Transported Into Applesauce

I figure parallel universes have to exist.

There are so many what-ifs in life; there wouldn't be a point to being able to think about what-ifs unless there was some way they could all be validated. Consider all the times you've wondered, how would your life be different if you'd gone to this university? Moved to that place? Dated this person? All in place of your current university, location, significant other. And for each decision that changes, every subsequent decision could stay the same, or could change as well. The number of alternatives increases exponentially. Does it have to be set in stone?

It's really all just a game. In some other universe, maybe even just another world, there has to be an equivalent but opposite version of events taking place.

I think a lot of people decide not to believe in parallel universes not because of the supposed improbability of it all, or because of the ensuing God issue, but because it trivializes our lives. If there are multiple versions of us out there, each making different decisions and living completely different (similar?) lives, we cease to be unique. And uniqueness is one of the primary characteristics of being rational, conscious beings.

To the best of our knowledge and ability to understand, the universe is infinite. We have not yet found an 'edge' of the universe, nor does anyone have any worthwhile, legitimate theories about what is then beyond the 'edge'. We are incapable of viewing even a tiny percentage of the universe. What we can see, when we look at the horizon, is at most about 14 billion light years away, because that's how old the universe is estimated to be. Now change our reference frame; if we were on the most distant star in our visible universe, what would we see? What defines the visible universe from that point, from the 'edge' of our visible universe? We have no way of knowing how much farther it goes, or where it stops. Maybe it takes a turn at 50 billion, like a mountain highway. Maybe it drops for a few light years, like the edge of a cliff. But in all that space, even just to our horizon, doesn't it logically make sense to assume that there is an equally infinite (or finite, if you insist) number of possible states for us to exist in, rather than an infinite number of identical states? Also, these considerations are only spatial. The likelihood of all this, yet again, increases exponentially if we consider a greater number of dimensions that define reality, or if we consider time travel.

To an arthropod of your choice, the universe is likely limited to the area it travels throughout its life. Perhaps it does have some concept of existence, and maybe it has a sense of community. But beyond its own life, it can't encompass anything more. I think we are like that. We are the arthropods of the Earth. We understand our own existence relatively well (some of us do), and we pretend to be enlightened and have some knowledge of the universe around us. But really? We can't pretend to understand what we don't know exists.

So yah, I reckon parallel universes are a must have. Cause if this is the only version of life I get, there damn well better be another version of me out there somewhere who's doing a better job than I am.