If a grand multiverse contains everything that’s possible, it ends up explaining nothing. On a new episode of ID the Future, physicist Brian Miller concludes his conversation with mathematician Elie Feder and physicist Aaron Zimmer, hosts of the Physics to God podcast, about their unique formulation of the fine-tuning argument and their rigorous examination of the multiverse hypothesis.

In Part 2, Feder and Zimmer explain in detail three premises they use to critically evaluate the strength of multiverse theories. They contend that if a multiverse model posits infinite universes, each with its own different laws of nature, it’s a multiverse that hasn’t solved the fine-tuning problem. To properly evaluate multiverse proposals, a third premise is needed: one that can explain the typicality of our universe. To illustrate their insight, Feder and Zimmer delive into the Boltzmann brain problem and the measure problem, highlighting how these challenges render multiverse hypotheses incapable of explaining the specialness of our universe and the likelihood of intelligent observers like us. 

Feder and Zimmer also touch on their decades of Talmudic study, a rigorous approach to reasoning and argumentation that helped equip them to assess the soundness of multiverse theories. Says Feder: “We feel we are well prepared to be able to study God’s universe by studying God’s story.”

Download the podcast or listen to it here. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Listen to Part 1.

Dig Deeper

• Listen to the Physics to God podcast to learn more about evidence for fine-tuning and the arguments against the multiverse.
• Go deeper into the history of the multiverse idea with this recent ID the Future episode.