A 75 Year Old Feline with More than Nine Lives

Comment

Comment by Paul Halpern on January 7, 2011 at 11:06am

Our minds would be duplicated and each version would be unaware of the other.  I know it is hard to fathom since it is just a strange concept!

Comment by wiffledust on January 7, 2011 at 10:29am

that's the part i don't get....why do we have to lose the awareness of the branching off? that makes no sense to me. wouldn't our memories be part of what goes with us?

Comment by Paul Halpern on January 7, 2011 at 10:24am

Thanks Lisa and Robert!  Yes the idea of parallel universes is fascinating.  I once interviewed a leading physicist Bryce DeWitt and he said that parallel universes, as strange as the idea sounds, was the only self-consistent way to describe the universe.  We wouldn't be aware of the branching off, however.

Comment by Robert P. Meyer Jr. on January 7, 2011 at 9:59am

 I really enjoyed this little "what if" stroll!  Throughout my life I have often thought about the many bifurcations I've experienced and have often seen myself in the alternate reality in my mind's eye.  I've contemplated the fact that I might have died or been horribly maimed in a given circumstance, but because I chose (sometimes someone else chose) differently, the accident didn't happen or I simply wasn't present when the events that would have allowed it even occured.  The same goes for choosing to take a job or rent a house.  I realize the myriad of possibilities and it allows me to view my present circumstances in a much kinder, understanding light.  Thanks for sharing this Paul. 

Comment by wiffledust on January 6, 2011 at 10:00pm

oh for crying out loud, paul! this is the most interesting thing i've read in weeks if not months, and i'm too stupid to understand all of it, but smart enough to understand enough of it to want to ask questions all night!!!! when we split off, where do we go? how many parallel universes? are we aware of them as they are happening? are we living each possibility simultaneously? i love the shift away from the linear lifetime thing. i'm scared of the opening the box with the cat in it. this is all of life in one article!!! tell us more! and thanks for sharing!!!!!! and DO come over and  let me poke at your brain on a video, won't you????