At the Voyager Night held in November at Pi Bar, the winner of the black and white frying pan (or Voyager dish, whichever reality you want to go with) said that the Universe was everything and nothing at the same time. Congratulations, Mo, that was the Right Answer! Of course, this kind of thing is made up as we go along and there can't really be a 'right answer' to the nature of the Universe. Infinity is something most people give up on comprehending because its incomprehensible, so what's the point? Scientists hate infinity, it gets in the way of neat summaries written as equations. So they 'normalise' the numbers to get rid of infinity and hey presto, there's a Right Answer! ... I mock, sorry, picturing frantic scribbling over what Dark Matter is supposed to do. Since we only have the Present to deal with, the past and the future can seem really important until we stick a nose into the headwind and feel the future rushing towards us, lapping up the nanoseconds. Worrying about the past and what it might lead to later on feels like bracing against a force from behind. Considered scientifically, this would perhaps be because Retarded waves of time from the past rushing to the future contain a whole lifetime-load of information to worry about, whereas the Advanced waves rushing at us from the future and careering into the past don't carry any such burden. We have no concept of the future because, well, perhaps because we're not allowed to. Which perhaps neatly explains why we have a problem as to whether time exists or not, and what we ought perhaps to really be doing with it whether it does or doesn't. I like the feeling of slicing through a headwind like a falcon much more than the feeling of backing against something that's pushing me to carry on. I very much doubt I can always maintain the sense of coasting through the winds of time uninterrupted by concerns in life, but in the short time since Voyager Night, having got my head around the option of living with time differently, things really do feel a whole lot lighter. Thanks, Voyager. This one's for you.
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AuthorKathy is the author of Quantumology. She met up with quantum mechanics in 1997, pledging allegiance to its sources thereafter. These are her personal thoughts and testimonies. Archives
April 2023
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