Multiverse analysis, abdication of responsibility and manufacturing of doubt

Martin Modrák

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arXiv · 2607.14623

Multiverse analysis, abdication of responsibility and manufacturing of doubt

Martin Modrák

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Abstract

I argue that multiverse analysis is highly suited to two undesirable uses: abdication of researcher's responsibility for their conclusion and manufacturing of doubt. A review of multiverse analyses published in 2025 provides tentative empirical support that abdication of responsibility is present in the literature and I mention anecdotal evidence that multiverse has been used for manufacturing of doubt about Covid-19 precautions. To mitigate negative effects if multiverse analysis becomes widely used I suggest the community adopts two conventions for evaluating multiverse analyzes: evaluating multiverses by the single worst universe they contain and considering large size of a multiverse as a sign of weakness rather than a praiseworthy achievement.

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Martin Modrák. 2026-07-16. Multiverse analysis, abdication of responsibility and manufacturing of doubt. https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.14623

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