The Anti-Scientific Argument for the Multiverse

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The work of a theoretical physicist will depend on whether or not there are regions far away where the cosmological constant takes on different values. You can't just say, well, I can't see those other universes, therefore I would ignore them. We play an explanatory role in what we actually do observe and this is not like tricky or subtle. So I don't think I don't buy the argument that the multiverse is intrinsically anti-scientific. In any way, I think that's just wrongheaded and bad philosophy.

Physics is in crisis, what else is new? That's what we hear in certain corners, anyway, usually pointed at "fundamental" physics of particles and fields. (Condensed matter and biophysics etc. are just fine.) In this solo podcast I ruminate on the unusual situation fundamental physics finds itself in, where we have a theoretical understanding that fits almost all the data, but which nobody believes to be the final answer. I talk about how we got here, and argue that it's not really a "crisis" in any real sense. But there are ways I think the academic community could handle the problem better, especially by making more space for respectable but minority approaches to deep puzzles.

Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2023/07/31/245-solo-the-crisis-in-physics/

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