Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1exp 10/6/83; site hlexa.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!floyd!clyde!ihnp4!houxm!mhuxi!mhuxh!hlhop!hlexa!hsf From: hsf@hlexa.UUCP (Henry Friedman) Newsgroups: net.books,net.philosophy,net.sf-lovers Subject: Time and Immortality (part 3) Message-ID: <330@hlexa.UUCP> Date: Mon, 17-Oct-83 13:12:54 EDT Article-I.D.: hlexa.330 Posted: Mon Oct 17 13:12:54 1983 Date-Received: Tue, 18-Oct-83 21:30:32 EDT Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Short Hills, NJ Lines: 87 (c) Copyright 1983 by Henry Friedman (Copying for personal use by users of net is authorized.) Is Yesterday Really Gone? (conclusion) In his book "Timewarps," astrophysicist John Gribbin explains that he prefers this new concept of parallel universes because it restores the meaning of free will. The concept, in effect, adds a fifth dimension to the four dimensions of spacetime, i.e., the dimension of alternate possibilities. In the photographic analogy, we could com- pare the four-dimensional concept of the universe to a sin- gle long reel of film. In contrast, the five-dimensional universe of alternate possibilities would be compared to many reels of film. At each point of choice of action (or possibility of diverse random paths), the film would branch into new films, one for each possible outcome, just as film makers sometimes now shoot for different possible endings. For example, in one universe, at a given place and time, there might be an unspoiled meadowland. In a parallel universe at the corresponding place, there might be a busy airport, a result of different decisions by government and developers. Key portions of the concepts to be developed in this book hinge largely upon parallel universes. So I will again stress the point that, although the idea has not been proved, it is a serious hypothesis arising from advances in quantum physics -- not merely an invention of science fan- tasy writers. In the novel "Slaughterhouse-Five," by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., based upon the World War II fire-bombing of Dresden, the hero bounces randomly backward and forward in time among different events of his life, including his death. At each point of his re-emergence, he fully "remembers" the entire fabric of his life, past and future. Although he knows how and when he will die, he also believes in his immortality, since no moment of his life ever ceases to exist. Now, you might object that such ideas are fine for novels, but that nothing in science, including relativity, states that we can travel into the past. In relativity jargon, the path of an object through spacetime is called its "world line," and in spacetime diagrams, the world line of an object always travels forward in time. So what is the mean- ing, one might ask, of saying the past still exists if it cannot be reached. Such questions will be discussed more fully in later chapters, as the full concept is developed. But for now, I'd like you to try another mental experiment. Look at a photograph of a deceased friend or relative, not a studio portrait, but one showing him or her in a familiar, natural setting. As you gaze at the picture, the person may seem so alive and vital that you have to remind yourself that he is dead, and that the happy time when the picture was taken is gone forever. But instead of concentrating on that cold reality, pretend, for a moment, that the scene and time of the photograph still exists -- "some-when" -- and that the person is really still just as alive in that time as he seems in the picture. Perhaps you'll find, even if only for a moment, that the idea rings true. Of course, mental experiments like the one above prove noth- ing (though they may convey the flavor of some of the ideas in this book). And even if such a concept of spacetime were true, we could not form a very satisfying hypothesis for immortality on that basis alone: one lifetime, frozen in time, with no possibility for further development, would hardly constitute immortality, as we usually think of the meaning of the word. No, there are other components to be introduced and developed before the concept is complete. And it is hoped that the whole will prove to be more than just the sum of its parts. End of Chapter (This series of excerpts to be continued in Part 4. Comments and criticisms by mail are welcome at any time. I may not be able to reply to each comment individually, but all com- ments will be carefully considered. When there is silence, I begin to wonder whether anyone is still reading this series of articles!)