We live in a universe. The “uni” in universe refers to one, meaning there is one universe. Universe has been one of those enduring concepts of science that has remained unchanged for many years. Well, as is the case with most other seemingly infallible scientific theories, Newtonian mechanics and luminiferous ether come to mind, new evidence is challenging this age-old theory.

Recent evidence suggests that there may be multiple universes. Scientists are suggesting that we may live in a “multiverse” instead of a “universe”. A multiverse can be conceptualized as a compilation of soap bubbles, each containing a separate realm or universe. Particularly intriguing is the idea that some of these multiverses are parallel universes.

Parallel universe was developed by Hugh Everett in the early 1950s. Hugh Everett theorized parallel universes to explain uncanny outcomes in quantum experiments (I won’t go into the details of those results here). Parallel universes are branch-offs from other universes. Many are like our universe with a few important exceptions. For example, in a parallel universe there may be someone exactly like you, but a “you” who won 32 million in the Powerball Lottery. Another might be a universe where the Axis won WWII, where Lee Harvey Oswald’s shot missed President Kennedy, where Elvis Presley stayed thin and lived to a ripe old age, and where a lightning strike missed the inorganic soup in the primordial earth and thus mankind did not evolve (hm?). Anyway, If such places exist, they would be just as real and tangible as the universe in which we live.

I can accept the idea of multiverses, but have a difficult time with the notion of parallel universes. When viewed from the perspective of the grand master plan called the Plan of Salvation, I just don’t see how there can be a seemingly infinite number of people just like me who are living alternative realities based on different outcomes to events in my lifetime. However there is a sense of parallel universe or alternate realities in the Doctrine and Covenants. It is the Manifesto on polygamy by Wilford Woodruff in Official Declaration I.

The Lord showed President Woodruff what would happen if the Church did not stop polygamy. He wrote:

The Lord showed me by vision and revelation exactly what would take place if we did not stop this practice. If we had not stopped it, you would have had no use for . . . any of the men in this temple at Logan; for all ordinances would be stopped throughout the land of Zion. Confusion would reign throughout Israel, and many men would be made prisoners. This trouble would have come upon the whole Church, and we should have been compelled to stop the practice.

This revelation is astounding! The Lord did not suggest what might come to pass. The Lord did not show Woodruff what might happen. The Lord showed him exactly what would happen if polygamy did not stop. It is almost as if the Lord was giving President Woodruff a glimpse into a parallel universe where polygamy did not end. Could such a place really exist?
 


Comments

S.Faux

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 5:56:56 pm

OK, Dave C., just realize this:

In another parallel universe, I DID NOT write this comment. Still, in another universe, I DID write the comment, but I misspelled comment as comet. And, so it goes...

Remember what Joseph Smith said if we could gaze into heaven for five minutes (TPJS, p. 324). I am pretty sure, both scientifically and theologically, that both heaven and earth are stranger than we have ever imagined.

Besides, do we really think we understand the physics of "spirits?" Why, spirits may be like electrons -- hard to locate in space. I don't think we should let theological (or scientific) preconceptions tie us up too much. So, I am OK with parallel universes, but I will have to wait for the parallel universe in which I die to find out for sure.

By the way, how is it that Prof. Michio Kaku can skate so well (in the embedded video)? He does string theory math and ice skate spins! Life is not fair.

 

Allan

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 6:49:51 pm

just a thought; if our Heavenly Father has worlds without number,(moses 1:33-35) and their is no end of his glory and creations. It seems to me the plan and the things his children need to learn and experiance would be simular if not exactly the same. and since we all have choices, could it be that he was shown what happened on another world where they made diffrent choices? I don't believe that would exactly be parallel, but it is something to ponder...
or it could be simply that Heavenly Father could show him the results of other choices in vision, who knows?

 

Dave C.

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 7:59:35 pm

Hey, I was thinking about that 5 minute statement from JS last week. On page 419 it says that if we could look into heaven for 5 minutes we would learn more from that experience than reading all that has been written on the subject. There is something to be said for *experiencing* things - it provides knowledge that cannot be acquired through reading. I suspect science is a bit like that.

I think Kaku was showing off. "I'll do a video on parallel universes if you guy let me figure skate."

 

Dave C.

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 8:02:00 pm

Allan,

Hmm. Yes, perhaps Heavenly Father has seen the same sort of thing on other worlds. I suspect that history repeats itself over and over again on His worlds.

 

Stan

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 4:03:32 pm

Infinity is such a difficult concept for our "middle earth" minds. I believe it is within reason to say that with an infinite number of Universes, anything that can be happening is currently happening. This includes all the various pathways though my life journeys. Read that again carefully. If it can be happening it *is* happening. Meaning all the variations are a happening concurrently, and sequentially, and in various orders.

If it sounds weird, look at how many numbers are between 3.1 and 3.2... infinity. How many between 3.11 and 3.12... another infinity, and so on. Like I say, a difficult concept for our simple minds.

So here's an idea, has God experienced everything there is to experience? From every perspective, every angle, every sequence, every infinity? Ouch! I just blew something in my head. =:)

Btw, I think there is an infinite (play on words) disparity to say that there "is evidence for" as in "Recent evidence suggests that there may be multiple universes" and "science allows for" I don't think there is any evidence for multiple Universes, just that some theoretical frameworks allow for them to exist. Maybe that will change when the Hadron Collider fires up this fall! =:)

 

Mark D.

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 1:03:49 am

Strictly speaking, "parallel universe" is a contradiction in terms. That contradiction aside, if there is any interaction between multiple "universes", they are no longer multiple, but one. And if there is not any interaction, there is no possible way that either we or anyone else can know whether alternate "universes" exist or not.

 

Dave C.

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 1:36:06 pm

Stan,

Yes, we will see what happens this Fall. Let's just hope they don't create a black hole that will engulf the earth ;)

Mark,

Please tell us how parallel universes is a contradiction in terms. Some cosmologists are speculating that the Big Bang resulted from two parallel universes colliding/interacting.

 

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