Eerie, isn’t it? How humans have always wondered about reality as they know it but don’t really think about this reality not being their reality, infinite possibilities of different or even infinite realities, the fact that an outer reality might exist or maybe that there could be a concept of no reality at all.
But we can’t cover all of that here. Let’s start with something simple.
A lot of people have their theories about reality. Science brings out different possibilities but that’s not even close to the number of them out there or maybe even the concept of the actual reality.
The possibility of the Universe being created nearly 14 billion years ago could just be one of the possible realities that you’re living in (or maybe not). The notion of this universe not being finite could also be one of them. The limit to the perspective of the universe is finite because of the fact of it existing in the current state for a finite amount of time. Even while measuring the spatial curvature, there are no distinct set of properties that should be inherent to Big Bang’s leftover temperature being displayed; rather the pattern suggests it to be indistinguishable from being flat and infinitely large. This mostly rules out the possibility of the universe being a finite one.
The concept of the multiverse is no farther. The backing to this can be found from String Theory, which suggests the idea of the existence of 11 dimension which is 7 more (that are curled up) than the current 4 that we know of. String theory suggests the existence of theoretical one-dimensional objects called strings. The strings could consist of a whole universe in them or even more. Which could also have strings containing universes and eventually all of this is in a larger universe that is inside a string. So, when a string splits, the universe inside of it also splits forming two universes.
Another theory floats on – the Big Bang happened when two strings collided.
One can note that the core aspect of the physical world is based on the fact that nothing is located at any specific place. One of the theories has been that all possible outcomes do occur but only one of them plays out. Schrodinger’s equation proposes a solution but that doesn’t provide you with the absolute location rather the probability density of a particle being in a particular time-space because that’s what exists. Even to date, no one has found any flaws in Schrodinger’s equation but neither can they explain the causality of the implications perfectly.
Eventually, they agreed that many-worlds interpretation could be the coherent way to quantum mechanics as well. Impression of new universes constantly popping up raises questions like something being created out of nothing – which violates the most basic law of physics. So, it’s not like reality is being duplicated; rather you could think of a huge and thick reality being sliced into tiny pieces.
The universe could even be as large where we won’t even need another universe but the current universe could have all the possible combinations of particle arrangements that another world very similar to ours with a few differences could exist.
Apart from this, we have multiple other theories, like reality just being a Game or a Simulation. This suggests that you’re just a character in a game, a simulation, that’s being played out by something much larger from your comprehension. You might not exist at all.
There could also be the possibility of you being in a simulation currently and having another life outside of this simulation as well.
Another possibility comes up where what you deem of this universe or reality to be is just a figment of your imagination and all that is real is just you. I could go on and on about the theories that emerge but there won’t be an end. (You could go ahead and read up on Boltzmann’s brain if you want to know more about something very similar.)
In the end, you can never be sure of the reality you come to terms with because there’s always a possibility of something being other than it. Something far greater than what you think. Something further away from what you anticipate. You might not even know the meaning of your existence that you constantly are trying to find. You might not even exist in the actual reality. It’s like having an existential crisis but this time, it’s not about you alone, it’s about all the beings that exist in the reality you perceive to be real.
Until there’s the absolute certainty of what’s real, which is highly improbable, one can keep moving on with their lives because there’s also a possibility of this being the absolute truth as you know it and all the meaning that you carry remains.
Albert Einstein once said – “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”
That guy was a genius, at least in the reality most of us believe in – so, following his quote I say – persist; until a newer form of persistence is put forth of you.
Written by: Nikita Tiwari