George F. R. Ellis is a Templeton Prize-winning cosmologist, mathematician, and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Complex Systems at Cape Town University. He also co-authored The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time with another acclaimed cosmologist, the late Stephen Hawking. Regarding the possibility of a multiverse, Ellis observed
…that no possible astronomical observations can ever see those other universes. The arguments are indirect at best. And even if the multiverse exists, it leaves the deep mysteries of nature unexplained… I am skeptical about this claim. I do not believe the existence of those other universes has been proved—or ever could be…. Parallel universes may or may not exist; the case is unproved. We are going to have to live with that uncertainty. Nothing is wrong with scientifically based philosophical speculation, which is what multiverse proposals are. But we should name it for what it is” (“Does the Multiverse Really Exist?” Scientific American, August 2011, emphasis added).
Researchers are nowhere near an answer to the multiverse question. In his most recent book, Dr. Rees also stated, “We may, by the end of this century, be able to ask whether or not we live in a multiverse, and how much variety its constituent ‘universes’ display” (On the Future p. 186, emphasis added). But is it necessary for the world to wait until “the end of this century” to admit the high probability that our universe has a designer?
Canadian philosopher John Leslie wrote that if he faced a 50-man firing squad, he would not be around later to consider the fact that each of its members had missed him unless they all missed him! But if they all missed, and he did survive the experience, he would naturally conclude that there was a reason why they had missed, and he might want to know that reason. When looking at our “finely tuned” universe, a rational person considers the possibility that it was created. In light of the fact that the alternative to a designed universe is—in the words of famous cosmologists—“scientifically based philosophical speculation,” a “tentative hypothesis,” and “unproved,” it seems irrational to preemptively reject the idea that our universe was designed, as so many do. Ironically, when presented with facts that challenge their personal beliefs, people who present themselves as devoted to reason can be very irrational.