I guess I’ve always been confused by the Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Physics and the fact that it’s taken seriously. Like is there any proof at all that universes outside of our own exist?

I admit that I might be dumb, but, how does one look at atoms and say “My God! There must be many worlds than just our one?”

I just never understood how Many Worlds Interpretation was valid, with my, admittedly limited understanding, it just seemed to be a wild guess no more strange than a lot things we consider too outlandish to humor.

  • voracitude@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    5 months ago

    There isn’t any “proof”; in fact, Many Worlds is what’s called “unfalsifiable”, which means we don’t have a way through the scientific method to show Many Worlds to be false.

    Also, it’s not really

    My God! There must be many worlds than just our one?

    But more

    There are moments in time where one path is taken and not another… but what if all paths are taken, somewhere?

    It’s not meant to be a valid theory, it’s just a possible outcome of having a spacetime continuum; because it’s not falsifiable though, it’s not worth pursuing right now, only worth keeping in mind in case we come across new evidence to evaluate.

    • Wigners_friend@piefed.socialEnglish
      0·
      5 months ago

      Great answer, but it unfortunately is taken seriously. The reason is because it is an “end of the road” hypothesis. It tells you all the weirdness is fundamental and no further thought is required. Just like good old Copenhagen. The unfalsifiability is a virtue here, it’s a complete explanatin without the messy testing. Now stop thinking, shut up, and calculate.

      • BrainInABox@lemmy.mlEnglish
        0·
        5 months ago

        but it unfortunately is taken seriously

        Why is that unfortunate? It’s an extremely well justified theory.

        It tells you all the weirdness is fundamental and no further thought is required.

        I’m not sure why you say this? If anything, that’s a description of Copenhagen, which MWI is a response to.

  • MysteriousSophon21@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    5 months ago

    Many Worlds isn’t taken seriously because there’s “proof” of other universes - it’s taken seriously because it’s actually the simplest explanation mathematically. The equations of quantum mechanics naturally lead to superpositions (particles existing in multiple states). MWI just says “what if we don’t add extra rules to make those superpositions collapse?” It’s like if you have a math equation that gives you 5 answers, and instead of creating a complicated rule to pick just one answer, you just accept all 5. Thats why physisists consider it - parsimony.