Is the Universe knowable or unknowable? Based on recent Large Hadron Collider findings, it appears a knowable natural Universe is unlikely. What might this mean? It means our Universe might be a bubble in the Multiverse, an infinite number of other Universes, created and tuned for our existence, not determined and predictible, which makes me kind of happy. Arkani-Hamed, one of the greatest theoretical Physicists alive today, laid out the seemingly contradictory implications of recent experimental results at the LHC after the Higgs discovery.
“The universe is inevitable,” he declared. “The universe is impossible.”
Most Physicists feel that there is something more fundamental to nature than the experienced dimensions. Our reality emerges from more fundamental structures. Arkani-Hamed discovered a new geometric pattern that can simply predict particle interactions, an amplituhedron. This natural structure emerged from the math and is a simple version of quantum mechanics at the most fundamental level. Geometric structures explaining reality, interesting. The geometric object is an example of the most fundamental logic of the Universe: describing intersecting lines and planes. It appears the motion and history of the Universe is encoded in this pattern. In unpublished work, he feels the interchangeability of points and lines in the geometry of the amplituhedron may be the origin of a mysterious mathematical duality between particles and strings. Everything emerging from crossed lines.
This puts Einstein’s dream of a natural, beautiful, inevitable(determined) and self contained Universe in jeopardy. I’m an engineer, not a Physicist, but I am always trying to understand my experienced reality skeptically. Well, I seek less to now understand reality and focus more on the best way to experience it resulting in maximum spiritual growth. I think reality is just a game and we are all players on it’s stage. I’m not going to take your word for it or anyone else’s. My question, could the Multiverse not be a real time reality, meaning, infinite possibilities existing concurrently in different Universes? If all possibilities are possible in the Multiverse, the rest and best realities exist out there.
Supposedly string theory, an attempt to unify Einstein’s relativity with Quantum Mechanics, the sub-atomic world of particles, supposedly has 10 to the 500 possible Universes in the Multiverse in 10 possible dimensions, we live in the first 3. That is not intuitive to humans. More and more the physics anomalies are growing, we are missing something. See Thomas Khun’s book, “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”. Considering the effect of consciousness on reality may be part of what is missing.
The Anthropic Principle is the Law of Human Existence. It is well known that our existence in this universe depends on numerous cosmological constants and parameters whose numerical values must fall within a very narrow range of values. This does not make sense to most Physicists also, thus was born the Multiverse theory. I think the Multiverse exists as potential, and answers the question, how could we be so lucky? That is just an intuitive statement and just my opinion.
From the string theorist most Physicists feel is the brightest among them, Edward Witten, “I would be happy personally if the multiverse interpretation is not correct, in part because it potentially limits our ability to understand the laws of physics. But none of us were consulted when the universe was created.”
Einstein said, “Religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law and this feeling is the guiding principle of his life and work.” My life is no different than that, I have a sense of awe at the Universe and am trying to figure out my place in it. I stopped caring so much what it is.
All of this makes me excited and affirms what I feel intuitively. I am not looking for the God of the gaps. I know the creative force that created the Universe, I feel it and experience it. You will never have all the answers. The answers are not the point. The point may be the questions and how you ask them and more importantly how you experience the Universe.
We can never know what exactly the Universe is if we exist in a Multiverse. We can not test this theory. Is this the end of Science? I hope it is a humbling time for Science. Because we all need some humility seeking to unlock such secrets. Perhaps in our current state we can not see more than the matter we are made of. What do you know?
Arkani-Hamed, a hero of mine and a great person and Physicist(like a child), found success by pursuing his own ideas with unbridled enthusiasm, politely disregarding naysayers and tackling obstacles head-on. I will try to be worthy of this mantle of great seekers in my pursuits. They are looking for more hints from nature to understand what the Universe is and want to build bigger colliders. I think this struggle of Physics reflects our internal spiritual struggles and striving. It was spiritual for Einstein. I believe the way forward will be born from a synthesis of the natural and the spirt. We are half blinded in our search. I think Science and spirit are complimentary, but beneficial or destructive based on your intent. You manfiest your own reality I believe. I wasted my life for so long on meaningless material pursuits.
No more!
No limits!
Quantum Heart 