Inhabiting Alternative Universes

There is much being written about Quantum Theory, and the Alternative Universe that exists “just out there,” that only some of us who see ghosts are privileged to peep into. I have wondered however, whether we have always inhabited these other-worlds in many ways, consciously or unconsciously, sometimes for short spells, and sometimes making the journey with never the possibility of returning to our known worlds.

The most obvious example of travelling to the alternative universe is via dreams. The people and events that we encounter in dreams alternately please, frighten and confuse; back in our familiar universe they then make their way into stories and novels we write, plays we produce, and songs we sing. There are periods in our lives when we dream heavy and other times when we dream light. Some correlate to the stress in our lives, but I seem to be most dream-intensive when I am goofing off and not working hard.

Then there are the other alternative universes we inhabit only in our waking lives: for example, the corporate executive, celebrity movie star, or politician who has to project an image congruent with their respective product or platform. Never mind that they may be closet drunks, neurotics or sex maniacs, the media image has always got to project confidence, trust, and inspire followership. Then there are the video gamers who live in their game universes under pseudonyms for most of their leisure time, who find more validation and purpose in their alternative universe than in the cold world of harsh reality. Writers are no different; they are the masters of their fictive universes, killing off the bad guys at whim, having their heroes overcome challenges under the most harrowing circumstances, creating situations of love, pain, sorrow, or action as the mood demands.

What about the movies or theatre? Why do we pay to go into a dark auditorium with a similarly motivated bunch of souls, armed with coke and popcorn, to lose ourselves in another world for a couple of hours? Or in a fantasy novel far removed from our current world. The circus, theme parks and bungee jumps are other escape valves into temporary alternative worlds. How about the alcoholic or the drug addict who hops onto his next drink or needle just to vanish from this place? Or the party organizer who creates a happy environment so that a bunch of friends and family could eat, drink and be merry and forget about their cares for awhile. Or the tour organizers and travel agents who send their clients to holiday destinations to be cocooned in an artificial oasis of hedonistic pleasure. And the adventure seeker who pursues difficult terrain just to experience life on the wild side. And then there is, of course, Facebook, where most of us congregate for a few minutes (or hours) a day to interact with the alternate universes of friends.

There are also the universes that you travel to and can never return from again without being changed: the bank robber or terrorist who transforms your world the moment he holds a gun to your face, the tractor-trailer that loses control on the highway and rams into your car, the doctor who looks up from your most recent medical report and says, “We have a small problem here…,” or the other doctor who comes out of the maternity ward and says, “Congratulations, it’s a girl!”

We are already creatures of alternative universes in our daily lives. Time and circumstance periodically invite, or force, us into alternative universes. And while Quantum Theory has brought the debate to the forefront, it does not change the fact that humans have always been privy to alternative universes, if we expand that definition. They provide us with the experience and enlightenment to grow. In fact, it would be difficult to take those universes away without downscaling our world into an unfamiliar, dull and somewhat frightening place.

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