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I agree that the multiverse is a bit over-hyped. However, some of the author's statements just rub me the wrong way: Science cannot resolve the existence of ei

by cygx 7y ago

I agree that the multiverse is a bit over-hyped. However, some of the author's statements just rub me the wrong way: Science cannot resolve the existence of either God or the multiverse, making agnosticism the only sensible position. Science also can't refute me being a brain in the vat, or the universe having been created last thursday with the appearance of age. It's not only ok to commit to beliefs that cannot be proven scientifically, it is necessary. Moreover, at a time when our world, the real world, faces serious problems, dwelling on multiverses strikes me as escapism—akin to billionaires fantasizing about colonizing Mars. Shouldn’t scientists do something more productive with their time? Why stop at the natural sciences? Let's get rid of all the useless parts of mathematics - or art and music, for that matter... If you restricted human endeavours to the utilitarian, the world would be poorer for it.

ludamad 7y ago
Huge pet peeve 'why think about this when humans are starving out there?'. Mainly because it's applicable in any situation (similar "Why do this instead of training useful job skills?")
coliveira 7y ago
> It's not only ok to commit to beliefs that cannot be proven scientifically, it is necessary. Exactly, most people never realize this because they're so used to nonsense like gods and such. There is an infinite number of assertions that cannot be proved or disproved, it doesn't mean that I have any reason to be agnostic about them.
elfexec 7y ago
> Moreover, at a time when our world, the real world, faces serious problems, dwelling on multiverses strikes me as escapism—akin to billionaires fantasizing about colonizing Mars. Shouldn’t scientists do something more productive with their time? Couldn't you say the same about the author of the article himself? Why is he whining about scientists investigating the multiverse theory rather than doing something more productive with his time? What real world problem was solved with his article? If multiverse theory is escapism, then what the author is doing is a worse form of escapism.
CuriouslyC 7y ago
Maybe the physicists who like to geek out on the multiverse would be less happy (after all, they're choosing to study this currently), but other people would be happier because the physicists were forced to work on something that benefitted society at large rather than a select few. Imagine there was a group of people who liked to meditate all day, every day (preferably at the beach, with a cold beer). Would you seriously argue that society should support these people in that, rather than push them to do something else to earn their keep? Note that meditating wouldn't be illegal, so they could still do it on their own time, they'd just need to have a day job.

by cygx 7y ago

ludamad 7y ago

Huge pet peeve 'why think about this when humans are starving out there?'. Mainly because it's applicable in any situation (similar "Why do this instead of training useful job skills?")

coliveira 7y ago

> It's not only ok to commit to beliefs that cannot be proven scientifically, it is necessary. Exactly, most people never realize this because they're so used to nonsense like gods and such. There is an infinite number of assertions that cannot be proved or disproved, it doesn't mean that I have any reason to be agnostic about them.

elfexec 7y ago

> Moreover, at a time when our world, the real world, faces serious problems, dwelling on multiverses strikes me as escapism—akin to billionaires fantasizing about colonizing Mars. Shouldn’t scientists do something more productive with their time? Couldn't you say the same about the author of the article himself? Why is he whining about scientists investigating the multiverse theory rather than doing something more productive with his time? What real world problem was solved with his article? If multiverse theory is escapism, then what the author is doing is a worse form of escapism.

CuriouslyC 7y ago

Maybe the physicists who like to geek out on the multiverse would be less happy (after all, they're choosing to study this currently), but other people would be happier because the physicists were forced to work on something that benefitted society at large rather than a select few. Imagine there was a group of people who liked to meditate all day, every day (preferably at the beach, with a cold beer). Would you seriously argue that society should support these people in that, rather than push them to do something else to earn their keep? Note that meditating wouldn't be illegal, so they could still do it on their own time, they'd just need to have a day job.