Stephen Hawking had for many years considered the idea that “black holes are birthing centers for Star Trek phenomena like wormholes, time tunnels and multiple universes.”
You could stuff any concept you wanted into a black hole. But in 2004, he turned on the idea:
Speaking at an international conference in Dublin, Ireland, Hawking said that he was wrong about his 30-year assertion that material entering a black hole leaves our universe…
Dr. Hawking said his new calculations debunk what he and others had speculated. In a dream-squashing conclusion, Hawking emphasized, “I’m sorry to disappoint science fiction fans, but if [mass and energy] is preserved [as required by the laws of physics] there is no possibility of using black holes to travel to other universes.”
His peers were unsettled. Reflecting the thoughts of many in the audience, University of Chicago physicist Robert Wald responded, “He’s running away from what we still believe.” The angst in Wald’s remark is palpable.
Stephen Hawking’s announcement was a warning that the multiverse and, with it, philosophical naturalism is in trouble. Regis Nicoll, “The Day Stephen Hawking Unsettled His Atheist Peers” at Crisis magazine
No question, naturalism (nature is all there is), often called “materialism,” is in trouble. On many fronts. Whether it’s the multiverse in physics or Darwinism in biology or any number of things in between, things aren’t working out like they were supposed to.
Just as well for science. The multiverse is science’s assisted suicide. Looks like the Samaritans are still answering their phone.
See also: Sabine Hossenfelder on the flight from falsifiability Hossenfelder is right to be concerned. Some cosmologists would like to dump falsifiability as a criterion. If they could, they would remove an obstacle to demanding public belief in ideas like the multiverse, ideas that cannot be falsified.
and
How naturalism rots science from the head down