xOrthodox4Christx said:
I'm told that, in an alternate universe, any number of possibilities can theoretically exist. Therefore, there is a universe where Orthodoxy is naught. What religion would you follow if Orthodoxy didn't exist?
This is based on the "many worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics, wherein for each quantum event with two outcomes, instead of the system resolving itself to one of the two possibilities upon being observed (remember, before it is observed, both states exist in superposition, for example, the electron of an atom is both spin up and spin down until you observe it, which causes it to resolve into the observed state, something we call decoherence), two alternate universes or realities are created, one where the event happened and one where it did not (see Schrodinger's Cat).
So, the electron in the many worlds interpretation, when it is observed, results in the universe sort of branching into two new universes, one where the electron is spin up, and one where it is spin down.
Or if we take the Schrodinger's Cat experiment, when the door to the gas chamber where the cat may or may not have been killed based on a quantum event occurring one way or another, in the new universe A the cat is alive, and in universe B, the cat is dead. (Of course, Schrodinger's Cat is a pure thought experiment; you can't actually do that because the cat, or indeed any non-quantum matter governed by classical physics, if it interacts with the quantum system, "observes" or "measures" it and thus decoherence occurs). See: the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.
Now, with the many worlds interpretation, you have to remember that each new world created by the outcome of a quantum system decohering must be both physically possible, and also, observable. So this means, there would be no universe where the speed of light is 1 MPH or the suns in a galaxy turn out to be giant lemons. Each new world also has to be observable, so there is theoretically no alternate universe where the Big Bang did not occur, since without the Big Bang, you have a singularity with no events, and thus no meaningful time, and therefore no "observation" (nor could we say I think at this point that the Singularity was ever in a coherent quantum state).
Some physicists assert that if our universe exists in a false vacuum, if the many worlds or certain other interpretations of quantum mechanics hold true, the theoretically possible universe-ending event where the bubble "pops" and our universe resolves to a true vaccum, a vacuum metastability event, would be impossible, because such an event could not be observed, by virtue of destroying all matter governed by classical physics and therefore precluding decoherence into such a scenario.
So, because the physics of many worlds dictate that each universe must be physically possible to exist, and observable, I would propose two answers to your question: either such a universe would be impossible or devoid of all human life, because rhe incarnation of our Lord is physically required for the existence of humanity, or, if in fact the incarnation of our Lord is not physically required for the existence of the human race, God would save the people in that universe on the basis of the Scholastic idea of Invincible Ignorance.
Orthodox theology never formalized the idea of Invincible Ignorance, but I think it is valid, in that it reconciles the infinite love of God with the simple fact that not everyone since the Incarnation has had access to the Gospel. Since we believe our Lord preached to those in Hades and offered them salvation, Him offering salvation to those with no physical access to or ability to join His church is reasonable. The idea of invincible ignorance also does not require us to embrace the dreadful heresy of monergism: the two alternatives are to say that God automatically saves everyone (which is universalism, and thus monergism), or that God foreordains some, including, in your scenario, entire universes, to damnation, which is the horrific doctrine of John Calvin and his extreme application of monergism.
However, before we even make recourse to the theology I proposed above, I would like to again suggest that according to God's will, which dictates physical laws, humans might not be able to exist in any universe without God becoming Incarnate through the person of His Son, our Lord, the uncreated Logos. The Logos, Jesus Christ, would exist in and also beyond all universes, since there is one God, everywhere present, who fillest all things, according to our liturgy. So I propose that if there are multiple universes, those without our Lord and His Church, which is integral to Him, do not actually exist owing to be unobservable.
One final point: the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is not universally adhered to; the Standard or Copenhagen Interpretation is the most commonly used for didactic and research purposes. Many worlds is simply a widely held idea among physicists.
Its kind of cool, and can lead to interesting and fun science fiction, although most sci fi dealing with the theme ignores the fact that transit between any of the parallel universes is deemed completely, fundamentally impossible. But so is FTL, Warp Drive the way Star Trek and Star Wars depict it, so one can still have some fun with the concept in sci fi provided one recognizes that one has at that point crossed over into the fictional side of the sci fi coin. An alternate universe story where there is no travel between the universes however is a plausible extrapolation of the theory.
So that's my scientific and theological take on your question.
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