How is the Universe Like a Deck of Cards?

Question: How is the universe like a deck of cards?

Answer: Both can be shuffled.

In a recent interview on NPR's show Fresh Air, physicist Brian Greene says, "...if you shuffle [a deck of cards], there's just so many orderings that can happen... If you shuffle that deck enough times, the orders will have to repeat. Similarly, with an infinite universe and only a finite number of complexions of matter, the way in which matter arranges itself has to repeat."

So, according to this, right now I am sitting at my desk watching my neighbor across the street shovel his driveway. And at the same time, I am sitting on a tropical beach with a strawberry daiquiri. (Although, I have to wonder how I got stuck with the snow...) So which reality is the real one? Well, the problem is that each person in each reality thinks that hers is the genuine thing.
Dr. Greene's hypotheses are fascinating and, according to him, not part of fringe thinking, but ideas that are becoming more accepted by the scientific community. Just like Copernicus shook up the world by stating that the earth is not the center of the universe, so too, Greene believes that the multiverse hypothesis will shake up our notions of our universe being the only universe.
But for me, anyway, knowing that there are other universes out there is interesting. But I'd like to be able to find my way to that tropical beach and strawberry daiquiri.
If you're interested in learning more on this topic, you can read an excerpt of Greene's book, The Hidden Realty .
Also, here's the fascinating NPR interview with Dr. Greene. (NOTE: if you don't see the interview, you can click on the back arrow until it appears.)
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Photo credit: allison m10