When Death met the philosopher, the philosopher said, rather excitedly: "At this point, you realise, I'm both dead and not dead."
There was a sigh from Death. Oh dear, one of those, he thought. This is going to be about quantum again. He hated dealing with philosophers. They always tried to wriggle out of it.
"You see," said the philosopher, while Death, motionless, watched the sands of his life drain through the hourglass, "everything is made of tiny particles, which have the strange property of being in many places at one time. But things made of tiny particles tend to stay in one place at one time, which does not seem right according to quantum theory. May I continue?"
YES, BUT NOT INDEFINITELY, said Death, EVERYTHING IS TRANSIENT. He did not take his gaze away from the tumbling sand.
"Well, then, if we agreed that there are an infinite number of universes, then the problem is solved! If there are an unlimited number of universes, this bed can be in millions of them, all at the same time!"
DOES IT MOVE?
"What?
Death nodded at the bed. CAN YOU FEEL IT MOVING? he said.
"No, because there are a million versions of me, too, And...here is the good bit ...in some of them I am not about to pass away! Anything is possible!"
Death tapped the handle of his scythe as he considered this.
AND YOUR POINT IS...?
"Well, I'm not exactly dying, correct? You are no longer such a certainty."
There was a sigh from Death. Space he thought. That was the trouble. It was never like this on worlds with everlastingly cloudy skies. But once humans saw all that space, their brains expanded to try and fill it up.
"No answer, eh?" said the dying philosopher. "Feel a bit old-fashioned, do we?"
THIS IS A CONUNDRUM CERTAINLY, said Death. Once they prayed, he thought. Mind you, he'd never been sure that prayer worked, either. He thought for a while. AND I SHALL ANSWER IT IN THIS MANNER, he added. YOU LOVE YOUR WIFE?
"What?"
THE LADY WHO HAS BEEN LOOKING AFTER YOU. YOU LOVE HER?
"Yes. Of course."
CAN YOU THINK OF ANY CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE, WITHOUT YOUR PERSONAL HISTORY CHANGING IN ANY WAY YOU WOULD AT THIS MOMENT PICK UP A KNIFE AND STAB HER? said Death. FOR EXAMPLE?
"Certainly not!"
BUT YOUR THEORY SAYS THAT YOU MUST. IT IS EASILY POSSIBLE WITHIN THE PHYSICAL LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE, AND THEREFORE MUST HAPPEN, AND HAPPEN MANY TIMES. EVERY MOMENT IS A BILLION, BILLION MOMENTS, AND IN THOSE MOMENTS ALL THINGS THAT ARE POSSIBLE ARE INEVITABLE. ALL TIME SOONER OR LATER, BOILS DOWN TO A MOMENT.
"But of course we can make choices between-"
ARE THERE CHOICES? EVERYTHING THAT CAN HAPPEN, MUST HAPPEN. YOUR THEORY SAYS THAT FOR EVERY UNIVERSE THAT'S FORMED TO ACCOMMODATE YOUR 'NO', THERE MUST BE ONE TO ACCOMMODATE YOUR 'YES'. BUT YOU SAID YOU WOULD NEVER COMMIT MURDER. THE FABRIC OF THE COSMOS TREMBLES BEFORE YOUR TERRIBLE CERTAINTY. YOUR MORALITY BECOMES A FORCE AS STRONG AS GRAVITY. And, thought Death, space certainly has a lot to answer for.
"Was that sarcasm?"
ACTUALLY, NO. I AM IMPRESSED AND INTRIGUED, said Death. THE CONCEPT YOU PUT BEFORE ME PROVES THE EXISTENCE OF TWO HITHERTO MYTHICAL PLACES. SOMEWHERE, THERE IS A WORLD WHERE EVERYONE MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE, THE MORAL CHOICE, THE CHOICE THAT MAXIMISED THE HAPPINESS OF THEIR FELLOW CREATURES, OF COURSE, THAT ALSO MEANS THAT SOMEWHERE ELSE IS THE SMOKING REMNANT OF THE WORLD WHERE THEY DID NOT ...
"Oh, come on! I know what you're implying, and I've never believed in any of that Heaven and Hell nonsense!"
The room was growing darker. The blue gleam along the edge of the reaper's scythe was becoming more obvious.
ASTONISHING, said Death. REALLY ASTONISHING. LET ME PUT FORWARD ANOTHER SUGGESTION: THAT YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A LUCKY SPECIES OF APE THAT IS TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE COMPLEXITIES OF CREATION VIA A LANGUAGE THAT EVOLVED IN ORDER TO TELL ONE ANOTHER WHERE THE RIPE FRUIT WAS?
Fighting for breath, the philosopher managed to say: "Don't be silly."
THE REMARK WAS NOT INTENDED AS DEROGATORY, said Death. UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, YOU HAVE ACHIEVED A GREAT DEAL.
"We've certainly escaped from outmoded superstitions!"
WELL DONE, said Death. THAT'S THE SPIRIT. I JUST WANTED TO CHECK.
He leaned forward.
AND ARE YOU AWARE OF THE THEORY THAT THE STATE OF SOME TINY PARTICLES IS INDETERMINATE UNTIL THE MOMENT THEY ARE OBSERVED? A CAT IN A BOX IS OFTEN MENTIONED.
"Oh, yes," said the philosopher.
GOOD, said Death. He got to his feet as the last of the light died, and smiled.
It's been "conjectured" that what is being observed cannot be separated from he who is observing it.
IOW, we always bring our "personal" perspective to any observation, thereby tainting it, even if ever so slightly. It's literally impossible for you and I to "see" EXACTLY the same thing at the same time, even though we are both standing in front of it looking directly at it.
And besides, ice cream doesn't have bones in it.....
It's been "conjectured" that what is being observed cannot be separated from he who is observing it.
IOW, we always bring our "personal" perspective to any observation, thereby tainting it, even if ever so slightly. It's literally impossible for you and I to "see" EXACTLY the same thing at the same time, even though we are both standing in front of it looking directly at it.
We only exist because there is someone there to actually witness it. "I see you!"
But do they? How do you ever really know?
We are all just cleverly-crafted 100% totally believable figments of each others imagination....
We only exist because there is someone there to actually witness it. "I see you!"
But do they? How do you ever really know?
We are all just cleverly-crafted 100% totally believable figments of each others imagination....
But I do know, Boon..I know wheather you or I agree, My actions as a plot in reality are a little more shaky, did I fly it or was it a dream? Did I ever meet Chuck Yeager??...or was I shot down years ago and am laying in a bed dreaming? Sure you good and alive inan Alaska plane? Or did you bail out of a plane I was flying ?
Reality is what we perceive through our senses and out senses are alterable in various ways. I first became aware of this train of thought in college when I was referred to a book called "A separate reality" The book was about plants that can alter our senses but there are many other ways to alter our senses. The end result is that we all have different realities and to some extent the same realities. So many ways. Our brains are electrical/chemical devices and so our senses and realities can be altered by chemicals. Media causes us to see reality in ways that media desires. I remember the GMO issue for instance. It nearly always starts out with the logical idea that we have a right to know what we are eating and the majority supports this logical conclusion. Then money backed media comes in and the issue becomes murky and the equation gets tipped. Many of my ideas are no longer written in stone because I am now aware that my perceptions are often altered. Sometimes I'm aware of this alteration, sometimes not until later and probably sometimes I'm never going to be aware. That is why I try to keep an open mind.
Reality is what we perceive through our senses and out senses are alterable in various ways. I first became aware of this train of thought in college when I was referred to a book called "A separate reality" The book was about plants that can alter our senses but there are many other ways to alter our senses.
Was that Carlos Castaneda? As a young man I read everything he wrote. I knew I liked you!
quote
Originally posted by dratts: Many of my ideas are no longer written in stone because I am now aware that my perceptions are often altered. Sometimes I'm aware of this alteration, sometimes not until later and probably sometimes I'm never going to be aware. That is why I try to keep an open mind.
Yeah, My mind was never the same after reading him. It was like my mind had been set free. I could never look at things with the certainty that i had previously enjoyed after that. Long time ago Early Seventies. Ditto.
It inspired a few thoughts. I saw that regardless of what we choose to believe happens there is a truth, and it happens.
Besides that this was an odd concept to me: "THE CONCEPT YOU PUT BEFORE ME PROVES THE EXISTENCE OF TWO HITHERTO MYTHICAL PLACES. SOMEWHERE, THERE IS A WORLD WHERE EVERYONE MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE, THE MORAL CHOICE, THE CHOICE THAT MAXIMISED THE HAPPINESS OF THEIR FELLOW CREATURES"
How about if its all mixed up, where we are, what we know, is there are plenty types of people making plenty of choices, right and wrong, moral and not, right here in our own world. Even so, sometimes the moral ones dont make folks happy, or the right ones , or wrong ones.
Also, happy now or happy later or both?
[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 04-28-2014).]
