Tag: free will

A Consequence of Multiverse and Simulation Theory

Preface: Multiverse theory varies in definitions depending on which specific interpretation you’re considering. For this article, we’re going to be focusing on multiverse theories that create infinite universes and thus will loop existing and past universes given enough time. Simulation theory, and simulated multiverse theory, states that existence is simulated in a highly advanced computer system. We’ll also be assuming that an infinite amount of simulated universes will be created over time.

The other night I was lying in bed thinking about multiverse and simulation theory and how it would affect my life. As I lay there imagining all the different consequences I suddenly leapt up and ran to my computer to take note of a realization that’s led to profound changes in my worldview. This theory and what it means for each of us may be of monumental importance and I urge you as the reader to thoroughly read this article and consider the implications.

Based on the preface above, duplicate or looping universes are an inevitability. Given enough time and iterations, our exact universe will loop again, atom for atom. And what this made me realize over the past week is that, if every moment will be lived again, why waste even a second? For example, imagine you live your entire life doing what you’re “supposed to do”. You go to school where you’re told to submit, conform, learn, be quiet, follow orders, etc. You go to college because it’s vitally important you get a degree so you can get a job, even though there’s no guarantee of employment, but there is guarantee of debt. You manage to secure a job you didn’t particularly plan for, but it pays the bills and you keep it. For a couple years you work there until a better offer comes and you slowly work your way up the corporate ladder. But unfortunately you find out that your degree only takes you so far and the highest position you can get is a senior position that does basically the same work, but has more responsibility because you have to manage “underlings”. You work these sort of jobs on and off your entire life, making a decent amount of money, but not so much that you can comfortably pay for everything you’d like. You work past 65 because of college payments for your kids and helping them along, and because you want to maximize savings before retirement, especially since social security is long over after the US financial collapse (we recover, but it’s not quite the same). Suddenly you’re old and approaching death. You finally take a moment to reflect on your choices and ask big questions like “what does life really mean?” You take comfort in the idea that after you die, you’ll go to heaven or just be dead and gone, and that you spent time with family and friends and things weren’t so bad. In fact, you decide it was a pretty good life (a heart rate monitor beeps next to you). Then darkness creeps in your vision and death finds you. But it’s not over quite yet. An instant later an infinite amount of universes play their hands with a vast array of possible timelines and alternate choices, and buried among them is this one, atom for atom. The exact timeline, ready to play again. And just as everything went dark, light bursts forth, and you’re born again, destined to live out your life exactly the same as before.

This is the revelation I had last week. That if there is an infinite amount of universes, and they can eventually loop atom for atom, then you will live again, and play out the same timeline as before. And what this should get you to realize is that every moment you’re alive and well is a moment you should maximize. A moment that, if spent unhappy, will be unhappy forever. For instance, after this thought had crossed my mind, I caught myself reading a news article that meant nothing to me. I stopped midway through and said, “why am I reading this? I’ve read this before and it does nothing for me. It doesn’t make me more happy or more intelligent. I’m just reading it because it was in my news feed.” The next day I was crossing a street, deep in thought, and a responsible driver stopped before the crosswalk to ensure I had enough space to get by. This behavior is something most people don’t do because they aren’t looking for pedestrians. But instead of me waving and smiling to this driver, I just continued on, and it wasn’t until a few steps past that I realized I would live that moment again. That I had the opportunity to spread positivity by wordlessly thanking that respectful driver, but I missed it. This realization is so profound because it literally impacts every moment of your life. It makes you ask, “what am I doing? Is this really the best I can do right now? Am I taking advantage of this moment?” It’s powerful and inspirational. It can motivate you to work harder and spread happiness. To strive for perfection.

There is another consequence to this realization, and one that many will probably not grasp right away. It’s that, unless we are the very first iteration of this timeline, your past, present, and future are all predetermined. Since you can only ever operate within the realm of possibility and this timeline will loop, and probably has before, you can only ever play out this selected timeline. Even if you know this. This can be a hard pill to swallow, but would ultimately be true if universes do indeed loop. You may think, “but I can be random and make changes, do something unexpected to change my future”. Unfortunately you cannot. Imagine you are the first iteration of yourself, with the ability to make all unique choices. When you die and a duplicate universe is born, would your future self, the one that is just as real as you, get to make new choices? How could he if the universe loops atom for atom? Even the slightest change, even a single new thought, is an entirely new universe. You cannot change your future in that sense, it is static and predetermined. It is also unlikely in the simulation or multiverse theory to assume you are the first because it is 1:∞, or: the chance you are not the first universe is infinitely more likely than being the first one. So abandon all hope ye who enter. But on the bright side, does it really matter? All experiences from your perspective are new and novel and even feel like you’re making them.

Again, I know this realization can be hard to accept because of the implications, but it’s incredibly interesting to consider. On the plus side, you will live again and experience all the great moments you yearn for, you’ll see your deceased family and friends again, and you can take advantage of this knowledge by making life amazing from this moment on. On the negative side, you don’t have free will and your entire life is predetermined, people who’ve drawn a bad hand and died young or suffered dearly, will do it again, it still doesn’t answer any big questions like why does all this exist in the first place?, and it probably destroys any precept of religion existing or an afterlife. It’s monumental and profound and deserves deep consideration. I personally have not decided on whether this is likely or not, but I have begun making changes to support it. I suggest you do the same. Thanks for reading.

The Zen Practice of Living in the Moment

The other week I proposed an experiment where the subject would use meditation to try and rapidly alter their personality. This week I want to talk about another interesting and potentially beneficial activity to try out. This one, in my opinion, is probably virtually impossible to achieve, unless you’re a zen master, but could greatly increase your ability to focus, control your emotions, stay motivated, become more aware, etc.

The activity is very simple, all you’re doing is utilizing traditional zen thinking to calm and focus your mind. You should approach everything you do that day with 100% focus. For instance, when washing the dishes, focus entirely on the visual and tactile experience of the soap and water. What you’ll find is an immediate difficulty in trying to quell random thoughts from entering your mind. This is what we’re fighting, the constant barrage of extraneous thoughts your brain is transmitting to your conscious mind.

Aside: this is one area I’ve often thought about. First, your brain is probably transmitting thoughts that your conscious mind is becoming aware of, depending on how strong the neural connection is. Strong neural connections stimulated via the external environment through your senses will vary in strength recalling certain previous experiences, so it seems logical to assume that your brain is more a receiver of signals than something that generates them. This is why questioning your free will is important. Of course it seems like we can manipulate these thoughts and alter our personality and perception of reality. But I often wonder why it’s so important to focus on clearing your thoughts and focusing your mind in the zen tradition. Is it because a constantly active mind is somehow inherently bad? Or is it because much of our environment is littered with negative energy you’re unknowingly absorbing? Or is it simply to become stronger by exercising your power of will? Or perhaps it’s because slowing down and focusing unlocks the realizations I mention below.

So why bother interspersing this activity into your daily life? Because it results in some very powerful rewards. The first is the most obvious: a heightened level of focus. This has some close attachments as well, like an increased attention span and willpower. And with these changes, you realize the importance of one-dimensional focus and how much more efficient you are when employing it. It’s important to note here that it is myth that humans can multitask. Instead it seems more likely that we simply shift quickly between what we’re focused on. And even if we do have multitasking abilities they are very primitive and only result in reduced quality to whatever multiple things we are focused on. We cannot focus on two independent tasks and achieve the same level of quality had we focused on them individually. And if you analyze highly successful and motivated people, they often, if not always, focus on singular goals and tasks and work to complete them, rather than managing many different things. I’ve personally found this to be very beneficial and something I wished I had learned earlier on.

There are deeper realizations that result from this sort of practice as well. One is an increased sensitivity and awareness to your emotion and surroundings. This is something you may take for granted at first but becomes incredibly apparent later on. Although I will admit that it can also be really depressing at times because you’ll notice your absorption of negative energy more clearly. I think before the realization you simply absorb it without notice and may even block it out more, but ultimately you’re still gaining negative energy. This realization can help you notice it, get away from whatever is causing it, and meditate back into a happier state. This also helps explain why people react negatively after a long day with things like outbursts, crying, etc. It’s because a lot of times you’re absorbing a high amount of negative energy (tension, stress, etc.) during the day you’re not even aware of it and eventually you crack under the pressure. If we never slept we’d see many more people breaking down all the time and exploding with emotion. Sleep breaks the cycle and resets our energy, but with this awareness you can manually manage it and ensure that you feel happy and content whenever you want to be.

The next realization is this idea that you have much less control over your mind than you think you do. We all go about our lives thinking we have free will and are in control of our actions, but through this sort of practice and meditation, you begin to realize that your conscious mind is often times at the mercy of your brain. That your inability to control the thoughts flooding into your conscious mind, even though you desperately want to stop them, reflects just how little of control you actually have. And eventually this leads to this idea that we have degrees of willpower and that you must earn control by exercising it. The crazy thing is that it becomes increasingly apparent in people around you. You’ll begin to notice all these weird little things that humans do that you never really noticed before, and you’ll realize that many of them are like automated behaviors that their brains are doing outside of their control. It’s really weird and gives you the impression that you’re living among half-aware robots.

Self-improvement and enlightenment are long journeys and this is just one tiny glimpse of the puzzle. Zen thinking, calming your mind, clearing your thoughts, meditation, etc. are all designed at awakening your mind. Don’t expect to try these practices with the hope that days, weeks, or even months later you’ll understand it. I’ve been doing these sort of things for 4-5 years and I’m just now beginning to really notice changes. Be patient, be diligent, and the rewards of heightened states will come to you.

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