By Robin Weaver
I like my smart phone. I’m also fond of Google, and GPS—in the past I tended to get lost. A lot. I like microwaves, ordering online, and movie theaters with recliners. Imaging a time without drive-thru vanilla lattes, internet banking, and cute little SUVs makes me feel a tad queasy.
I like my smart phone. I’m also fond of Google, and GPS—in the past I tended to get lost. A lot. I like microwaves, ordering online, and movie theaters with recliners. Imaging a time without drive-thru vanilla lattes, internet banking, and cute little SUVs makes me feel a tad queasy.
So why would I want to live in another time? As my friend
Lorraine says, “I don’t want to live in another time unless it’s a book and I
can stop reading it.”
As for place… I love sunshine. This area gets 218 days of
brightness a year. I hate shoveling snow—we get one, maybe two storms per year.
And everything shuts down so we can play.
So basically, I’m content. Well, almost... I have made a few choices I’d like to revisit.
So what do bad decisions have to do with another place
and time? It’s possible (if highly theoretical) that I can make different choices
in another place and time—or in a parallel universe.
Say what?
Other theories deviate and suggest the other worlds are
entirely different and don’t even have the same laws of physics. As with any
theory, opinions differ. Not all physicists believe other universes exist at
all. And of those that do believe, most don’t think contact between these
universes is.
Is it possible? Who knows. Humankind once believed the world
was flat and the sun revolved around us. (Note: There is a theory that actually
suggests the universe is flat, but that’s a blog for another day.) We have
since learned our universe is much larger and more fascinating that we can
comprehend. Is the leap from a single
universe to multiverses that much of a stretch (or maybe I should say
expansion)?
What do I believe? This stuff is way beyond the
ten-percent of my brain I can actually use. As a writer, multiverses spur my
imagination. The possibilities are endless.
Interesting blog. I like the idea of my clones in other universes being more productive--though I did pick a gallon and a half of blueberries this morning. We watch "How the Universe Works" series and love it. I don't understand half of what they say but it stretches my mind.
ReplyDeleteI can visualize how I live in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, on planet Earth, which is in the solar system, which is in the universe, but beyond that it boggles my mind. Where is this universe and where is it contained? Think of it like a dandelion puff floating in the air. Is that our universe? Maybe it's like the mirrors that reflect back an endless line of images. It's one of those things I'll probably never figure out.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Tracy. My mind is boggled, too. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Robin. Reminded me of a favorite book of my from last century - 2150 AD. I don't remember the author but it was about living between two parallel universes. Need to look around and see if I still have it!
ReplyDeleteSo you're telling me that, in a parallel universe, my other husband really IS an 18th Centrury red-haired Scottish Highlander? This one is red-haired and Scotch-Irish, LOL!
ReplyDeleteI can see another clone of me.....I sure hope in that parallel universe I am thin and fine! Great read Robin!
ReplyDeleteVERY interesting! My mind is racing with my own theories now! Good read!
ReplyDeleteThe math behind cosmological calculations for a multiverse is mind boggling. It begins with understanding how space and time interact with each other. Even though I have a VERY small grasp on those equations, it quickly gets beyond me. Robin is right that there is disagreement about whether it exists among scientists. However, it seems to me that more cosmologists are lining up on the side of a multiverse than not. The question is if it is infinite or contained.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of parallel universes because I am fascinated by the "what ifs" of decision-making. Our lives are a series of small and large decisions that shape what happens to us--from what time I get up in the morning to what I eat each day to who I marry or not. If that instant of making that decision is sliced into small bits of time, I can see how each of those me's in those parallel universes might make a slightly different one. If I turn off the alarm and don't get up in one universe, does that mean I am stuck in traffic and therefore that opens me to other opportunities or tragedies? This is what fiction explores.
The question is, and what becomes fiction to me, is if we can move between those universes--like they do in Outlander or in many SF or Fantasy books. If we can move between them, that means we have an opportunity to change the future in that ONE timeline. And if we can move between parallel universes does it mean we can also bring people here.
I could write/talk forever on this. :) But I won't. Thanks Robin for sparking my imagination today.