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One of my all-time favorite anime is Steins Gate.
It’s about a scientist who invents a device that lets him send text messages to people in the past.
But every time he sends a message he enters a slightly different reality due to the butterfly effect (small changes compound to huge consequences).
Ever since watching it, my view of life has now been based on this multi-dimensional interpretation of time.
Is this view backed by science? Don’t know. Don’t care.
But it is very psychologically useful.
To think that there isn’t just one world, but multiple. Things that happen aren’t predestined but probabilistic. And every choice matters.
Throw a die 5 times and you get different results each time. Run WW2 over again and the Nazis might win. Repeat biological evolution on earth and humans might not exist.
We’re biased toward this reality because we only see what happens. Not what could’ve happened.
Now you might be asking:
But how the fuck, does this help my life?
And I would say, because it affects everything.
Even though you may not have a time machine. You make choices every second of every day. Each choice creates a branching reality.
There’s another dimension where you did something else.
As a personal example: 5 years ago I made the decision to drop out of school to pursue a more creative path.
Right now I can only see the consequence of this decision.
But another dimension exists where I never left because this choice was far from the easiest one to make.
At the time I was facing opposition from every direction and only the small voice in my head convinced me to do what I wanted.
This means that in another dimension you would not be reading this.
Because the experiences that led me to create this blog would not have happened.
More importantly, I would’ve been a different person.
To stay in school, even when my soul called for something different would’ve meant killing that part of myself.
You ever meet one of those people who seem dead inside?
Like the light has gone out from their eyes?
You’re looking at someone whose inner voice died a while ago. Buried by the fears, instructions, and well-meaning advice of others.
Like in Ikuru, they’ve forgotten what it means to truly live.
Looking back, dropping out was the right thing for me. My most popular article to date is about this experience.
But still, sometimes I think of the other Lenny, the one who stayed in school. The one who killed a part of himself to conform.
I wonder what life is like for him. But most of all, I’m glad I’m not him.
I take this exercise of thinking about alternate dimensions very seriously now.
I thought about it when I decided to stop freelance writing and start my own business. Because I could see an alternate dimension where I didn’t have my own voice or audience and was just a hired pen.
I thought about it when I decided to persist despite failures in starting this business. Because I could see that a reality where I stopped trying was a reality where failure was final.
You get the point.
Time travel is already possible in a limited way because you can project yourself into different possible timelines.
Listen to your inner voice.
How do you feel in each possible dimension?
Then choose the most empowering one.
Until, next time friend ✌