Many of us are technically trained and are used to numbers expressed in exponential form. Rather than saying "a hundred thousand", we could just as well say "ten to the fifth". Instead of 100,000, we could write 10^5 (borrowing from a computer notation rather than using a little 5 above and after the 10):
I wonder how many of us focus on the power of this notation. Just think. If the exponent is 2, we have about the number of people that can fit in a small sanctuary. Change it to 5, and we have about the number of people that can fit in a large stadium. Change the exponent to 9 or 10, and we have the number of people in the world. Such an apparently small change, with such a large effect. Another example. For the number of atoms of air in a room, the exponent is about 24. For the number of atoms in the universe, it is about 75, only three times higher. I recently read that if the universe, instead of being, on the average, essentially empty, were packed full of protons just touching one another, the exponent would be about 118, not even twice as high. This should not compromise our idea that the universe is awesomely large. Rather, it should focus our attention of the power of the exponential notation -- apparent small changes have huge effects.
What then of the possibility that the exponents themselves could become large? For the most part, science has had no need of this. Virtually anything that had relevance to things with which we might be concerned could be expressed with an exponent that is well under 100. But perhaps something larger might in some way be useful. Consider this notation: 10^(10^dexp), where "dexp" suggests "double exponent":
In words, "ten raised to the power ten to the dexp". If dexp is 0, the number is 10. If dexp is 1, the number is ten billion (10,000,000,000), more than the population of the world. If dexp is 2, the number is 10^100, way beyond the number of atoms in the universe. Raise dexp to 3 and ... ?
I commend to your attention a recent article on "Parallel Universes" in Scientific American(1). Herein we learn that Parallel Universes are "Not just a staple of science fiction, [sic] other universes are a direct implication of cosmological observations". Well "implication", what does that mean? On the other hand I have been aware of at least one relevant theory that suggested this since, I think, the sixties. The current article suggests that there are other theories that support this idea, and perhaps more scientists are giving them credence.
Some theories suggest the possibility that there is an infinite number of universes that differ from one another in small increments. Thus, in a sense, all things possible actually occur in one universe or another. For example, in another universe (Is this the one? I don't know yet.) you didn't get to read this article, because I was hit by a falling black hole before I got to post it. In all other respects, the entire universe is identical to this one. Where is this universe? According to the article it might be about 10^(10^92) meters away. But don't despair. If we don't require that the entire universe be otherwise identical, but instead require only that our region of the universe match, perhaps, and I am guessing, a mere 10^(10^30) meters might suffice.
What are the theological implications of this? Here are some preliminary thoughts. The above results are based on the assumption that universes with various material forms appear with equal likelihood. Assuming that good and evil are materially manifest, and assuming, furthermore, that it is possible to apply a value judgement to each material manifestation, then the probabilities of good and evil are also fixed. Therefore:
The concept of a multiverse raises some, at least, semantic issues. In my early days, I thought that "universe" meant "all that there is". The idea that there could be more than one of them would be a contradiction in terms. Obviously, at least in the realm of cosmology, "universe" has taken on a different meaning, and now "multiverse" means "all that there is". Or does it? As cosmologists describe the multiverse, the possibility may arise that there will appear to be something outside the multiverse. Another multiverse? Did you say turtles and elephants?