• Question: Do you believe in the multiverse?

    Asked by Jas to Deborah, Euan, Maheen, Rob, Stu on 21 Jun 2016. This question was also asked by TwinkleThighs, GeorgiaIsAPenguin.
    • Photo: Rob Stanley

      Rob Stanley answered on 21 Jun 2016:

      I think it’s an interesting idea, so I hope it’s true.

      When people say multiverse they can mean different things though: universes where you made very small different decisions, and there’s a version of you living out the consequences. Or multiple universes that are so different from ours, and follow different laws of physics.

    • Photo: Euan Allen

      Euan Allen answered on 21 Jun 2016:

      Great question Jas.

      One of the fundamental theories of physics, called quantum mechanics, has an interpretation that gives rise to many universes. We call this theory the ‘many worlds’ theory, and there are many physicists that believe in this interpretation.

      I think I find just our universe strange and complicated enough, so the idea of infinitely many more, or even just two more, just melts my brain a little!

    • Photo: Deborah Prunty

      Deborah Prunty answered on 21 Jun 2016:

      I like the thought of the multiverse theory. The best description of it that I’ve ever come across is the trousers of time, as written by Terry Pratchett. It’s that at key points of time, at certain important decisions points, we find ourselves with two very different futures in front of us (the two different “legs” of the time trousers).

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