perhaps be thankful for what you got in the here and now.
Now let’s reduce that headache somewhat by unmerging again the Multiverse and the Many Worlds ideas. Say in one alternate timeline universe Cleopatra and I get our act together (‘we do’). In another alternate timeline universe we don’t (‘we do not’). In both universes, the Many Worlds forks would now have us respectfully ‘we do not’ and ‘we do’ instead. But that’s already happened in the two universes, so do we now have two universes where ‘we do’ and two universes where ‘we do not’? Rather than accept that, perhaps the Multiverse and the Many Worlds concepts are ultimately, for all practical purposes, the same thing.
Ah, but the ‘we do’ in the first alternate universe took place in an alternate Australia thus the Many Worlds fork had us ‘we do not’ also in an alternate Australia
But then again, all those four possibilities could also be catered for in four actual separate and apart universes that are part of the Multiverse, so again there’s no need to bring into consideration the Many Worlds interpretation of all things quantum! Back to square one! And this sort of adding on further qualifiers, isn’t going to ultimately alter the apparently near equivalence of the Multiverse and the Many Worlds.
I’m not however entirely sure this apparent equivalence will sit well with quantum physicists, because I’m not entirely sure this is what quantum physicists mean by the phrase ‘Many Worlds’ (indeed, lots of quantum physicists deny any such interpretation at all exists – it’s too big an ask for them). However, it seems to deal with the issue of That Cat! In two separate physical universes you have Schrodinger’s Cat (in the box) experiment. Identical cats; identical setups; identical observers (and they can be identical because the fundamental bits that make them all up are identical – all electrons (neutrons, protons, etc.) are 100% clones of each other – absolutely identical). In one unverse, the observer observes the cat alive; the other, well it’s the demise of the feline. Neither universe has to split into two. All possibilities have been exhausted without resorting to the requirement of a Many Worlds either/or split. The only real difference I can see between the Multiverse and the Many Worlds interpretation is that with Many Worlds, the outcome (all possibilities realized) is certainty; with the Multiverse it’s only probable or possible.
In conclusion, you may think our planet is an example of total biodiversity, but imagine what things would be like if all the theoretical possibilities had come to pass (the Many Worlds and/or the Multiverse)!!! How many Einstein’s were never born - on the other hand, how many Hitler’s? Then throw in all the plants and animals that never were but could have been, and you could come up with multi-trillions upon trillions of alternative Earths! Ouch!
Perhaps it’s easier to accept that there’s just one Universe (our Universe) and no such a thing therefore as a Multiverse, and no such an animal as the Many Worlds interpretation of all things quantum. You’re therefore a total fluke, and so just enjoy the company of the rest of us total flukes! That’s unless of course our Universe is near infinite enough in extent, all on its lonesome, to allow for a duplicate copy (or three or four) of you – recall those elementary particles that make you, you, can be identically assembled elsewhere to accomplish exactly that.
To be continued…
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