Cosmology, 2015, Vol. 19. 62-68.Cosmology.com, 2015

The Multiverse Paradox: Infinite Parallel Universes Are Impossible

Peter D. CooperVisiting Fellow, Australian National University, Australia    

Abstract Each parallel universe in an infinite Multiverse should be no less improbable than our own exceedingly unlikely Universe. The probability of such a Multiverse occurring by chance equals the product of an infinite number of values less than unity, which is zero. The concept that Consciousness could be a dimension of the Universe additional to 3D space and time is briefly discussed.

Keywords: Multiverse, parallel universes, infinite numbers, extra dimensions, consciousness, probability, zero

1. Introduction

We appear to have been blessed with a Universe to live in that has been very

carefully crafted so that life as we know it is possible (Rees, 1999). Mankind itself

seems to have depended on very fine tuning of only six universal constants for its

existence. While cosmology has since refined Rees’ concepts somewhat, their point is

still relevant and the true enormity of these concessions to life potential is better

appreciated by looking at them individually:

• N (~ 10-36, limits ~ 10-30 – 10-42) expresses the relative importance of

gravity and atomic electrostatic forces to the properties of everyday

matter: if gravity were stronger, the Universe would be too small and

time for evolution too short, if weaker the Universe would be

unnecessarily large and evolution times unnecessarily long.

• ε (~ 0.007, limits ~ 0.006 – 0.008) concerns the energy related to mass

(E = mc2) in the internal binding of atomic nuclei and the energy

released in an atomic explosion; if outside the given limits, stars would

be unable to make the atoms needed for life.

• Ω (tolerance at 1 sec after the Big Bang within 10-15 of unity) = cosmic

number, measures the amount of matter in the Universe expressed as a

fraction of a critical mass. If Ω ≥ 1, the Universe would have long since

collapsed, if Ω were further below unity than 10-15, galaxies could not

have formed. The important early rate of cosmic expansion ‘must have

been tuned with remarkable precision’ (Rees, 1999). Its relation to the

critical mass is still 0.3.

• λ = cosmological constant (~10 -122), functions as a cosmic ‘antigravity’

that restricts the rate of cosmic expansion. The ratio of λ (the energy

density of the Universe) to the critical energy density is remarkably

close at ~ 0.7.

• Q (~ 10 -5) = ratio of energy required to disperse say a large cluster of

galaxies to its total energy calculated as E = mc2. Q governs the fabric or

texture (irregularity) of the Universe: if Q were even smaller, the

Universe would be inert and featureless, if Q were somewhat larger, a

violent place where stars and planets could not survive.

• Dimensions = 3 spatial dimensions in our Universe.

These values mostly involve numbers that are, not surprisingly, astronomically large.

Their extraordinary aspect is that such huge numbers nevertheless fall in the right

ranges to provide cosmic conditions optimal for life potential to evolve. The high

improbability of such exquisite accuracy in all six constants is hard to ascribe to

chance and difficult to avoid acceptance of a deliberate creation event by a causative

Creative Mind of unimaginable capability. However, Rees (1999) also showed that

our special Universe could have arisen by chance if it is one of an infinite number of

parallel universes (‘Multiverse’) embodying all variations of these constants. We find

ourselves here because this is the only variation where we could be.

Such a fortuitous Multiverse came as manna from Heaven (so to speak) for

those who found the idea of a Creative Mind difficult to accept. Parallel universes

turned out to offer an intriguing intellectual toy but have remained no more than an

untestable conjecture, becoming increasingly uncomfortable for cosmologists,

physicists and astronomers.

2. The Argument

Here we look at simple notions of probability and find a paradox. Our Universe

would be regarded as exceedingly improbable. Other universes somewhat outside

these tolerances would be similarly improbable. Thus a Multiverse would comprise an

infinite number of improbable structures, or at least structures of probability much less

than unity. If these structures occur by chance then their coincidence as part of an

infinite collection of such structures (a Multiverse) will have a probability of

occurrence equal to the product of the individual probabilities, not their sum. The

product of an infinite number of values less than one is, eventually, zero. Thus a

Multiverse should have zero probability of existing, and this is the innate paradox of

the Multiverse concept.

3. Discussion

If such reasoning is valid then the removal of a purely chance cause for the

origin of our just-right Universe can only mean that its Creation was intentional and

effected by a pre-existing Primal Mind. In addition, a perception of a crisis in

cosmology (Unger & Smolin, 2015) may be less acute, and the philosophical and

mathematical conclusions of these authors that the Universe is singular will be

supported. The Creative Mind implications of a fine-tuned, life-giving singular

Universe are of course paradigm-challenging for purely materialist scientists, and the

newly emerging paradigm of a Post-Materialist Science (Beauregard et al., 2015) is

being developed by experimental science (Schwartz, 2015); it embodies the concept of

a non-local Consciousness. The same implications also matter very much to Mankind

(Dossey, 2013), and their recognition is of the greatest current importance and

urgency.

Fr. Pierre Theilhard de Chardin proposed: “Science, Religion and Philosophy

should ultimately come together like the meridians at the pole”. It is argued elsewhere

(Cooper, 2015) that this insight is currently being realized because Science is

beginning to recognize and accept the role of Consciousness in the observer effect and

entanglement theory of quantum mechanics, its likely role in cosmic fine tuning, and

its dominant one in psi research, Religion has always affirmed its role in life and

death, and Philosophy seems comfortable with this accord. Science and Religion are

ultimately reconciled by their striking concordance in the most profound aspects of

both (quantum science and meditative absorption): All is part of One, and One is part

of All.

The key issue is the nature of Consciousness. Recent interest in the possibility

that it is an additional state of matter (e.g. Tegmark, 2015) specifically assumes that it

is material (brain stuff?), whereas Post-Materialist Science realizes that Consciousness

can have a non-material, non-local component, and in fact has no compelling need for

any material component other than the neural networks needed for its recognition by

us.

But what if Consciousness were an extra dimension of the Universe? Like the

other critical numbers, dimension is a non-material, abstract concept. Rees (1999) was

careful to include dimension as one of his critical six numbers. He pointed out that

nothing less or more than three dimensions would work in our standard spatial matrix,

citing the crucial role of the inverse square law in orbital mechanics or electric fields.

Rees also considered time as a fourth dimension but regarded it as ‘different’ as our

world seems set up in a special way: we can only go forward. Consciousness seems

to comprise a pure, discarnate awareness defined as having the potential to

know information, which then becomes a thought or idea; it is accordingly a

discarnate carrier of information. The nature of this information goes to the

heart of Intelligence itself. If it were all-pervasive in the material Universe, as is

the dimension of time, Consciousness would be free to connect with our brains

provided we had an organ with the right ‘antenna’. It appears additional to our

four dimensions, and is also ‘different’ in that our awareness seems largely trapped in

a form of Consciousness associated with our bodies. However, some gifted

individuals can and do routinely transcend this limitation in various ways, and most of

us have experienced some temporary interconnection or entanglement that also seem

to do so (e.g. Inglis, 1990). Consciousness as a dimension that carries Intelligence

could explain for example many or most of the observed phenomena of psi research

and experience, such as physical mediumship, Near-Death Experiences and remote

viewing, particularly if, as these examples imply, it also extends outside the space-

time of our material Universe.

The crucial gift from time is the opportunity for evolutionary development or

increase in information content of the Universe, although this seems pointless without

a Creative Mind. Similarly, the gift from Consciousness could be the opportunity to

exchange information and commune with that Creative Mind, and to participate

personally in the learning experiences thus provided.

4. Acknowledgments

I thank Larry Dossey, MD, for drawing my attention to this website.

5. References

Beauregard, M., Dossey, L., Miller, L-T., Moreira-Almeida, A., Schlitz, M., Schwartz, G.,

Sheldrake, R., Tart, C. T. (2015). Manifesto for a Post-Materialist Science.

www.opensciences.org.

Cooper, P. D. (2015). A Reverse-Paradigm Creed for the 21st Century: Why Many

Scientists still have the Cart before the Horse. Explore: The Journal of Science and

Healing, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2015.07.008

Dossey, L. (2013). One Mind. How our Individual Mind is Part of a Greater

Consciousness and Why it Matters. Hay House Inc., Carlsbad, CA, US

Inglis, B. (1990). Coincidence: a Matter of Chance – or Synchronicity? White Crow

Books, Guildford, UK.

Rees, M. J. (1999). Just Six Numbers: the Deep Forces that shape the Universe.

Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London. UK.

Schwartz, S. A. (2015). Six Protocols, Neuroscience, and Near Death: an Emerging

Paradigm Incorporating Nonlocal Consciousness. Explore: The Journal of Science

and Healing, doi:10.1016/j.explore.2015.04.010.

Tegmark, M. (2015). Consciousness as a State of Matter. arXiv:1401.1219v3 [quant-ph].

Unger, M. B., Smolin, L. (2015). The Singular Universe and the Reality of Time. A

Proposal in Natural Philosophy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.