The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos

by Brian Greene

In principle, then—and make no mistake, my point here is one of principle—the mere invocation of inaccessible universes does not consign a proposal to stand outside science. To amplify this, imagine that one day we assemble a convincing experimental and observational case for string theory. Perhaps a future accelerator is able to detect sequences of string vibrational patterns and evidence for extra dimensions, while astronomical observations detect stringy features in the microwave background radiation, as well as the signatures of long stretched strings undulating through space. Suppose further that our understanding of string theory has progressed substantially, and we’ve learned that the theory absolutely, positively, incontrovertibly generates the Landscape Multiverse. Notwithstanding calls to the contrary, a theory with strong experimental and observational support, whose internal structure requires a multiverse, would lead us to conclude inexorably that the time for “giving in” had arrived.*

These are some of the most tortured intellectual gymnastics I've ever had the privilege to see.