Another universe-creation mechanism, proposed by Lee Smolin, involves mutating and sprouting new universes through black holes rather than through inflation. This would produce a Level II multiverse as well, with natural selection favoring universes with maximal black-hole production. My friend Andrew Hamilton from Chapter 4 may have uncovered such a universe-creation mechanism: he’s investigated an instability that occurs inside black holes shortly after they form, and it may be violent enough to trigger inflation that would create a Level I multiverse—which would be entirely contained inside
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