Something happened the other day that might well have been a glimpse of my life in a parallel universe. It was fast, just a glimpse, but so vivid that I had to consider that possibility.
So what are parallel universes? They’re universes where events had different outcomes — a single critical decision went a different way. Maybe Trump DIDN’T get elected. JFK wasn’t killed. You didn’t marry the person you married in this life. You didn’t have kids. You did become a doctor.
Theoretical physics cannot rule out the possibility and in fact, there was been some evidence for the existence of parallel universes — multiverses.
The “Many Worlds” view of quantum mechanics suggests that all possible outcomes actually DO happen, but only one can happen in each Universe. So if you consider all the permutations there would have to be an infinite number of parallel universes to account for every possible outcome.
Crazy talk? Not really. There’s nothing in physics that rules it out. In fact, theoretical physics and quantum mechanics might well support it.
If it were possible, then consider that particles or even human beings could travel between universes, allowing us to live in a whole different possibility.
From time to time my husband and I discuss the idea that in another Universe, we didn’t get divorced (and then remarried 26 years later) and we speculate about what our lives could have been like. If multiverses exist, that life does exist in another Universe. Which fascinates us.
Some weeks ago I had smoked just a tiny bit of recreational weed. Not much, just a couple of tokes. I sat on the sofa and was almost instantly presented with a scenario from my 20s that might have happened if I’d made other decisions. It was a flash. A vivid glimpse in living color, complete with felt emotion.
It wasn’t a dream or a thought or a hope. It was a vision.
I love the whole idea of multiverses–not to mention the possibility of moving between them– and do believe that long after I’m gone, we’ll know so much more about this. Yes, despite the way some religious fanatics want to deny science. The facts are the facts, regardless of what you “believe in.” This theory is not inconsistent with spirituality but it IS inconsistent with the narrow views of “religion” –which is a man-made construct and a topic for a different day.
Have you ever experienced a glimpse of life in a world where a key decision changed the outcome?
No visions of my life in a different reality, but I have been a fan of SF and that genre opens up so many possibilities. Like multiverses and time travel, and alternate histories. The question for both time travel and multiverses is, will it ever be possible to travel from one universe to another. Or, to go back in time. If so how would it change reality in both places?
So very many possibilities, Alana!
Absolutely fascinating concept, Carol! I love this! Now I’m imagining other scenarios and other lifetimes. Maybe I DID get to have my scholarship in England instead of marrying and having babies. Maybe I DID get to become a veterinarian.
Maybe I DID get that NY Times bestseller!
We know so little of how things work. Every day is a revelation. I totally believe in a smooth (or maybe not-so-smooth) blend of the scientific and the spiritual. In my world, they go hand-in-hand. The one isn’t complete without the other.
I love how you always manage to make me THINK! Thank you for doing that for me!
It really does boggle the mind!
Nothing would surprise me. More and more, my mind is getting open to things I never could’ve imagined before.
I always say that we don’t know what we don’t know. Back in the day we thought the world was flat, we didn’t know gravity etc. Science moves us forward….I love science!
Dear Carol, but there’s no proof, per science, whatsoever that other universes exist. In short, the idea is a man-made construct. As for Christians denying science? Seriously, that would mean never seeing a dentist or using a hedge trimmer.
Btw, per Scripture, there exist two other “universes” : heaven and hell.
As this post points out, theoretical physicists find a growing base of evidence, which is the path to “proof”. Proof doesn’t happen in an instant. It’s built by actual studies that indicate evidence and go this way and that in the exploration. The point i made is that theoretical physicists are excited that there’s nothing that rules it out. And that is how real science works. I didn’t mention Christianity, per se, but…Those who hold narrow views of Christianity do pick and choose the science they “choose to believe”. They. might go to the dentist but refute the origin of the universe. Of course, science doesn’t work that way and they just show their ignorance.