Misleading?

A direct link to the above video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOKWRumSgkY This continues a discussion of ten proposed reasons for why critics of Imagining the Tenth Dimension are saying people shouldn't watch my videos. See part 1 here. See part 2 here. See part 3 here. See part 4 here. See part 5 here. See part 6 here. See part 7 here. See part 8 here. See part 9 here.


Reason #10: Because it's misleading.
In his newest video "The True Science of Parallel Universes", Henry Reich of MinutePhysics says this: "Everyone loves the idea of parallel universes... But is there really a place in science for such wistful speculation?" In his video he shows us three different kinds of multiverse that have been proposed, reinforcing in each case that these are "speculative and experimentally unconfirmed models". He even dismisses each theory with a graphic of a cute diploma which states that each demonstrates a "lack of rigorous comparison with reality". He concludes his video with these words: "...as always we must remember that physics is science, not philosophy. And in our attempts to explain the universe that we observe we have to make claims that can in principle be tested... and then test them."

I've remarked before in this series that some physicists do not believe in the existence of extra dimensions so for them my project is nonsense even before they begin to watch my approach. "String theory and extra dimensions are not science", they will say, "because of the lack of verifiable predictions". But I believe it's important to remember that there is much about our universe which is not yet understood, and these theories which Henry dismisses as "wistful speculation" have been developed as part of the attempt to find explanations for these mysteries. Why is 95.5% of our universe undetectable dark matter and dark energy? Why does the currently accepted big bang theory predict that our universe should contain so much more lithium-7 than it actually does? And why, as physicist Raphael Bousso has been quoted to say, do "our finest theories predict that empty space should contain about 10 to the power of 123 times more energy than it actually does"?

In fact, one might watch Henry's video and be led to conclude that there is very little support within mainstream science for these explorations of the multiverse, parallel universes, and extra dimensions, and because of that I find his video somewhat misleading. But since "misleading" is one of the criticisms he has leveled at my project multiple times in multiple venues, this leads me to to ask: in what way have I been misleading people? I have always been honest about the nature of this project, and my goal remains the same: I have a way to help you hold in your mind something that many will tell you is impossible to imagine: the "ultimate ensemble", as Max Tegmark calls it. The Landscape Multiverse, as Brian Greene refers to it in his latest book. The underlying information that becomes reality, as quantum physics experts like Lloyd and Zeilinger describe it. The "Omniverse", as I've often called it with my project, and as Gevin Giorbran called it with his.

Once you hold that idea in your mind, will you understand the math? Of course not. But it will be a start, and if you want to learn more about the hard science that lies behind these biggest picture of all ideas, I encourage you to do so. Even if you have no intention of becoming a scientist, I hope that my project has awakened your curiosity, opened you up to new possibilities, given you some mental food to chew on that expanded the horizons of your imagination. There is so much more out there beyond the here and now we see around us, endlessly fascinating implications that we are exploring with this project. So no matter what you do, please be sure to "enjoy the journey", as I always like to say.

Thanks for watching!

Rob Bryanton