What’s a good science fiction piece without at least mentioning the multiverse, alternate universes, parallel realities, etc? Physicists, philosophers, and astronomers have all written various theories about what the multiverse is and how it could potentially effect our lives. 

What is the multiverse? It’s a theory that changes between individuals but is centered around the idea that there are other universes/realities that exist alongside our own. It is by no means widely accepted in any scientific community, but it is discussed. Many scientists are resistant to the idea of multiverses because it threatens our ideals of time, space, matter, energy, and reality. Even the most defiant scientists have to admit that we have no concrete data of what lies beyond the scope of our telescopes and mathematical reasoning. Because it cannot (yet?) be proven by our scientific method, some claim that this is not a scientific hypothesis at all, but rather a philosophical theory.

As was discussed both in class and at the seminar, the inflationary universe theory was originally created to fix unsolved problems with the Big Bang. It was later proposed that inflation could be eternal, leading to a multiverse in which space is broken up into “bubbles.” The relationship of the bubbles varies based on the theorist. Some believe that each “bubble” would include a universe in the same timeline as ours, but showing different outcomes based on slightly altered events. Others believe that the universes include matter and forces that are beyond our comprehension.

To envision our universe as a bubble, I like to close my eyes and imagine the sink where my mom would do dishes when I was a child. It would always be piled high with mountains of tiny bubbles. I have so many memories and emotions, and just to imagine trying to fit a single lifetime of life into a bubble seems impossible, much less an entire universe. If all of this could fit into a single bubble, what could possibly be in other bubbles? My mind is automatically drawn to little green creatures with antennas in silver saucers, but I really think it’s deeper than that. While it is appealing to imagine a world where a tiny altered decision would change the course of history, I don’t think that’s what’s out there. I think it’s a completely unfathomable universe with laws and facts that are completely different from our own. Just to think that time is a social construct that may not exist in other universe is baffling.

I could spend the rest of my life planning theories and imagining alternative scenarios of what else could be happening in the multiverse, but it comes down to another question: does it matter? Does the rest of the multiverse have any impact on our daily lives? Knowledge is power, but being power-hungry may be the end of us. If we search too far and find the end of our bubble and pop our tiny cycle of fathomable sanity, I’m not sure the human race could survive. We at least need to widely acknowledge that there is a line where we cannot comprehend what lies beyond our scope of sanity, and pressing that boundary may be disastrous to us.