NationStates Jolt Archive

Do you think alternate dimensions really exist?

I'm convinced some people live in different realities with different laws yes :p

I currently live in one where ravenous swarms of underwear moths travel the landscape hunting down unsuspecting boxers :(

Yes there are Democrat, Republican and the real world.

One of my favorite theories is that anything that can happen, does happen, in an alternate universe. Meaning that for each of the infinite possiblities we face each day, there is an alternate universe where that possibility did occur.

yea...real life and TV...

Modern physics definitely points in the direction of parallel universes and alternate dimensions. In fact, quantum physics suggests that there may be an infinite number of universes corresponding to the infinite number of possiblites that exist.

"Alternative dimensions"? I would have dubbed them indie...

One of my favorite theories is that anything that can happen, does happen, in an alternate universe. Meaning that for each of the infinite possiblities we face each day, there is an alternate universe where that possibility did occur.

Doh! You beat me to it. Of course in an alternate universe I beat you to the post! :)

"Alternative dimensions"? I would have dubbed them indie...

So it took till post 7 for that to be picked up? *is disappointed*

Regardless, we know we're all really just looking for the harem universe.

So it took till post 7 for that to be picked up? *is disappointed*

Hey, one can only do so much with Jolt's constantly intermittent suckage.

Hey, one can only do so much with Jolt's constantly intermittent suckage.

A poor craftsman blames his tools :p

So it took till post 7 for that to be picked up? *is disappointed*

Regardless, we know we're all really just looking for the harem universe.

The free love universe would be nice.

A poor craftsman blames his tools :p

While other craftsmen are tools.

Doh! You beat me to it. Of course in an alternate universe I beat you to the post! :)

Indeed...and in another universe, pigs fly.
























OOOOHHHH!!!

Modern physics definitely points in the direction of parallel universes and alternate dimensions. In fact, quantum physics suggests that there may be an infinite number of universes corresponding to the infinite number of possiblites that exist.
I don't know that physics points to there being parallel universes... there isn't really a way to test that.

However <3 multiverses. :)

I don't know that physics points to there being parallel universes... there isn't really a way to test that.

However <3 multiverses. :)

Parallel universes is what everyone thinks when they think multiverses. In many ways they are the same thing, if only that "parallel universe" is sort of a limited subset of multiverses that are similar in nature to ours.

Part of me really likes the idea (quantum immortality would be cool) but another part hopes that there aren't any other dimensions, just because crazies like otherkin/otakukin seem to think it proves them right.

There's a theory, that the cosmos is so huge that it contains more than one universe and that if you go out far enough, you will find an exact copy of our earth with the exact same type of biological and maybe cultural development but with a minor tweak or two that results in a different history than our own has had. For example on that earth, it is possible that the Americans lost their war for independence and that, maybe, the British took over France and literally conquered the planet or that during World War II, Hitler got the atom bomb before the Americans did and used it on Russia.

There could be earth copies where flying pigs actually evolved.......
But we shall never know cause they're far away for us to even see them.

And if they're that far, I don't think even having warp travel technology or even wormholes will enable us to go to them. The distances are just too vast.

There's a theory, that the cosmos is so huge that it contains more than one universe and that if you go out far enough, you will find an exact copy of our earth with the exact same type of biological and maybe cultural development but with a minor tweak or two that results in a different history than our own has had. For example on that earth, it is possible that the Americans lost their war for independence and that, maybe, the British took over France and literally conquered the planet or that during World War II, Hitler got the atom bomb before the Americans did and used it on Russia.

There could be earth copies where flying pigs actually evolved.......
But we shall never know cause they're far away for us to even see them.

And if they're that far, I don't think even having warp travel technology or even wormholes will enable us to go to them. The distances are just too vast.

Except that you wouldn't be able to transition from one universe to the next by merely moving in 3 dimensions.

Except that you wouldn't be able to transition from one universe to the next by merely moving in 3 dimensions.

We can't even leave the earth system.

We can't even leave the earth system.

And?

There's a theory, that the cosmos is so huge that it contains more than one universe and that if you go out far enough, you will find an exact copy of our earth with the exact same type of biological and maybe cultural development but with a minor tweak or two that results in a different history than our own has had. For example on that earth, it is possible that the Americans lost their war for independence and that, maybe, the British took over France and literally conquered the planet or that during World War II, Hitler got the atom bomb before the Americans did and used it on Russia.

There could be earth copies where flying pigs actually evolved.......
But we shall never know cause they're far away for us to even see them.

And if they're that far, I don't think even having warp travel technology or even wormholes will enable us to go to them. The distances are just too vast.

I thought that had to do with the idea of the universe being infinite. IMS, in an infinite universe, every possibility is happening, somewhere. Not in an alternate dimension, but at some actual place in that universe. Since there clearly can be an earth, then it would be possible there could be a slightly different earth, so there would be. Like an earth where fruit flies are the dominant species. Somewhere in this infinite universe, we are all having sex as we post on NSG. And that's awesome.

Are you saying that their is an alternate reality somewhere out there in which the American people weren't screwed by the Electoral College into getting a tool of a leader?

THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!

It is possible that there is an earth where Al Gore became President instead of George W. Bush.

It is possible there is an earth somewhere in which Bush was declared Emperor of the World by the Republican Congress.

It is also possible, there is an earth somewhere in which, instead of attacking Iraq, Bush kept his focus on Afghanistan and finished the job in 2004 or 2005.

But then again, there's an earth out there where the Roman Empire never collapsed and formed an alliance with China, which lead to them dividing the Parthian Empire. Or that the Axis won World War II or that Saddam won the First Gulf War in which case, Kuwait doesn't exist on that earth.

There is probably an earth out there where Clinton was not only impeached for perjury but removed from office and now sitting in prison. Which means that Mark Rich was never pardoned on that earth.

Multiple possibilities.

One of the weirdest possibilities of all just occured: an earth that doesn't have an NS General. lol

Do you think alternate dimensions really exist?

The real issue is: do these alternate dimensions interact with ours?

Finding the right question is more important than getting the right answer.

Do you think alternate dimensions really exist?

Alternate dimensions? Surely you mean either alternate universes or higher dimensions. Personally I think that it doesn't matter if they don't exist, we can't naturally travel through them or perceive them. We can perceive travel through time but we can't control it (and therefore will most likely never be able to understand it enough to be able to by any means other than the default). What chance do we have of being able to travel through a medium we can't even comprehend.

I think alternate dimensions are a given about now (m/string theory, electrons passing between them, mixed temporal/spatial nature etc)

Alternate possibilities though, that can get interesting. In this universe, if you travel about XX m in any direction the probability (asymptotically) hits one that you will meet an alternate Earth (so it would be plausible to travel to it in the 4 dimensions we are in, even if it isn't feasible)

Then you get to actual alternate universes, which have had loads of theories trying to explain them. I think one is that we are in an 11/12 dimensional equivalent of a Mobius Strip, with a load of <5 dimensional 'planes' floating about trying not to collide/annihilate each other. Others involve not just actions, but awareness (alt. possibilities from the imagination) being the basis for other universes, or there is 'universal evolution' where the universe could almost be considered alive and 'procreating' through black holes.
(So this universe is here because it's progenitors are stable, and have evolved the natural laws/constants to a point where life as we know it can exist (explained a little better here: http://www.fiu.edu/~mizrachs/living-universe.html)
This is also looked into a fair bit in some of Stephen Baxter’s novels)
I think there is a bit on this in John Gribbin’s “In Search of Schrödinger's Cat” and/or “Schrödinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality”, but it’s been a while since I’ve read them :)

Wow a place where I'm President of the universe. Think about it we are all Presidents of the universe somewhere!

Indeed...and in another universe, pigs fly.
and in that same universe... Car owners live in fear...

Are you saying that their is an alternate reality somewhere out there in which the American people weren't screwed by the Electoral College into getting a tool of a leader?

THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!for all we know, they're probably looking at their lives going... "damn, what if..."


Stranger things have happened y'know...

Wow a place where I'm President of the universe. Think about it we are all Presidents of the universe somewhere!
I rather my own little world.


after all... they know me there. :p

Alternate universes would be cool to visit. I wouldnt mind living in a world where the Simpsons are real people.

Yes I do ....

Heaven *********************

Earth ***********************

Hell ************************

Where do you wish to end up?

I do think that both experimental evidence and some theories in physics point to there being a large or even infinite number of alternate universes. In physics, this is called the "Everett Theory" after a grad student who thought of it in the 1950s. The leading alternative theory is the "collapsing sine wave function" theory. That's the one that basically says the universe is playing tricks on us. I think the Everett Theory is more likely to be true.

Those of you interested in alternate realities might like my RP that is based on this concept. Check it out:

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=531357

Yes I do ....

Heaven *********************

Earth ***********************

Hell ************************

Where do you wish to end up?
I used to be horrified by the idea of heaven nearly as much as by the idea of hell. But then I realized there is not a proof in 100 for it.

I do not believe in alternative dimensions until there is scientific proof for them.

Check some articles about string theory.

AFAIK strings were not detected nor did the theories of strings not yield any other results... correct me if I'm wrong.

My personal assumption:

There aren't infinite parallel universes, but since every quantum "tick" gives out a huge number of possible outcomes, and each of these again gives a vast number per each quantum tick, the numbers rapidly add up to something close to infinity.

I also assume there are three levels of parallel dimensions:

Level 1: Same laws of physics as ours, but other course of history. Everything can be different, as long as it abides the known laws of phyiscs.

Level 2: Same basical laws, but different cosmological constants. (Since there are slight changes in the constants even within our universe, I'm unsure wether this actually qualifies for a different level, although the effects on reality would be tremendous)

Level 3: Different "nature" of the universe itself. Maybe the atom is the smallest component of matter, planets are translucent, things affected by gravity do not drop, but rather start to glow, or perhaps, the laws of propability are quite different. Maybe even logic doesn't exists, or at least in a very twisted and bent way. These universes might be completely surrealist to us, but from their own perspective, they make just the sense our universe does to us (which is a bad example, right?)

For L2 and especially for L3, I'm unsure wether they are different courses our universe has taken or wether each different "constant" or "nature" is enclosed in an individual metaverse, which would really allow an infintie number of universe, since there could be an infinite number of metaverses, although in each of them (as long as their "nature" is that way), there is only a finite number of possible quantum states.
Also, I think it possible that some parallel dimensions are not seperated by our universe by some transdimensional gap, but rather by time itself. What seems to us like a different universe can simply be the recurrance of the world as it is today, but with minor differences, seperated from our universe by an endless number of Big Bangs and Big Crunches in the future.

Memorize what I wrote down here, and you'll see, in some years, physicists will say that they found out just that (any of the above).

I used to be horrified by the idea of heaven nearly as much as by the idea of hell. But then I realized there is not a proof in 100 for it.

I do not believe in alternative dimensions until there is scientific proof for them.


You are correct, there isn't any proof that they exist but thats where Faith comes in.

You are correct, there isn't any proof that they exist but thats where Faith comes in.
My faith is that science suffices to explain everything eventually :)

Kormanthor, are you trying to hijack this thread and make it about Heaven, Hell, Faith and Religion?

It's really, really easy to start your own thread on that topic, you know.

You do not believe that heaven and hell could be alternate dimensions?

In an alternate universe I'd be depressed. In another alternate universe, I'd be Mr. Slick. I like this one.

In an other universe, this thread has a poll...