What is a Parallel Universe Or Alternate Reality?

In today's world, a parallel universe (alternate reality) is a scientifically respectable concept. The purpose of this page is not to provide a complete discourse on the subject, but to point out to those of you in the must-see-it-and-touch-it camp, that in this area, science and spirituality are converging.

Although it would seem to be a daunting subject for public consumption, there's been two recent documentaries - PBS television in the USA aired a three hour miniseries - The Elegant Universe, and the recently released (and to my mind unexpectedly successful) film - What the Bleep Do We Know.

Advances in two fields:
- Quantum Physics - the physics of sub-atomic particles, and
- Cosmology - astronomy/astrophysics in a macro view of the universe
have shed new light on how mind interacts with matter, and suggest that we interact with multiple unverses . Physicists are proposing that every quantum jump-point generates at least one other alternate reality.

"Scientists now believe there may really be a parallel universe - in fact, there may be an infinite number of parallel universes, and we just happen to live in one of them. These other universes contain space, time and strange forms of exotic matter. Some of them may even contain you, in a slightly different form. Astonishingly, scientists believe that these parallel universes exist less than one millimetre away from us. In fact, our gravity is just a weak signal leaking out of another universe into ours."
BBC Two, February 14 2002

"Parallel universes - not just a staple of science fiction - are a direct implication of cosmological observations. Is there a copy of you reading this article? ...But perhaps he or she now decides to put down this article without finishing it, while you read on. The idea of such an alter ego seems strange and implausible, but it looks as if we will just have to live with it, because it is supported by astronomical observations. ... There are infinitely many other inhabited planets, including not just one but infinitely many that have people with the same appearance, name and memories as you, who play out every possible permutation of your life choices."
Max Tegmark in Scientific American

“There is no one reality. Each of us lives in a separate universe. That's not speaking metaphorically. This is the hypothesis of the stark nature of reality suggested by recent developments in quantum physics. Reality in a dynamic universe is non-objective. Consciousness is the only reality.”
M. R. Franks in The Universe and Multiple Reality

As time progresses, it is my intent to add more links here to various scientific articles. If you'd like to pursue the scientific discourse on this subject, you can read more about quantum physics and a parallel universe in this article in www.newscientist.com.