Instigator / Pro
4
1417
rating
27
debates
24.07%
won
Topic
#3414

A multiverse doesn't exist

Status
Finished

The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.

Winner & statistics
Better arguments
0
3
Better sources
2
2
Better legibility
1
1
Better conduct
1
1

After 1 vote and with 3 points ahead, the winner is...

Novice
Parameters
Publication date
Last updated date
Type
Standard
Number of rounds
3
Time for argument
Two days
Max argument characters
10,000
Voting period
One week
Point system
Multiple criterions
Voting system
Open
Contender / Con
7
1597
rating
22
debates
65.91%
won
Description

Rules:

* Follow website terms of service
* Don't commit these fallacies listed here: https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/
* Make sure to read all the links the opponent offers
* If you fail to follow the following rules, then your arguments shall be weakened
* If you can't follow the rules, then you already lost before the debate ended
* I, the creator of the rules am also under these rules.

Other rules that you wouldn't be penalized for

* Try to respond as fast as possible, though it's okay of life slows you down
* Try to make arguments as short as possible
* Try to make arguments readable
* Try to be as clear as possible
* other similar tips

Criterion
Pro
Tie
Con
Points
Better arguments
3 point(s)
Better sources
2 point(s)
Better legibility
1 point(s)
Better conduct
1 point(s)
Reason:

It's difficult to judge this one because almost the entirety of Pro's argument is contained to R1 and consists of a series of short if/then statements and questions (I'll get to Pro's R2, but his R3 is just a summary of his argument), whereas Con's argument is also contained to R1 with a set of rebuttals to Pro's R1 in R3, which means most of what I'll be covering is in R1. I understand that there were issues posting R2 that led to that dropped round, so I'll abstain from awarding conduct, but it's difficult for me to weigh those rebuttals in this debate when Pro doesn't get a chance to address them.

Still, I don't think I have to do so. Con presents a case in R1 where he examines how cosmic inflation generates subspaces or bubbles in spacetime that could conceivably be defined as their own separate universes. Whether these can be defined as separate universes is an open question, one I thought Pro would seek to answer in R2. However, Pro doesn't engage with this at all, instead claiming that Con is guilty of the Gambler's Fallacy, which might be a decent point if Pro had taken the time to point out why Con's case violates some of the points he made in R1, though in the absence of that, he's leaving it to voters to decide whether Con's case violates those points. So, let's say I ignore Con's rebuttals in R3. While some of these R1 points might function as absolute rejections of the possibility of multiverses, to do that, I'd need more than just an assertion that these are physical impossibilities. I'd need evidence, calculations, studies, something more than just a set of potential logical problems that could potentially affect all multiverses. There's an ontological point in here that doesn't require that kind of support, but it does require Pro to provide good reason why we should define what is a universe in this manner. Con doesn't provide a direct definition of universe, but his argument implicitly contradicts all three of these definitions. I need to see a response to that, or at least something from Pro that makes a big deal out of how the universe should be defined and why that rejects Con's arguments. Absent that, all I have is the assertion from R1, which was contradicted by Con's argument in R1, so... essentially, nothing.

The other argument Pro provides in R2 is Occam's Razor, and this isn't going to be enough to give him the debate for two reasons. One, in his listing of assumptions, he doesn't tackle the evidence from Con's R1. That's a problem because his whole argument about how we came to a heliocentric view is built on evidence that contradicted the geocentric view. This is an important piece of evidence in the debate, one that supports a multiverse and would contradict Pro's model of a single universe. Pro, in ignoring it, violates the very reasoning he uses to establish how Occam's Razor works. Two, Occam's Razor can really only tell us that what is the preferred theory when presented with a given set of data. It isn't capable of supporting absolute claims like the one in the resolution. It can tell us that it's far less likely that a multiverse exists than does a single universe, and if I'm buying this argument, then that's my take-away. However, that doesn't affirm the resolution, so even if I buy it wholesale, it cannot independently lead me to vote Pro.

All this being said, Con has a case for a multiverse on the table that gets dropped. His responses in R3 are valid, but unnecessary as Pro's case is all pre-rebuttal or rebuttal that just ignores Con's case entirely. Pro is the one proving the absolute, not Con. Con provides evidence that there could be a multiverse, and given that it is unaddressed, it affords him some likelihood of being right. I vote Con.