Next was comic books. DC Comics had been around for forty-two plus years when I started reading them, and they needed to explain why Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman had never aged since fighting the Nazis. It was explained that the world where Superman and the Justice Society fought in WWII was an alternate universe, and that universe's Earth was dubbed Earth 2. Earth 2's Justice Society often teamed with the Justice League of Earth 1. The Earth 2 heroes did look like they aged, but at a slightly lower rate than normal.
Thanks Superman. There are other examples of alternate universes in popular culture. Fox had a show on in the nineties called "Sliders" where they explored a different universe every week. On one Earth, Texas wasn't part of the United States, on another the United States was still a colony, you get the picture.
In the sixth installment of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, two of our world jumping/time travelling heroes encounter mobster Jack Andolini, who had died in the second installment. This version was 10 years younger, and it was discussed what would happen if they killed him years before he was supposed to die. They decided that either they wouldn't be able to, or that the universe where they nor stood was different than the one where Andolini died, so therefore there would be no paradox.
I started thinking about parallel universes. If they exist, wouldn't they be connected to the one we live in? And is it possible to travel between the dimensions?
One night I was talking to my sister on the telephone. She was distressed because she had made plans to come to my mothers house for Thanksgiving, and she had discussed these plans at length with mom. Only mother had told her it was impossible for her to have spoken with her on the day and time my sister said she did, because she was not home all day that day. How could my sister remember something that never happened?
I believe that all realities are happening at once, and that one's consciousness can drift through them unknowingly, often picking up memories of things that never happened in our reality, but did happen on another plane of existence. After all, would not the same person existing in two realities not be of the same mind? How thick could a wall between the two sets of experiences be?
Back in the mid-nineties I had a job as a pizza delivery man. I would often deliver until 2:00 A.M. i discovered a radio program called Coast to Coast with Art Bell. one night, Art was talking with a guest about "time slips". I don't remember the guests name, but he said the government was participating n time travel, and the reality where we now resided was a result of altered history. Was the guy a kook? Maybe, but I remember Art Bell saying that he had a very distinct memory of hearing on the news in the 1970's that Nelson Mandela had died while serving a prison term in South Africa, and he had spoken with others who had heard that as well. His theory was that he was remembering an altered timeline that someone had changed by use of a time machine. My theory is that he was "remembering" a false memory, because his mind and the mind of his alternate self from that universe intertwined in some way. I had later searched the web for a broadcast or an archive of this conversation, but I have so far come up empty. You're just going to have to trust me that the show I described happened, and that is how I remember it. Years later I saw the following video with President Bush, and I remembered that particular Art Bell show.
I thought an interesting comment was made to me when I heard someone say "where's Mandela?" Well, Mandela's dead. Because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas.
Was this just our president being an idiot? After hearing and remembering that particular Art Bell show, I don't think so. It has been said that GW is not in touch with reality, but what if this was because he was in touch with another reality? maybe he just heard the CNN report in 2003.
In 2003 Mandela's death was incorrectly announced by CNN when his pre-written obituary (along with those of several other famous figures) was inadvertently published on CNN's web site due to a fault in password protection.[107] In 2007 a fringe right-wing group distributed hoax email and SMS messages claiming that the authorities had covered up Mandela's death and that white South Africans would be massacred after his funeral. Mandela was on holiday in Mozambique at the time.
In this reality, Nelson Mandela is still very much alive. In fact, he recently celebrated his 90th birthday.
Disclaimer, I am not a physics major, so the following is just how I see things.
I have put forth my view that alternate universes exist, and that they effect some of our thoughts and feelings. Now I want to take a moment to reflect on the fourth dimension. if alternate realities exist, they would be three dimensional like ours, only existing on a slightly different vibrational frequency. To be four dimensional you would have to exist outside of time in some way. It's hard to imagine, but in the fourth dimension you could see all time happening at the same time. You could also see all the realities and all of their time as well. It's hard for us to imagine because we cannot grasp concepts such as infinity, much like a two dimensional image cannot grasp the concept of space.
What if ancient concepts like the afterworld, heaven and hell existed in the fourth dimension? I believe these concepts were early attempts of explaining the unexplainable complexities of the fourth dimension. So if this is true, what of our alternate selves? If they were to journey to the fourth dimension, it would be a singular fourth dimension. For example, if Mandela from universe A were to die and go to heaven, he would not go to heaven A because there would be no heaven A, there would only be heaven, so that is where he would go. A few years later Mandela from universe B dies, and when he gets to heaven Mandela A is waiting for him. I theorize they would exchange experiences and then probably wait for all the other Mandelas from all the other universes to join them. When they are all there, they would merge. After this occurs, I'm not sure what happens. (I'm not sure about any of this, it's just thoughtful speculation.)
This theory had been rolling around in my head for awhile, then I saw it on film! Captain Jack Sparrow journeys to the underworld (fourth dimension), and runs into multiple versions of himself. This scene made perfect sense to me, as I saw the multiple Jacks as multiple versions of Jack who had died in alternate realities.
If anyone else has a theory to explain this scene, let me know.
I've enjoyed sharing this theory with all of you. Drop me a line and let me know what you think.
Update 10/31/08
Just found this.
From "Fantasy Encyclopedia" by Judy Allen page 125, the entry on Doppelgangers.
The name doppelganger means "double-goer" in German and is more often translated as double walker or co-walker. Like the fetch, it is the exact replica of a specific human being, and it is usually believed that to see one's own doppelganger is to receive warning that death is close. Certainly the French writer Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) said that he saw his doppelganger toward the end of his life, and it is said that both Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) and the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) saw theirs shortly before their deaths. However there are cases where - either because of a wrinkle in time or because some people are able to project images of themselves a doppelganger has been seen by several people, but the person it represents has continued to live for many years.
