New Physics, Old Metaphysics

Scientific theory of the nature of the universe has often approached the point where it merges with philosophy. Stephan Hawking took his "brief history of time" to that threshold, then shrugged and rather lamely mentioned that one could refer to religion for answers from there on. Now the "Many Universes" theory mirrors what Frank Herbert wrote into "Dune" in 1965.

Herbert's protagonist was the culmination of a millenia-long breeding plan by a sect of women who could remember past lives, among other talents, and who hoped they could breed a woman who could see the future. Our protagonist accidentally inherited the perfect genes and was blinded by the sect because he wasn't she. He then learned to compensate by seeing in his mind's eye what would happen in the next split second. He could see this immediate future so clearly he could drive, or fight with a sword. What he saw at any instant was all the threads of the future that could possibly happen, and so could choose the sequence of subsequent events in his universe.

By implication, an infinite array of universes would proceed on alternate paths, stemming from different choices not chosen by our guy in the universe we are following. Now some theoretical physicists are embracing an explanation of the nature of our universe that envisions an infinite array of universes, coexisting in different dimensions of timespace, in which all the possible threads of consequential events are occuring. For example, you pull into Burger King and order a Whopper. Somewhere, in some dimension, you just ordered a Chicken Burger; in another equally real universe you have added fries with that. Each decision we make determines which universe we continue to inhabit, and each decision slightly changes the subsequent sequence of events we experience.

So all things are happening simultaneously somewhere. It is only when we transcend the dimensions of timespace that we are able to see the totality.

Of course, other physicists theorize that our universe is a big bubble-like thing floating in timespace along with other bubble universes. If two universes touch, both are shattered in a big bang event and a new bubble universe is created, launching the process astrophysicists can identify as the history of ours after its big bang.

So cool.