Life, Death, And Finance In The Cosmic Multiverse

The idea of parallel worlds seems like the stuff of science fiction. Yet, most leading cosmological theories suggest that the universe is vast enough to contain multiple copies of everything, including multiple copies of you. The existence of the “multiverse” may account for why the parameters of physics seem highly fine-tuned to support life and why the earth has escaped so many existential threats – major asteroid strikes, World War III, a more deadly strain of Covid, etc. The resulting survival bias helps explain why stocks have historically performed so well. Randomness is an illusion. Everything that could possibly happen to the stock market over the next 12 months will happen. As an investor, the best you can do is estimate the relative frequencies of various outcomes, as given by the Born Rule for quantum mechanics. Subjectively, you will feel immortal. When life-threatening events occur, it will always seem as though you miraculously pull through. This has major implications for financial decisions, not to mention how you live your life and see the world.