OK, I don't like wasting time (mine or anyone else's) so let's get to it. A quick lesson in Physics. There was this guy named Albert more than a century ago that came along and proposed a theory called Special Relativity. It pushed a crazy idea that time was not a constant throughout the universe. The speed at which time moved was dependent upon the motion of the observer in relation to everything else. That time is another dimension of space. That crazy idea, though, has been scientifically proven multiple times to be a fact. So, that has been around for a while, but I just wanted to make sure this starting point was clear to everyone.
Here's where things start to get weirdly unnerving. By the way, we are still in the realm of science here - not some wonky wild speculation. Arising from the Theory of Special Relativity comes the concept of the block universe (also referred to as the eternalist view). Building on the idea that space and time are linked, bound together, time becomes just another dimension of space like depth, width and height. That being the case then the coordinates of time (past, present and future) are all equally real. What does that mean? That all 3 of them exist simultaneously, like right now.
Yeah. All those moments that are in your past are here. Right now. Everything that will ever happen to you in the future...yeah, they exist right now. The only thing, though, that you see and feel right now is this thing we call the present and nothing else. Why? Don't know. No one does for sure. The most common thought is that our brains are wired to only move through all of these moments in time in a forward only sequential manner. Why? Don't know that either.
Your intuitive sense of the universe around you tells you that this is not true. That the past is behind you and gone and the future is unwritten and impossible to know. Sorry, but it is highly likely you are wrong. Every aspect of the Theory of Special Relativity that can be tested by science has proven to be true. I don't mean to undermine your sense of your knowing about the universe you exist in, but the odds strongly favor that this part of Special Relativity will, eventually, be proven true as well. Suck it up Buttercup, the universe is, in truth (real truth), not what you think it is.
Want more crazy shit? There is this thing called Quantum Entanglement. This is when two sub atomic particles are somehow linked. Like if one particle is measured to be a certain value it immediately triggers another particle to take on a certain value. OK, so what? More science. These two connected particles don't give a rat's ass about distance. They could be right next to one another or on the other side of the Milky Way (the galaxy we live in, not the candy bar). They are linked and their reaction to one another is instant.
No big deal. Tiny little particles that are BFs no matter how far away they are. Wait...didn't I already mention that space and time are tied to one another? So, if these little particles can disregard the other 3 spatial dimensions of space then what prevents them from not giving a damn about the fourth dimension - time. Turns out, they don't. Yeah, these crafty little particles can be linked across time. When the value one changes here and now its buddy will change there and then...
How can that be? These little particles "changing" one another in the past? And the future? Oh...yeah, that's right, all time exists right now. So past and future are fair game to be altered since it really is all existing in this moment. Shrug your shoulders and just say "Whatever. These are particles even smaller than an atom." And you would be correct that we are talking about a very small scale here, but...let's do a little math here.
You are sitting here reading this at this very instant you are comprised of 7 octillion atoms. What is 7 octillion? It's a 7 followed by 27 zeros. In case you missed that...that's one serious shit ton of atoms. A little perspective here, that is more atoms than all the stars in the observable universe. I asked a Physicist (my son actually) what would be a safe number to say what the average number of sub atomic particles (you know, those little buggers that are busy entangling themselves with their buddies) exist in an atom is. We decided it was safe to say at least 5. So now we can say that you have at least 35 octillion sub atomic particles within you.
This begs the question, how many of those 35 octillion sub atomic particles are, right now, quantumly entangled with other particles in a very different space and time? At 35 octillion even if a tiny percentage of them are entangled, that would be a staggering number of particles within you at any given moment. What does it mean if the sub atomic particles that make up you are somehow linked to something (or someone) else? No one has the slightest idea. How many other things (objects or people) are you quantumly entangled with and how is that affecting them or you and is it now, or the in the future or the past?
All of this is science. Not wild theories or speculation. It's not conspiracy shit. It's the real universe we exist in. We just know so very little about it. Far less than we think we do. If you think about this stuff so many crazy possibilities start to creep into your thoughts. And if what I have already talked about isn't strange enough just imagine how it might apply if the popular theory of multiple universes proves to be true as well. Are you entangled with things in other universes - including other versions of you. Enjoy.
K McConnell
kmcconnell@kmcconnellbooks.com
