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The Mathematical Multiverse and the Meta-Measure Problem - S2:E11

Release Date: 02/02/2025

Physics to God

This episode can be seen as a stand-alone summary of our analysis and rejection of the multiverse, or as a review of the main points of this season. It’s perfect for anyone interested in understanding why the multiverse fails but doesn’t have the stamina to listen to the whole season. You can find a written version of the episode . We also just released the first episode of the complete Season 2 about Multiverse on our . Some points we discuss in this episode include: The Fine Tuning Argument, Three Premises of Multiverse, Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, Eternal Inflation,...

Penrose’s Conformal Cyclic Cosmology (CCC) - S2:E16

Physics to God

This episode examines physicist Roger Penrose's extremely wild and imaginative theory for explaining the ridiculously improbable order of the Big Bang without invoking an intelligent cause. Penrose describes the tremendous problem of explaining the unlikely Big Bang as follows: In order to produce a universe resembling the one in which we live, the Creator would have to aim for an absurdly tiny volume of the phase space of possible universes – about 1/10^10^123 of the entire volume...This is an extraordinary figure. One could not possibly even write the number down in full... When Penrose...

Cyclic Universes and Bouncing Cosmology - S2:E15

Physics to God

Our universe’s initial state was incredibly unlikely, and if it were even slightly different, nothing would exist except for black holes. This episode discusses physicist Paul Steinhardt’s theory of Bouncing Cosmology which attempts to explain this unlikely beginning without requiring either an infinite varied multiverse or an intelligent cause. This theory is so wild and imaginative that we really had to struggle to come up with analogies to make it understandable to everyone. But we did. And these might just be our best analogies yet. Timestamps: 0:00 - Opening 1:34 - Introduction 4:35 -...

Cosmological Natural Selection - S2:E14

Physics to God

Biologist Richard Dawkins, in his book, The Blind Watchmaker, wrote the following: The theory of evolution by cumulative natural selection is the only theory we know of that is, in principle, capable of explaining the existence of organized complexity. Even if the evidence did not favour it, it would still be the best theory available. In this episode, we discuss physicist Lee Smolin’s attempt to extend natural selection from biology and apply it to the cosmos as a whole in order to explain fine tuning in physics. We start by discussing black holes and baby universes and end with what Smolin...

Is Multiverse Science? - S2:E13

Physics to God

Multiverse scientists deviate from the longstanding scientific method, grounded in predictions and observations, by positing infinitely many unobservable parallel universes to explain fine tuning. They have subtly switched to a mathematically formulated philosophical theory about an infinite multiverse to explain the fine tuning of our one ordered universe. This episode justifies why the multiverse is not science, and supports this assertion through the words of prominent scientists who attempt to defend the esteem of science from the multiverse’s corrosive effects. Timestamps: 0:00 -...

Philosophical and Scientific Methods for Multiverse - S2:E12

Physics to God

The scientific method has been the key to the great success of science over the past 300 years, and it’s incredibly important to distinguish it from the philosophical method. You probably learned about the scientific method in 5th grade, and might be surprised we’re doing an episode on it. But times are changing. There’s now a serious controversy in the scientific community about whether it’s time to change the definition of science to accommodate the multiverse under the banner of science. That’s a truly shocking development. In this episode, we present a clear formulation...

The Mathematical Multiverse and the Meta-Measure Problem - S2:E11

Physics to God

If you thought multiverse scientists have difficulty explaining the fine tuning of the constants without God, you won’t believe the trouble they have explaining away the designed laws of nature. The mathematical multiverse solution to the design of the laws is so outlandish it makes a standard multiverse look tame by comparison. It’s really the ultimate multiverse theory - and it runs directly into the ultimate meta-measure problem. Timestamps: 0:00 - Opening 1:27 - Introduction 4:04 - The Mathematical Universe Hypothesis 8:42 - Evidence for the Mathematical Multiverse 10:33 - Are Simple...

The Multiverse’s Measure Problem - S2:E10

Physics to God

In an infinite multiverse, the need to calculate if our universe is typical leads directly to the devastating three-layered measure problem: ad hoc measures are bad ideas to begin with, all intuitive measures don’t work, and even if multiverse scientists were to find a contrived measure that did work, it would beg the question of what fine tuned and designed it? While multiverse theory is plagued by many issues, the measure problem is unique. It conclusively demonstrates the multiverse’s failure to explain fine tuning and, for that matter, to explain anything at all. Once you understand...

Infinities and Measures - S2:E9

Physics to God

In previous episodes, we discussed the multiverse's sole "prediction" that we are typical observers in a typical universe. However, this ignored the major problem that it doesn't seem possible for an infinite varied multiverse to use probabilities to make any prediction whatsoever because there are an infinite number of copies of every possible universe! To get around this problem, multiverse scientists use something called measures to compute probabilities in an infinite multiverse and then determine what a typical universe looks like. They thereby attempt to rescue multiverse theory from the...

Boltzmann Brain and Grand Universe Problems - S2:E8

Physics to God

The Boltzmann Brain problem – the multiverse's prediction that you are a randomly fluctuated brain with false memories – sounds like a ridiculous problem. In a sense, it is. But it's nevertheless a major challenge for the multiverse which claims we are typical observers. The Grand Universe problem – the sheer splendor and grandeur of our immense universe – likewise presents a significant question for the multiverse’s claim that our universe is typical. These problems cast serious doubt on the multiverse’s third premise – that we are typical observers in a typical universe with...

More Episodes

If you thought multiverse scientists have difficulty explaining the fine tuning of the constants
without God, you won’t believe the trouble they have explaining away the designed laws of
nature. The mathematical multiverse solution to the design of the laws is so outlandish it makes
a standard multiverse look tame by comparison. It’s really the ultimate multiverse theory - and it
runs directly into the ultimate meta-measure problem.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Opening

1:27 - Introduction

4:04 - The Mathematical Universe Hypothesis

8:42 - Evidence for the Mathematical Multiverse

10:33 - Are Simple Laws of Nature Typical?

14:02 - Another Designed Measure

14:00 - The Meta-Measure Problem

19:55 - The Difference between Science and Mathematics

24:33 - The Relationship between Science and Mathematics

27:10 - Why Science Needs God

Get essay versions of all episodes in Season 1: Intelligent Cause and Season 2: Analyzing & Rejecting Multiverse