You in an alternate universe

Trollheart · 04-14-2013, 03:58 PM

I know: given the threads I've been starting recently you all probably think I'm on something, but you know, I think about weird stuff, see? And I've had more than one occasion to wonder how something I did would have turned out in another universe, if the theory that there are an infinite set of universes where every possible eventuality of our lives plays out, holds true.

Two examples spring to mind: the first has a handy diagram! Stop laughing at my pathetic drawing skills! Stop it!

One day I was on my way to work. My office was in an industrial estate, and to get to it I had to cross a few roads and pass other buildings. One of these, DHL, is just down from my road and as I came to the crossing there was a big truck waiting to go. So I thought, will I just leg it over before he moves or will I wait? I decided to wait. Whereupon a ****ing bat out of hell driver came screaming down the road, did a totally seamless S-turn without looking and screeched into his parking space. Had I started to walk I was dead. He could neither have seen me nor stopped in time. I would have been all over the road. It shook me up, I can tell you, that one decision like that probably saved my life. But in some alternate dimension, did I make the other decision and die?

The other thing that comes back to haunt me was a few years ago when I was in my sister's bedroom upstairs and she was screaming about a bluebottle in the room. Doing what I always did, I opened the window and tried to flick it out the window with a shirt or something. The sleeve caught a snowglobe that was on the windowsill and it tumbled to the ground, smashing, just as two kids walked by outside under the window. Jesus! Had that fallen OUT instead of IN those kids were probably dead, or very seriously hurt at least. I often wake up sweating about that one, and how, in another universe, that precise thing did happen.

On such tiny decisions, and the vagaries of fate and chance, can your life change forever.

Anyone else have "near-misses" or wonder what would have happened if...?

Freebase Dali · 04-14-2013, 04:53 PM

I find it reasonable to believe that there could be multiple universes, however, I don't find it very likely that there are duplicates of ourselves living our exact lives in different ways. Given the possibility of infinite separate universes being created, there is no stipulation that mandates it has to be a universe that can support life, nor are there any stipulations that because there is a universe that plays out like our own, it has to play out with any regard to ours.

For instance, I may analyze my own choices and wonder about some alternate universe where I had made different decisions at that moment, but I am assuming that both me and my parallel self made the same exact choices all the way up until that point. To me, that would be highly unlikely, while possible, but not likely enough to ponder about.
I think it's mostly human imagination and ego to think that because we exist and because the possibility exists that there are alternate universes, that we must therefore have multiples of our own egos existing across the span of reality because we are just that important...

Personally, I lend more credibility to the possibility that if there are multiple universes, no matter if there are infinite numbers of them, they will never be parallel to such a degree that we can compare a theoretical universe to our own in the degree that we tend to. While one may say that given the infinite possibilities, that surely one other universe would line up, he would still be assuming that the parallel self is linked to him, and therefore comparable. When in reality, it would be another person entirely, and not someone to which you could compare as though you are operating as one entity making separate choices.

So, to me, the whole exercise is one of futility.
I think a better way to look at your scenario is to just analyze your own choices after the fact and extrapolate other possible outcomes resulting from other choices.
You don't need a parallel universe to do that. You just need hindsight.

...which was probably what your post was really about.

Freebase Dali · 04-14-2013, 05:01 PM

Also, since we're dealing with possibility, we can look from an external perspective using the law of large numbers and determine that these "near misses" are not simply "likely", but are "certain", when dealing with the totality of the human population multiplied by the decisions they make from minute to minute.
It is in that way some are lucky, and others aren't.
Had they not been lucky, they would simply be shifted to the opposite side of the statistic. From the perspective of an external objective observation, there isn't any meaning behind it one way or the other.

I understand that it's fun to think about, but as a wise man once said... "just sayin'".

PoorOldPo · 04-14-2013, 06:27 PM

Yeah all the time. But **** it, There are probably versions of me in alternate universes saying(about what happened in the one I am in) " Thank **** that didn't happen to me, I would have turned into a ****ing arty hippie". Or whatever. I am just going to appreciate where I am now, and accept my lot. Because, unlike some people on here, I believe in fate. I believe that whatever is going to happen, has already been decided, it is just as set and certain as the past. I believe this because I don't really see time as one directional linear. But that is a different ball game altogether.

I can't remember having any real near misses, but I probably have had quite a few to be honest, and just shrug them off. I remember my mother telling my she was cutting some onions or some carrots or something, and whatever happened , her hand slipped and the knife went with incredible force into her wrist, luckily for her, she was wearing a good watch, the knife went through about 3/4 of the watch, not one drop of blood spilled.

I will post if I remember any near misses I had in the past though, pretty sure I nearly drowned once, and nearly got run over once. And once I nearly became a Civil Engineer, doomed to do mathematics for the rest of my days.

porkchop · 04-14-2013, 06:52 PM

The horror of thinking somewhere out there in one of the universes there is a me that doesn't enjoy music.

Stephen · 04-14-2013, 08:31 PM

I remember one time riding my bike to school when I was maybe 15 that could have easily had a different outcome. It was pissing down as I came flying down this hill towards an intersection at the bottom. Suddenly there's no more cars going my way and the cars facing me at the intersection start to turn in front of me. I jammed on my brakes only to find they weren't gripping because it was so wet. I'd picked up quite a bit of speed from the hill and I had nowhere to go but straight through. Somehow I managed to swerve between the cars turning in front of me. I'll never forget the look of panic on the face of one driver as I flew by between her and the car in front of her.

RoxyRollah · 04-16-2013, 02:38 PM

I met myself once in Columbus Ohio...that was just bizarre on so many levels... but in an alternate universe I would have been something so much better then I am... I would have been pyrokinetic does anyone else feel a song intro coming on?

zinia7 · 04-16-2013, 02:44 PM

i also believe in a alter universe and there more universes each with there own story, i also believe in fate as well. but my ideas of the other universes are far frome different

PoorOldPo · 04-16-2013, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoxyRollah

I met myself once in Columbus Ohio...that was just bizarre on so many levels... but in an alternate universe I would have been something so much better then I am... I would have been pyrokinetic does anyone else feel a song intro coming on?

This is my alternate universe song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yTY__PKLDQ

RoxyRollah · 04-16-2013, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoorOldPo

This is my alternate universe song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yTY__PKLDQ

Seriously darling? This seems more like this is the sound track to your life... if it really is an alternate universe you wouldn't like the same things you like in this life because you would be a different you... not that I wouldn't love for this song to play everywhere I went but in all honesty I feel like this is more you then,, the alternate you.... but what do I know on a side thought if I could have a song follow me around it would be this and smoke everytime I entered a room..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sCwFSEC1xc

04-14-2013, 03:58 PM	#1 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	You in an alternate universe I know: given the threads I've been starting recently you all probably think I'm on something, but you know, I think about weird stuff, see? And I've had more than one occasion to wonder how something I did would have turned out in another universe, if the theory that there are an infinite set of universes where every possible eventuality of our lives plays out, holds true. Two examples spring to mind: the first has a handy diagram! Stop laughing at my pathetic drawing skills! Stop it! One day I was on my way to work. My office was in an industrial estate, and to get to it I had to cross a few roads and pass other buildings. One of these, DHL, is just down from my road and as I came to the crossing there was a big truck waiting to go. So I thought, will I just leg it over before he moves or will I wait? I decided to wait. Whereupon a ***ing bat out of hell driver came screaming down the road, did a totally seamless S-turn without looking and screeched into his parking space. Had I started to walk I was dead. He could neither have seen me nor stopped in time. I would have been all over the road. It shook me up, I can tell you, that one decision like that probably saved my life. But in some alternate dimension, did I make the other decision and die? The other thing that comes back to haunt me was a few years ago when I was in my sister's bedroom upstairs and she was screaming about a bluebottle in the room. Doing what I always did, I opened the window and tried to flick it out the window with a shirt or something. The sleeve caught a snowglobe that was on the windowsill and it tumbled to the ground, smashing, just as two kids walked by outside under the window. Jesus! Had that fallen OUT instead of IN those kids were probably dead, or very seriously hurt at least. I often wake up sweating about that one, and how, in another universe, that precise thing did happen. On such tiny decisions, and the vagaries of fate and chance, can your life change forever. Anyone else have "near-misses" or wonder what would have happened if...? __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018*

04-14-2013, 04:53 PM	#2 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	I find it reasonable to believe that there could be multiple universes, however, I don't find it very likely that there are duplicates of ourselves living our exact lives in different ways. Given the possibility of infinite separate universes being created, there is no stipulation that mandates it has to be a universe that can support life, nor are there any stipulations that because there is a universe that plays out like our own, it has to play out with any regard to ours. For instance, I may analyze my own choices and wonder about some alternate universe where I had made different decisions at that moment, but I am assuming that both me and my parallel self made the same exact choices all the way up until that point. To me, that would be highly unlikely, while possible, but not likely enough to ponder about. I think it's mostly human imagination and ego to think that because we exist and because the possibility exists that there are alternate universes, that we must therefore have multiples of our own egos existing across the span of reality because we are just that important... Personally, I lend more credibility to the possibility that if there are multiple universes, no matter if there are infinite numbers of them, they will never be parallel to such a degree that we can compare a theoretical universe to our own in the degree that we tend to. While one may say that given the infinite possibilities, that surely one other universe would line up, he would still be assuming that the parallel self is linked to him, and therefore comparable. When in reality, it would be another person entirely, and not someone to which you could compare as though you are operating as one entity making separate choices. So, to me, the whole exercise is one of futility. I think a better way to look at your scenario is to just analyze your own choices after the fact and extrapolate other possible outcomes resulting from other choices. You don't need a parallel universe to do that. You just need hindsight. ...which was probably what your post was really about. __________________

04-14-2013, 05:01 PM	#3 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	Also, since we're dealing with possibility, we can look from an external perspective using the law of large numbers and determine that these "near misses" are not simply "likely", but are "certain", when dealing with the totality of the human population multiplied by the decisions they make from minute to minute. It is in that way some are lucky, and others aren't. Had they not been lucky, they would simply be shifted to the opposite side of the statistic. From the perspective of an external objective observation, there isn't any meaning behind it one way or the other. I understand that it's fun to think about, but as a wise man once said... "just sayin'". __________________

04-14-2013, 06:27 PM	#4 (permalink)
PoorOldPo Blue Pill Oww Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Luimneach, Eire Posts: 1,107	Yeah all the time. But ** it, There are probably versions of me in alternate universes saying(about what happened in the one I am in) " Thank that didn't happen to me, I would have turned into a **ing arty hippie". Or whatever. I am just going to appreciate where I am now, and accept my lot. Because, unlike some people on here, I believe in fate. I believe that whatever is going to happen, has already been decided, it is just as set and certain as the past. I believe this because I don't really see time as one directional linear. But that is a different ball game altogether. I can't remember having any real near misses, but I probably have had quite a few to be honest, and just shrug them off. I remember my mother telling my she was cutting some onions or some carrots or something, and whatever happened , her hand slipped and the knife went with incredible force into her wrist, luckily for her, she was wearing a good watch, the knife went through about 3/4 of the watch, not one drop of blood spilled. I will post if I remember any near misses I had in the past though, pretty sure I nearly drowned once, and nearly got run over once. And once I nearly became a Civil Engineer, doomed to do mathematics for the rest of my days. __________________ https://www.instagram.com/hennas.lullaby/

04-14-2013, 06:52 PM	#5 (permalink)
porkchop Music Addict Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: In a surrounded by records in Michigan Posts: 58	The horror of thinking somewhere out there in one of the universes there is a me that doesn't enjoy music. __________________ ---------This space intentionally left blank--------- Ignore everything I say, I'm always talking out of my ass Last.fm

04-14-2013, 08:31 PM	#6 (permalink)
Stephen I sleep in your hat Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Melbourne, Vic. Aus. Posts: 1,847	I remember one time riding my bike to school when I was maybe 15 that could have easily had a different outcome. It was pissing down as I came flying down this hill towards an intersection at the bottom. Suddenly there's no more cars going my way and the cars facing me at the intersection start to turn in front of me. I jammed on my brakes only to find they weren't gripping because it was so wet. I'd picked up quite a bit of speed from the hill and I had nowhere to go but straight through. Somehow I managed to swerve between the cars turning in front of me. I'll never forget the look of panic on the face of one driver as I flew by between her and the car in front of her.

04-16-2013, 02:44 PM	#8 (permalink)
zinia7 Music Addict Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 117	i also believe in a alter universe and there more universes each with there own story, i also believe in fate as well. but my ideas of the other universes are far frome different