Are We Even Real?
What does this do to us? More particularly; what does this mean for the definition of me? What am I? Do I share a part of my existence with these other copies? What about my consciousness? When I flip that metaphorical coin, two new ‘me‘s are born. What happens to the old one? Which new one am I? Is one more real than the other?
I think that most of the concepts of the ‘self’ have to be thrown out in light of these questions. Truth is, we have to start over, for we don’t have any clue what we are—again!
One more thing. (If you’re getting dizzy, you might want to stop reading here.)
No Place for Time
It seems unlikely that there is any such thing as time, except as the extremely persistent illusion generated by our brains.
Since Albert Einstein, our understanding of time has radically changed. If you’ll recall, Einstein referred to time as just another dimension, one that we experience as duration, rather than as distance. The reason this should be the case is unknown. Likewise, the single direction of time’s flow. There’s no reason, from the point of view of physics, that time shouldn’t flow in both directions. We’ve never caught it doing so, however. (Addendum: we may have done so earlier this year).
Because, the Relativity of Einstein has proven itself correct in many ways through many, many observations and experiments, we’re stuck with his definition of time and stuck with the conundrums it generates. If we treat time as simply another dimension, however—like distance, not duration—the vexing scientific problems associated with time go away. None of the math changes, none of the physics, either.
The Meaning of it All
Given what was stated about the Many Worlds, how can this be? Simple, instead of two branching aions born from the coin flip, we have an extra-dimensional aion that looks like the branching of a limb. (Terry Pratchett amusingly calls this the Trousers of Time).
It also means that each of us is a many-dimensioned thingy, a three-dimensional slice of which looks like us at various stages of our lives, from infant to corpse. Given the (infinite) possibilities of the multiverse, that ‘thingy’ has an infinite number of dimensions, infinitely many of them former time dimensions! It also has fuzzy boundaries; it merges into other thingies, both like and very unlike us.
Notions of life, death, and fate look kind of quaint in light of our new understanding; like our ancestors blaming natural disasters on angry gods. We can’t speak of ‘before’ and ‘after’; as in “Before I was born” or “After I die.” Time is just in our heads. It’s not part of external reality at all!
We are infinite, permanent parts of an infinite, permanent reality. Never born, never to die.
There’s safety in this infinity of numbers, for danger can only manifest through change.
Addendum
A thought occurs. I present it as a notion for consideration, rather than as an assertion.
Consciousness: (definition): distance becoming duration.
—Gideon Jagged
Written from:
Innsmouth,
Oregon,
USA,
Earth,
Solar System,
Milky Way Galaxy,
Laniakea Supercluster,
Thelêtos—Sophia Aionic Pair (maybe),
Pleroma (probably),
The Multiverse.
June 12019 h.e.
Omnes deos sunt daemoniorum.
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