Question:

I want to ask you some questions about quantum mechanics, cause I know that’s your specialization.

1. I’ve read about the many-worlds interpretation and am wondering if it is true, and if it’s true then would this interpretation deny God’s existence?
2. I’ve also read about many-minds interpretation, but I am still confused about its meaning, could you please explain it to me and tell me too, would this interpretation deny God’s existence?

Answer:

I assume you are talking about the multiverse theory.  This idea is so speculative that it barely even deserves the label scientific theory.  A good scientific theory, but definition, is a thing which can be refuted by a conceivable experiment and one which can be confirmed by experiment.  The multiverse speculation (I am not calling it a theory on purpose) is neither testable by experiment nor refutable by experiment.  Therefore it is really more a philosophy than a theory.  Any completely untestable and unrefutable idea should be considered speculation and philosophy more than science.  I am fully convinced that this “theory” was invented more to defend atheism than due to any experimental imperative.  It was invented because of the incredible level of apparent design in the universe we live in.  To explain this design would take a lot of writing here which I do not have time for.  Please get a copy of my book “Is There a God?” from www.ipibooks.com so you can see a thorough treatment of the idea of design in the universe. Let me just say that the properties of the physical universe are “fine tuned” to a level of precision that is beyond even our comprehension. The idea that this perfect universe happened by accident is utter nonsense.  It is fantastically obvious that this is not a coincidence and that our universe was designed.

What do atheists do about this?  They invented the multiverse “theory” to explain the fantastic luckiness that is our universe.  They speculate that there are an infinite number of universes and we happen to live in the lucky one.  This is sheer speculation and should be recognized for what it is–an ad hoc theory, invented to explain away design rather than produced because of any evidence which requires it.

Nevertheless, even if the multiverse speculation were true, it still would not disprove God.  All it would do is remove one of the many, many reasons to believe in God–that our universe is so incredibly well designed.  It would not remove the other arguments for the existence of God, such as the moral argument or the cosmological or the ontological argument, never mind all the evidence for the inspiration of the Bible and the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus.  I am attaching some notes on the various arguments for the existence of God.   Existence of God

So, even if we allow for the quantum mechanical idea of the multiverse speculation to be true, this would be far from disproving God.  It would simply very slightly undermine one of the many arguments for the existence of God, but it would do literally nothing to disprove the existence of God.

About the many-minds idea, this is such utter speculation that it really is entirely in the realm of philosophy.  You would do well to not give this idea a moment of your time, except to read it as a fun thing to think about, but not to take seriously.  This is a thing of speculative fantasy and of esoteric philosophy.  Science fiction and fantasy writers love to play with the idea, and it makes for fun reading, but it is not a concept with even the slightest connection with reality.  You and I are individual entities.  Really, this idea is coming more from a Buddhist or perhaps a Hindu worldview than it is coming from science.  I do not believe that any mainstream scientists, be they deist, theist or atheist takes this idea seriously as a scientific concept.

John Oakes