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From: wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin )
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: Re: Somewhere in Time
Message-ID: <7683@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 24-Jan-85 16:33:29 EST
Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.7683
Posted: Thu Jan 24 16:33:29 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 27-Jan-85 05:17:44 EST
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Organization: USAMC ALMSA
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What really happens (personal and deeply-held belief follows :-) is that
there are an infinite number of parallel time-lines; each time a "choice"
is made (this can be a major decision, like Alexander the Great deciding to
go conquer the world vs. staying home and taking a nap, or a miniscule
event, like a particular subatomic particle jerking this way vs. that way
due to Brownian motion), a "split" in the timelines occur, with one
"universe" taking the path dictated by one choice, another for the next
choice, etc. (not just either/or, but multiple choices & paths are possible).

Since the vast majority of choices are on the miniscule level (subatomic
particles and all), there are an infinite (or very very large number) of
universes that are much alike. However, the major choices can result in
large differences (life never develops, the Spaniards conquer England, etc.),
and each of these "major divergencies" have their own many many variations
due to minor choices, so I think of the result as "infinite".

What this means is that ANYTHING is possible, and, if you go back in time
and kill your grandfather, you then return and nothing is changed. Your
grandfather died in ANOTHER timeline. Even if you go back over and over to
kill him, you are just splitting off more and more timelines. Your own
personal timeline, that resulted in you, always exists; each time you
go back, you just split more parallel lines off at the points you 
interact with the past. 

If you can really internalize this belief, and firmly BELIEVE it like
people believe in religious doctrine or principles, it can reduce a lot
of frustration. You can realize that it doesn't matter what you do,
because you are always doing everything in parallel. If you dislike 
someone, you can rest assured that in an infinity of universes, they
died in lingering torment (of course, so did you, and your loved ones,
because everything that could happen did...); in an infinite number
of universes, you are god-emperor of the world (and in another infinity,
you are a cesspool cleaner or a computer jock...). I haven't been able
to get myself into that belief-state yet; I only appreciate the truth
of this intellectually as yet. Wish I had had this drilled into me as
part of my catechism training...

Will