X-Message-Number: 14835
Date: Fri, 03 Nov 2000 11:49:16 -0700
From: Mike Perry <>
Subject: Multiverse Not Horrible

Bob Ettinger, #14828:

>As I have said before, I earnestly hope the Multiverse is not factual, since 
it seems to imply that everything "possible" happens, and almost everything 
"possible" is horrible. Let's hope there is indeed, as Prof. Rothwarf says, 
just one universe. 

I devote a chapter (no. 11 to be exact) of my book to "Will the Good
Prevail?" and conclude it probably will, in the multiverse, even though
horrible scenarios are allowed. I don't really see how almost everything
possible is (probably) horrible. A case might be made that almost every
possible universe will not support sentient life at all, but this would not
be at all horrible--who would be hurt by it? As for the universes that would
and do support advanced, sentient life-forms, though we don't have much to
go on except our one planet here, we can reasonably conjecture that said
life-forms will be looking out for their own interests, so this alone would
be a counterweight to any tendencies toward a horrible outcome. I don't see
why we would have to conclude that most likely such beings would suffer a
terrible fate, given that they would be using their advancing ingenuity to
avoid such a fate. Here on Earth I am impressed by the tendencies of our
civilization to solve the problems that confront it, despite some horrific
missteps. I think the world is definitely getting to be a better place
overall, as medical and other advances occur and we seem to be getting
visibly closer to the conquest of aging (also the perfection of reversible
cryopreservation). Again, having little else to go on, I would imagine that
intelligent civilizations elsewhere would make the same sort of advances, as
a rule. So there is ground for optimism about reality as a whole, if some
form of the multiverse idea is correct.

Mike Perry

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