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Multiple universes

ResponseCategory: FaithMultiple universes
Joseph asked 8 years ago

I read God Plays Dice and the second and third notebooks and enjoyed and learned a lot, thank you.
I read there that you categorically reject the refutation of the view of complexity by inventing infinite universes parallel to ours with different laws and constants, and I agreed with your position. 
But then I read a lot of materials online about multiple universes, and it turned out that many scientists (most of them?) accept multiple universes as a fact.
1. From what I have been able to understand, most scientists accept the "many worlds" interpretation of quantum theory as the correct interpretation of the theory. As we know, quantum theory is correct, and this theory explains the facts in the most plausible way, so the obvious conclusion is that there are indeed an infinite number of universes parallel to ours.
2) Does the above commentary on the Torah speak of worlds with laws that are the same as ours or different? 
3) And in the inflation theory, which is apparently proven, multiple universes are spoken of as a simple scientific fact. 
So it is not clear to me what the Rabbi relies on for his arguments in a matter that seems so ambiguous (or unambiguous to the other side), because if there are multiple universes, the entire argument falls apart due to complexity. 
Thank you. 

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1 Answer
Michi Staff answered 8 years ago

Hello Joseph.
One of the problems with such charged fields (evolution, neuroscience, the big bang, which touch on questions of theology and various agendas) is that people present casual speculation as scientific information (and they will strictly add that it is agreed upon by all scientists). Some scientist plays with this or that mathematical game, and it is immediately presented as a rejection of philosophical arguments.
As far as I know, there is no information about many universes, and certainly not one that is agreed upon by most scientists (and certainly not all). And certainly not universes with different laws of nature than ours. There are speculations, some of which are motivated precisely by the physico-theological difficulty, which of course indicates the plight of atheists.
The multiple universes of quantum theory are not relevant here. This is an interpretation (speculative, one of many) of quantum theory, and nothing more. It is not about different universes existing simultaneously, nor about universes with different physical laws. It is not related to our issue.
Beyond that, I have explained several times in the past that even if there are many different universes, and even if they had different natural laws, this does not concern the physico-theological argument. Who created them? Do you know of a mechanism for the spontaneous formation of universes? Therefore, even if these speculations were correct – they do not change the matter of evidence.

Joseph replied 8 years ago

Interesting.
1) And what about string theory? I understand that there is talk of multiple universes with different laws, but is this also speculation, like inflation theory? And inflation is not generally agreed upon by most scientists?
2) Sorry to correct you, but I assume you mistakenly confused the cosmological argument with the complexity argument in this sentence: "Even if they had different natural laws, it doesn't concern the physico-theological argument." It certainly doesn't matter to the cosmological argument, but it refutes the complexity argument. There is no greater wonder than complexity.

Michi Staff replied 8 years ago

1) Once there is a Torah, there is a structure behind it. There is no point in going into all these things here. Only the Torah of chance can be a disambiguation (this is the Torah that sees chance as an explanation for everything).
2) True. Once you adopt the delusional thesis that complexity doesn't bother you, then it doesn't bother you.
After all, for anything complex, you can speculate that many different things were created, and this is just one of them, so it's no wonder that it's complex. And in any case, you shouldn't conclude anything from complexity. For example, if you see a die that lands on 6 a thousand times in a row, you wouldn't conclude that it's unfair because there might have been billions of tosses and you're predicting it by chance.

Joseph replied 8 years ago

Sorry that I continue to bother the Rabbi, and even more so during the fast, it's simply a matter of principle and there's no one else to ask (at least in our universe 🙂).
1) I didn't understand what you meant by "as soon as there is a Torah, there is a structure after it"? Who said that it is a complex structure (argument from complexity), and not just a casual structure (cosmological argument)? In the next section you say that you did mean cosmological and not complexity.
2) It is clear that just making it up doesn't make sense, but that is the very claim of science, it is not just to evade God, but it explains a lot of scientific things in different and separate fields, so it is most reasonable to accept it!
3) I just saw on Wikipedia, under the heading "Interpretation of the Many Worlds," that they write in the list of advantages of the Torah, as follows: "The interpretation of the many worlds also solves the problem of the anthropic principle and the problem of the fine-tuning of the universe: the universe was not specifically tuned so that humans could exist in it, but is one of countless possibilities, one of which is the universe suitable for the existence of human life." This means that they are talking about universes with different laws.

Kobe replied 8 years ago

It is also important to remember that the logical conclusion is that there is an intelligent Creator,
But the atheists come along and change the assumption to a new and unfamiliar one – that there are infinite universes, all just to avoid the conclusion.

The thing is, when there is no basis and no real reason to change the assumption, we have no choice but to accept the conclusion. And we can't just throw out unfounded assumptions unless we are really irrational.

[But they are probably authentic skeptics who see everything as 50/50. Maybe they are even in a dream (and I'm not sure that makes any less sense than adding an infinite number of universes to the assumption)….]

Michi Staff replied 8 years ago

Joseph,
1) If this structure produces life and complexity, it is special by definition.
2) Absolutely not. See the next section.
3) You are repeating what I said. After all, that is exactly what I said, that the multiple universes were intended to solve the problem of the anthropic principle, that is, to answer the physico-theological argument. That is how you could solve the problem of the cube that I described in the previous message.
By the way, don't draw any conclusions from their words (which imply that every universe has different laws. Not true). These are not particularly intelligent rationalists whose only concern is to reconcile their absurd worldview and avoid the obvious conclusion (belief in G-d). Of course, if you create multiple universes ad hoc to reject the physico-theological argument, you will create universes with different laws.

Michi Staff replied 8 years ago

Kobe,
Indeed. That's what I wrote to Joseph.

Joseph replied 8 years ago

Wait a minute, I've already lost you.
1) So you claim that even a mechanism that generates laws in such a way that it generates everything (and in doing so also a special and rare universe like ours) can be asked a physico-theological argument? Or only a cosmological one? What is complicated about something that tries everything and in everything gets a special result? I think I missed something, after all, this is exactly the anthropic principle, and in the Rabbi's notebook he wrote that an argument from complexity only holds water if there are two conditions: 1. A probabilistically rare entity. 2. Not enough attempts have been made to create it. A mechanism that generates lots and lots of universes with different laws eliminates condition 2.

2) When I said that the universe solves questions, I did not mean the question of fine-tuning, but other questions: problems in quantum mechanics, strings, and inflation. One explanation that solves three things is better than one explanation for each (as the Rabbis said about that fool).

PS: Thanks for the whole site.

Kobe replied 8 years ago

I think there is a difference between adding more dimensions and laws of nature, which are all very defined together.
And then still the same question.

And adding universes that are not governed by the same laws of nature but by other laws of nature (and in any case, according to their definition, we cannot see or hear about them at all, which is the problematic and stinking part of the story).

Michi Staff replied 8 years ago

Joseph,
1) I argue that if there are enough universes with different natural laws to explain the peculiarities of the laws of nature (this means an imaginary, essentially infinite, number of universes with different natural laws), even then the mechanism of universe creation still needs to be explained. Assuming that there is such a mechanism, then indeed the (infinite) multiplicity of universes can explain the anthropic phenomenon. I have already written more than once that the two arguments are related to each other, and the separation between them is only for didactic purposes.
2) And this also solves the fine tuning, if it exists.

Beyond that, the theory that will explain all of the universes is itself a particular theory, and I am sure it will be special (when it exists, and if it exists). Therefore, the question will arise about it.

Joseph replied 8 years ago

I understand, you mean that the cosmological argument will still remain, and even a bit of complexity, because the mechanism will be complex itself.
What is your hypothesis based on that the mechanism for creating universes would be special? Because it ultimately reached a special result (our laws of nature)?
Perhaps you can explain your intention in more depth, by saying that the following statement can still be made about the mechanism: "Of all the systems of laws that could exist in the mechanism, only a tiny number lead to life (or a mechanism that leads directly to life, or a mechanism that generates an infinite number of universes and thus arrives at life).
What does the rabbi say?

Yishai replied 8 years ago

How powerful should infinity be?
The set of all functions from R to R is A2, right?
Determining the value of the constants is a1 so it doesn't matter.
But the question is what functions exist. Is there a finite set of physical quantities between which functions can be defined and then it really is a2, or can we think of completely different things that would give greater power?

Michi Staff replied 8 years ago

Yosef, the mechanism that creates universes is a powerful mechanism. It doesn't happen out of some structureless nonsense.

Yishai, it doesn't have to be literally infinite because the values of the constants don't have to be completely precise (there's a gap where similar properties will still exist for a long enough time). And there still have to be lots of universes with lots of systems of laws. I don't know what the point of the functions between the constants is here.

Yishai replied 8 years ago

The thing about functions is that if there are universes with different laws, then what needs to be checked is how many functions there can be between constants, for example between mass and force. I think it's A2.

Michi Staff replied 8 years ago

Mass and force are not constants. Mass is a constant and it links force and acceleration.
Maybe you mean how many functions there can be between physical variables, such as acceleration and force. To that I say you need to remember that the random laws of nature can be of completely different types from ours with different variables (perhaps a nature in which there will be no motion at all, and then there is no velocity and acceleration), with a different amount of constants and of course with different constant values. By the way, they can also be not functions at all, and also laws with non-constant functions and more as your imagination allows. Beyond that, the relationship between the variables is differential and not a simple function, and this increases the number to completely different levels.

Joseph replied 8 years ago

thanks!!
But "powerful" is not necessarily special. The hurricane is also powerful. Maybe you meant "powerful" in terms of programming? And is the explanation I gave above correct?

Yishai replied 8 years ago

Indeed, I understood what I meant. Even when there is no motion, there is a function that connects force and acceleration.
A differential equation that describes something physical should ultimately give a function, even if it cannot be found or written analytically – it gives each X a single result in R.
What is true in quantum mechanics is that each X instead receives a single result, a distribution, that is, a function, and then there is actually a function from R to the space of functions from R to R, which will give A3. It seems that you can complicate it as much as you want and get as high a power as you want.

Michi Staff replied 8 years ago

Joseph, no. It is indeed powerful in terms of attributes, but not precisely because of our universe. Creating universes in general is a non-trivial ability (to put it mildly).

Yishai, the function that is obtained in the end does not bind an acceleration force but gives a trajectory in space-time. This is not a law of nature. The equation is a law of nature. And in quantum mechanics, we do not get a function but a distribution of possible outcomes. But these chatterbox are not really important for our purposes.

Yishai replied 8 years ago

Obviously, this is not important to our case. It's just for fun.
I still don't understand the point of differential equations. Ultimately, if every force has an acceleration, there is a function here, and so on between any two variables.
Why is a distribution not a function? A distribution gives every situation a chance.

Michi Staff replied 8 years ago

Take a spring for example. Its equation of motion is that the force is equal to the minus the distance from the equilibrium point times the spring constant: F=-kx. The force is the mass times the second derivative of that distance, so there is a differential equation here whose solution is the position as a function of time. Something like: ( x=Bsin(at
The solution is a function, but it does not relate the force to the acceleration, the relationship between these two is always linear (Newton's second law) with the constant of proportionality being the mass. This is no different between all situations.
The distribution is a function of a random variable, or a function that describes probability as a function of location. But it is not something that relates physical variables to each other.

Yishai replied 8 years ago

What do I care about the position of the spring? I care about the function that relates force to acceleration. There may be a universe where this relationship cannot be expressed by an analytic function or even by a differential equation, but it is still a function.
Clearly, a distribution is not a function that relates fiscal variables to each other, but it does relate a physical variable in R (i.e., magnitude A1) to the space of functions of random variables (i.e., magnitude A2), and therefore, if I'm not mistaken, the set of functions that do such a thing will have magnitude A3.

Michi Staff replied 8 years ago

We're probably speaking two different languages. The function that relates force to acceleration is very simple:
F=ma. That's all. It's true in all cases and in all circumstances, and there's no multiplication in this matter, nor is there anything differential. It has nothing to do with differential equations, nor with their solutions.
Indeed, this is a function that in another universe could be very different, and it is the one I wrote.
Regarding distributions, our languages are apparently completely different. Even the power of the sequence (C) is not necessarily a1 (it's just the sequence hypothesis). The distribution also does not relate a continuous variable to the space of functions, but rather a continuous variable; and chance.
But I don't think this is the place to continue this.

Joseph replied 8 years ago

Hello Rabbi. I am currently busy digging through the Responsorial Psalm on your website, and I am thrilled with what is going on here.
I came across one response that talked about the anthropic principle, and there the questioner asked you this: "Does the anthropic appeal only exist if there is randomness in the universe?" (He meant actual randomness as in quantum mechanics) and you answered him: Yes.
So I understand that you meant this here too, that only if the mechanism for creating the laws of universes is quantumly random – then the multiplicity of universes undermines the view from design, and if there is no quantum randomness there – then the argument from complexity remains the same strength despite the infinite universes that the mechanism produces.
So is that what you meant here too? Were you just talking about a completely random mechanism?
And also, I would love to explain why if it's deterministic then multiple universes wouldn't explain anything, it sounds really strange to me.
Thank you.

Michi Staff replied 8 years ago

Hello.
The principle is this: If there is a die that falls randomly and after many throws you get a series of 6s a hundred times, there is no probabilistic problem with that. Therefore, if there is a random mechanism that creates a multitude of universes and one special universe emerges from them, there is no probabilistic problem with that.
There is still a problem with the formation of universes because the mechanism of creating universes is itself a mechanism that requires explanation and requires an operator, and moreover, we have not seen such a mechanism, so it is unfounded speculation.
When you have a die that is rolled deterministically, then no distribution is special. If you get a chain of a hundred different rolls or a hundred equal rolls, neither is more surprising than the other, since it is the structure of the deterministic mechanism that dictates the results. Of course, if this structure itself is randomly generated, then the wonder arises of how a structure that creates a hundred identical rolls could be generated at random, and we are back to the random case.

Quantum randomness is not a solution to anything at all, since quantum theory itself is a special theory that requires explanation. Randomness occurs within it.

Joseph replied 8 years ago

I understand that from a deterministic perspective there is nothing to be "surprised about," because everything was expected. But what is at issue here is drawing conclusions from an argument from complexity, and if there is a mechanism that "tries everything" and in the process (presumably) also arrives at our special universe, then our special universe is completely explained, and then it has been proven that this mechanism is not special in terms of the creation of our universe (perhaps it is special only in terms of the very mechanism that creates universes), because it is not "focused" on creating special laws. Then the anthropic appeal also applies to a deterministic mechanism for creating universes, because we already see that the mechanism is not really special in terms of our universe.
Like, for example, a deterministic machine that shoots a billion arrows in all directions, in a deterministic manner, it is true that in the end it will also reach the exact middle of the board, but seemingly no conclusion can be drawn from this that it is special (by virtue of the special hit, perhaps just by virtue of the mechanism), even though it is deterministic.
All of this, of course, without getting into the fact that this is speculation at all.
[Now it occurs to me that perhaps the rabbi means that since we know that there is a God from the cosmological perspective, then the special result of the mechanism can be more easily attributed to Him, since the mechanism is deterministic, and its programmer is responsible for everything. That sounds true, but if we are talking about the proof itself from complexity, then complexity is null and void.]
Sorry for the length.

Michi Staff replied 8 years ago

No mechanism can try everything. There are infinite "everythings". Therefore, there is a structure to this mechanism that chooses what to create, and this is its uniqueness.

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