Tuesday, September 9, 2008

We're Already Dead (But That's Okay)


A direct link to this video can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQMO1eyMRuM

"Option-itis"
Here's something I've said before: things become less interesting to us as the number of choices multiply. If, as I've proposed with this project, the sixth dimension includes every possible expression of the wave function for our universe, then it includes the version where I went crazy, shot up my town, died in a hail of bullets. Do I ever want to even witness that particular version of reality? No thank you!

Nine dimensions, three triads, enfolded into the tenth dimension
Last blog, we talked about how dimensions four through six can be called the "moral" triad. It's that narrowing down of possibilities, through the moral decisions I've made so far, that have created the fifth dimensional subset that I have access to from this "now" forward--and that will continue to be true for the rest of my life. If you are fully engaged with that process, what could be more exciting? Every instant we are observing new possibilities from a fantastically complex wave function that exists across the dimensions, but which are also uniquely defined by our own personal set of experiences.

Some people like to make fun of this idea, but this is essentially true: we are each creating a version of the universe through our role as quantum observers, and the path that each of us takes is unique. But we're each also participating in a consensual reality that has been created by the other people we share this reality with, which means their moral decisions are also part of my probability set. This is the hard part, because it means someone else can still choose to kill me, or they can do things that limit my access to possible futures I'd like to get to.

Thinking about Parallel Universes
Which takes us to the craziest part of this idea: each of us have already died through bad luck or bad choices made, that's just not the part of the multiverse that we're currently witnessing. Believe it or not, that's the idea that started this all for me back when I was seven, but it has taken me many years of thinking and reading to arrive at the conclusion that this crazy idea is supported by science!

I've written many times about the proof published by the Oxford University team under the direction of physicist David Deutsch, a proof which New Scientist magazine listed as one of the most important scientific stories of 2007: the bush-like branching structure of our quantum wave function, and the parallel universes that result from chance and choice for each of us are provably equivalent. This means the universe where I took five minutes longer to get out of bed this morning is part a different parallel universe, which is just as real as the one I'm currently witnessing, it just happens to not be the version I'm traveling within. Mind-boggling? You bet. But also, as it turns out, completely compatible with what I've been claiming since I first came up with this way of visualizing reality over twenty years ago.

I'm a Spime and So Are You
In the original tenth dimension animation, we imagined a person's body as if it were a spime: a four-dimensional object. In the animation, we said this:

If you were to see your body in the fourth dimension, you would be like a long undulating snake, with your embryonic self at one end and your deceased self at the other.
If there were only one possible timeline from the beginning to the end of a person's life, that would be the end of the discussion. But as we explored in my book and blog entries like The Spacetime Tree, I'm proposing that our reality actually comes from the probability space of the fifth dimension, and it's easy to envision the branching structures that result from chance and choice as being part of a tree-like structure in the fifth dimension.

Souls as Systems
With this project, we're imagining a person's "soul" not as a single self-contained unit, but rather as being a multi-layered system of memes, a "society of mind" across the dimensions. Now we're talking about a set of parallel universes where, in many of them, bad things have happened that resulted in our deaths: but since everyone reading this blog is alive and not dead (I presume), we know that those branching timelines are not part of the parallel universe we're each currently witnessing. Yikes! What does this all mean?

How unlikely is the "Now" we're each currently in?
In Randomness and the Missing 96%, we talked about the idea that dark matter and junk DNA might be telling us more than we realize about how unlikely our current reality really is. And if we add up all of the bad luck and deliberate actions of others that could have resulted in each of us being dead by now, don't we arrive at the same conclusion? When you consider how many situations exist within all of the possible parallel universes for our universe where events conspired to result in each of us dying, it really does seem like a marvelous thing that we get to experience this reality which must be way out on the edge of the bell curve, a highly unlikely universe where each of us have managed to survive... for now.

So now, let's think about that "long undulating snake" that is our body not just in the fourth, but in the fifth dimension. From conception to death, there is the actual 4D "line of time" we have followed, and (as the Deutsch team have proved) there is the bush-like branching structure of possible outcomes extending out from our current "now". So we have something like a dandelion gone to seed held in our minds, with a single stalk representing the past and a "ray" of possible futures at the head.

But what about that missing 96%? Does it factor into the equation here as well? If we're thinking about all of the many possible paths that we have traveled upon up until now which, in a multiverse of possible timelines must include those times when we've already died, we can see in the past a great many other branches which extended off from the main stalk and ended. In my book I said this:
For each of us, we will be able to remember moments of malicious, random, or foolish action that could have done us in. It’s hard to forget that moment where a large object falling or a silly risk taken might have resulted in our death if we had only been in a slightly different place and time. According to the worldview we’re exploring, all of those things did actually happen: that drunk driver you saw last year came over the hill and smashed into you head on, and now you’re dead.
Asking the Big Questions
This is a question people ask themselves all time: what happens to us when we die? One interesting proposal I saw recently suggested maybe whatever we expect to happen is exactly what does happen! If you believe there will be nothing, that's what you get. If you believe that you will be able to continue to watch this particular version of the universe and see what happens to your loved ones, that's what happens. If you believe you will be enfolded back into a white light of all patterns and frequencies, that's where you'll go. And so on! By the time we're "outside" of the arrow of time, there's no reason to assume that these options are mutually exclusive, either: free from the limitations of a physical body riding along an entropy-driven timeline, a person's awareness could explore every parallel universe simultaneously if that was what they wanted to do!

I've quoted from Douglas Hofstadter's I Am a Strange Loop before with his well-considered musings on what parts of the pattern that represents a person might continue on. Now here's a different way of thinking about this idea: if there is a fifth-dimensional spacetime tree of other possible timelines for our universe, and each of us has timelines where we've already died, then could it be that there are parts of our consciousness, the interlocking patterns that make up our "society of mind" that chose to jump on to our current timeline because they wanted to see what would have happened if they hadn't died? The old adage "once bitten, twice shy" takes on a whole new meaning - if there are tiny voices in my head saying "remember how I died last time I tried that!" then perhaps next time I will be less likely to take a silly risk.

My song "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" is a meditation on the question of what happens to us when we die. To finish, here's a video of me sitting at my old piano singing that song.


A direct link to this video can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeClGTuhCy4

Enjoy the journey,

Rob Bryanton

For related discussion of these ideas:
Unlikely Events and Timelessness
The Spacetime Tree
The Fifth Dimension Isn't Magic
John August and The Nines

PS: Have each of us already died in other parts of the multiverse? That's one of our poll questions right now. And a few blog entries ago I mentioned a project called The Omniverse Almanac, some interesting fiction writing which explores a similar world of ideas, check it out!

Next: Time in 3 Dimensions

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

ACCORDING TO ME TILL WHERE I CAN THINK IS THAT YES IN SUM UNIVERSE WE MIGHT BE JUST BORN OR IN SUM WE MIGHT BE OF THE AGE 80 AND IN SOME WE MUST HAVE BEEN ALREADY DEAD....OUR LINES IN HAND PREDICT OUR FUTURE THATS CALLED PALMISTRY WHICH TELLS WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN FUTURE BUT THAT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED IN OTHER UNIVERSE WITH US THE WORLD IN VIC WE LIVE IS NOT A REALITY.........OUR BRAIN JUST ACTS A LIKE A RECIEVER AND TRANSMITER NTOHING MORE THAN TIS EACH PERSON BORN HAS A DIFFERENT FREQUENCY .....THAT PERSON CONTACTS WITH THE OTHER UNIVERSE THROUGH WHICH IT IS GOVERNED ACTUALLY WE R GOVERNED BY SUM ONE ELSE THIS UNIVERSE IS LIKE A INTERNET WE JUST SHARE INFORMATION WITH EACH OTHER ......OUR BRAIN WAVES TRAVEL BILLIONS AND BILLIONS LIGHT YEARS JUST IN A MILLISECOND I DUNT HAVE A MATHAMATICALL EXPRESSION TO PROVE IT BUT ITS TRUE......OUR BRAIN WAVES HAVE SPEED FASTER THAN OF LIGHT EVRY SECOND WE TRAVEL TO A NEW UNIVERSE SHARE INFORMATION VID THEM AND ACT ACCORDINGLY...WE AS HUMAN BEINGS DONT HAVE POWER TO THINK WAT EVER WE THINK IS A RESULT OF THE INFORMATION WHICH WE GET FROM OTHER UNIVESR OF OUR SAME FREQUENCY EVRY PERSON ON THIS EARTH HAS A DIFFERENTLY FREQUENCY OF BRAIN WAVES.....ALL THE ACTIONS WHICH WE DO R ALREADY SET...ITS VERY WEIRD TO THINK THIS BUT ITS TRUE YES THERE IS LIFE AFTER DEATH WE R JUST A KIND OF ENEGY ENERGY IS NOT CREATED NOR DESTROYED JUST IT CHANGES ITS FORM AFTER OUR DEATH OUT THE ENEGY IN OUR BODY IS CHANGED INTO SOME OTHER AND THAT THING HAS ITS DIFFFERNT UNIVERSE.............EVRY PERSON HAS HIS OWN UNIVERSES IT NEVER CLASHES WITH OTHER UNIVERSES......OK LETS TAKE FOR A EXAMPLE EINSTIEN GAVE THEORY OF RELATIVITY HE FORCED HIS BRAIN WAVES TO TRAVEL FAR LONG AND SHARE THIS IDEA OF RELATIVITY MAY BE THAT UNIVERSE IS ALSO LIKE OURS MAY BE ...BUT THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY WILL BE DIFFERNT THERE .......................THE MORE WE DIG THE MORE DEEPER IT GETS.THATS UNIVERSE these things just strike in ma mind now i m trying to concentate and trying to find out more possibilities to it.i just want to say that the whole of universe is connected with each other just like a internet connection we share information with each other evry second of a second .what ever we think actually we r sharing that information with sum other universe but we think that our mind has thought that but thats not true. as a whole we human beings r nothing just a reciver and transmitter of brain waves and thats how we act.brain waves have a very great speed much much nore than speed of light thats y sum ppl can see future with thre eyes closed and by focussing their brain waves.we humans posses a very great power and that power lies with our brain not within ourselves.there r many more things i want to tell but till now i havent reached to one conclusion i hope u see ma reviews and think on it because this is the future vic is predicted nowlike now we have found 10 dimentions this information has also been shared ..wahtever i mean whatever we think is a kind of sharing thst means from sumother univesre sum one is sending to u a peice of information its true sum day ppl will realise it..............SHIVAM SINGH FROM INDIA A {COMMERCE STUDENT}

Anonymous said...

sir.this is not a comment this is my view.plz dunt take it as a comment ..............

""the mistakes what we do in the present world in which we live are a proof for exsistence of a paralel universe"" thankyou i hope u think on it shivam from india a {commerce} student

Anonymous said...

is it possible that yhe super atractive force of bermuda triangle is due to multi dimension of the universe.
i mean that gravity will be very very strong at the mouth of this extra dimensions... but we people living in 3D dont feel that much of the gravity since it escapes through other dimension....
so what if bermuda triange falls in such extra dimensional areas ,,, and hence pulls almost anything that ties to cross it..........
This is just a question whose answer i am willing to know..
tirtha from india

seoexpert said...

Mr Rob, you have done great research by spreading the perceptions that converges across all the universes and sub-universes. I just have one humble request, you should dig more deeper into Vedic scriptures on universe originations, time inflictions/de-inflictions and space movements. I had done some research on this aspect and found that Vedic scriptures have immense potential to prove every aspect of above elements scientifically. Vedic thoughts and messages are heritage of mankind but not limited to particular religion or tribe. The detailing are staggering and more insightful. I would post more once I reach some greater depths where I can find to add value to your observation.

Heartiest Thanks
Lalit Kumar
Bharat (India)

hugh allen said...

This really rings true for my perspective. Those situations where you narrowly escaped either dying or getting in reeeal physical, "legal", or financial hardships. I've found myself imagining, well, perhaps at the same time that I managed to escape that hardship, perhaps thre was another alternate reality where I actually did experience what I escaped in my reality. And another comment would be that life is somewhat like a chess game, in that in the beginning there are countless possibilities and options for our life's direction, and then as "the game" progresses we have we eventually have less choices and possibilities for the final outcome(s?). Kudos on the thought-provoking presentations. I've just discovered these older uploads, and am interested in your latest uploads...

Anonymous said...

I support this. However, the bush like branching system you are referring to is actually called a "Fractal". All of reality is composed of fractals. Look in to it, you will be interested.

Also, speaking of dimensional planes, would make a lot of sense that we are not 3d and only perceive in 3d. I have smoked DMT (the spirit molecule) and have seen things on higher planes. Is very hard to perceive and appears pixelated while also occurring in 5d. I dont know how else to explain it. Is not for the weak of heart though as a warning.

Your article is very spot on.

Anonymous said...

Also, what you refer to as "society mind" or "society of mind" is actually called collective consciousness. Not nit picking, just trying to open your view up a bit. Appreciate the article.

Singh Ashish said...

This article just matched with my thoughts .i think our universes are really created and you yourself is one universe.we can think and predict end number of possibilities so does our universe has end number of possibilities.that s why ? I will explain if u didnt get this. Ok so take any word and search its meaning in dictionary you will get more words describing the word which you searched.Now take another word from that description and search again you will more number of words and this goes on.Universe is infinite so are we.You can never reach to the conclusion of this topic as everybody has their own universe own thoughts own energy.Everything in this world is mystery even a small pen.Also as i was going through the above universes i found that our frequencies did match .so cheers.the more you dig deep thoughts compared with universe and the explaination of chess game . Maybe our universes are friends:) i conclude by my perspection that einstein s theory is wrong earth is flat dinosaurs still exist in another universe. I believe that our mind is universe everything is a mystery even our life and ofcourse death and remember the theory that energy can neither be created nor be destroyed so cheers even if u die your energy is still alive your universe is still alive cause universe can neither be created nor be destroyed . Hola.IN MY OWN UNIVERSE.

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