If only

Watching all those episodes of Fringe has gotten me thinking about alternate realities — the many possible versions of the future that end up not happening.

What if I had done this instead of that, had made a different choice at a crucial moment? This is basically the same question asked by such films as “Sliding Doors”, and it’s one that seems to endlessly fascinate the human mind.

In particular, I was pondering that most peculiar of fictional super powers, the ability to choose, at will, a different branch in the expanding tree of alternate universes.

On the face of it, this would clearly be a good power to have. So many unfortunate accidents, lost chances, avoidable tragedies, all averted with the ease of flipping a switch.

On the other hand, surely there would be hidden costs. Suppose you knew that it was all a zero-sum game — that a life saved by choosing one alternate universe would result in some other life lost? Would you be willing to pay that price?

One thought on “If only”

  1. The space is so enormously vast, and the future consequences so incalculable, that your only hope is to do as the American declaration of independence states and pursue life, love and happiness.

    As it goes, you have the superpower to choose one course of history over another; free will. The only thing you do not have is the power to predict the future, the consequence of a decision.

    Few people, given the power to predict the future, would not use it to some degree to improve their lot, to take resources and power they feel they should have.

    The mistake we make with films like Sliding Doors is to suggest that there is any sort of fate involved. We like to think that fate makes sure the right thing happens, that everything happens for a reason, but it doesn’t. The fascination is perhaps a curiosity in this direction, although most would recoil from the realisation of the meaninglessness of the universe’s mechanics.

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