My world has recently been just riddled with delightful coincidences, and this is one of the biggest yet. Just a few days ago I watched (and blogged about) that crossover superhero episode about the multiverse that got me on this spiral of thinking about infinite possibilities. Yesterday, I got to a point in the new book I am reading ("Dark Matter" by Blake Crouch) where the main character finally figures out what's going on. He had been abducted and blacked out and woke up in a world he didn't recognize. Turns out... he had been pushed into a different part of the multiverse, one where instead of him being married with a kid like in the world he knew, he was a rich and famous physicist who figured out a way to travel to different multiverses. Every page I read gets more and more interesting and bungled with quantum mechanics that I barely understand but absolutely love; so far it is one of the best examples of science fiction that I've read. I have highlighted SO many lines that sparked intrigue in me; here are a few that are especially relevant considering my thoughts regarding "Crisis on Infinite Earths" (and I LOVE that is so easy to copy and paste the quotes I have highlighted from the kindle into this blog. I ♥ Technology!)
"The Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics posits that all possible realities exist. That everything which has a probability of happening is happening. Everything that might have occurred in our past did occur, only in another universe."
"There’s an unimaginably massive, infinite number of universes—a multiverse—where everything that can happen will happen."
"Our existence is all about choices...I think about all the choices we’ve made that created this moment. Us sitting here together at this beautiful table. Then I think of all the possible events that could have stopped this moment from ever happening." [I think about this idea ALL the time. What if I had gone to Valparaiso instead of Northwestern? What if I had went to Berkeley instead of Harvard? What if I hadn't have bought tickets to an Ingrid Michaelson concert and invited my friend (what if I never met her?) and suggested Boston Beer Works for a drink beforehand and gotten there early and sat at the bar by myself? And what if my husband hadn't brought the wrong ticket to the Red Sox game and hadn't ended up at that same bar at the same time as me? So many what ifs. So many (infinite) universes that branch off of these choices that were made. It is fascinating, and gets me thinking that I could write a book about this....it'd be like my memoir, which I have always wanted to write, but also a work of fiction creating these alternative universes of how my life could have turned out. It could be a reflection on choices and paths and interconnectedness and chance and fate and destiny....]
"It’s terrifying when you consider that every thought we have, every choice we could possibly make, branches into a new world."
"We all live day to day completely oblivious to the fact that we’re a part of a much larger and stranger reality than we can possibly imagine." [Yes, this is definitely inspiration for a book. This has been a message I have always preached, and what an interesting way to teach it by writing about the multiple universes that exist from the choices we make.]
"I’ve always known, on a purely intellectual level, that our separateness and isolation are an illusion. We’re all made of the same thing—the blown-out pieces of matter formed in the fires of dead stars." [Also another message I have often preached. It reminds me of a scene from "I Heart Huckabees" that I used a lot as a sermon illustration. Albert (Jason Schwartzman) is searching for the meaning of life, specifically his purpose in life, so he hires existential detectives Vivian and Benard (Lily Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman). Benard gives Albert a lesson on interconnectedness using a blanket. "Say this blanket represents all the matter and energy in the universe, okay? This is me, this is you, and this is Vivian. And over here, this is the Eiffel Tower, right, it's Paris! And this is a war, and this is a museum, and this is a disease, and this is an orgasm, and this is a hammer. Everything is the same, even if it's different. We are all connected. When you get the blanket thing you can relax because everything you could ever want or be you already have and are."]
Ok now my brain is swirling with thoughts and ideas and possibilities.... infinite possibilities. And it is delightful. I am super excited about this book idea.... just wondering how I should start!
With delight,
♥Jamie
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