This is a highly speculative thought experiment
Is there a finite upper bound to the computation power of reality?
If David Deutsch’s many-worlds interpretation is correct, quantum computers leverage computation power from parallel universes. A quantum computer with 1 million qubits would theoretically use 2^1 million parallel universes—an unimaginably large number.
If we live in a finite multiverse, what happens when we exceed its capacity?
There are five possibilities:
- Quantum computers don’t work as Deutsch suggests
- The many-worlds interpretation is incorrect (making this irrelevant)
- The many-worlds interpretation is correct, with infinite universes or infinite scaling
- There is a finite upper limit, but there is a protective computational ceiling
- There is an unprotected, finite upper limit to the number of universes
In the fifth scenario, what happens if we reach or exceed the multiverse’s computational capacity?
Perhaps its something benign: the quantum computer decoheres and stops working, performance plateaus, or it simply starts behaving classically.
But maybe, just maybe, something stranger happens.
Could an overwhelmed multiverse start glitching? Could reality slow down? Crash and restart?
Perhaps we won’t have to wait very long to find out…