In the course of the series of books initiated by The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, author Douglas Adams introduced a “Total Perspective Vortex”, which unequivocally showed to one of the characters in the particular book that he was the most important being in the Universe. As it turned out, the character had inadvertently stepped into a computer simulation created solely for him; as such, he was the most important being within that simulation, because he was the only being in it. That evokes for me a question that arose from attempting to ponder parallel realities and the “Many Worlds” theory of quantum physics. That question is whether “Earth Game” is a single-player game or a multi-player game. Put another way, am I the only one actually here within my current version of Earth Game? I conclude that I am not. For the why of that, read on.
A recent article in Scientific American postulated that the “measurement problem” in quantum physics could prove to be a “poison pill” for objective reality. What we know for sure from quantum physics is there is something subjective about how our reality comes into being. Whether Schrödinger’s cat is alive or dead depends on what we observe. That act of observation is seen as somehow collapsing the superposition. The question posed in the article was whether a single coin toss could come up heads for one observer while coming up tails for another observer.
The problem from my perspective is that, if you and I are in the same room, and a single coin toss comes up heads for me and tails for you, then “you” aren’t really here in “my” reality. There is some version of you in my reality, and some version of me in yours, but we aren’t actually interacting. That is, you are playing a version of Earth Game, and I am playing a different one. By extrapolation, I’m the only one here, and you are the only one there.
Popular culture has run wild of late with “multiverse” thinking. Based on the “Marvel Universe” or the recent movie Everything Everywhere All at Once, there are multiple versions – countless versions, actually – of each of us running around out there. That feels a little too chaotic to me; and it feels off.
Admittedly, my thinking may be biased in that I just don’t like the notion that I am the only one here. In particular, I just can’t abide the notion that my significant other (i.e., the love of my life) hasn’t ever been here with me, and that all these years I have been interacting with program-generated versions of her consciousness. That just doesn’t ring true for me.
When I come at it from a more coldly logical point of view, I arrive at the same conclusion. The spectacular inefficiency embedded in the notion that the Earth Game program runs a number of scenarios that for all practical purposes is infinite makes that seem highly unlikely. One needs to come back to the always-key question of why? Why on Earth would the creator (call it “God” or “Source” or “All-That-Is” or “Consciousness” or whatever) go to all that trouble? Moreover, if every possible exercise of the all-important free will – i.e., every choice – actually plays out, how is free will even relevant? And how does the science experiment that life is maintain any meaning or relevance?
Here is where I think quantum physics loses the plot. Our scientists are perpetually looking to the physical world to explain what is happening here in Earth Game. But if quantum physics tells us anything, it is that if we are to understand what is happening here we have to peek beyond the physical, beyond the willful blindness of materialism. Here is the key point: the “Many Worlds” or “Multiverse” are not happening at the physical level of reality. No, they are happening at the quantum level of reality, which means non-physical. (And no, let’s not make the mistake of thinking that “quantum” means super-tiny but still physical; sorry, Ant-Man, swing-and-a-miss on that, methinks.)
The “program” that Earth Game is no doubt runs scenarios at every choice point along the way. But I think it does so in order to have them ready to go for us regardless of whether we choose to zig as opposed to zag. But all this is happening at the quantum level; i.e., in the “Quantum World” as opposed to the “Physical World” (see my earlier article “Quantum Living, Simplified”). The program doesn’t bother to drop into the Physical World every possible eventuality. Again, that would be highly inefficient to the point of ridiculousness.
So how does the “program” intermediate as among your “Quantum Signal” and mine and the Quantum Signal of every other player within Earth Game? Well, that is the genius of the “Universe”, which is the shorthand I use to describe how the program works within Earth Game. Our science keeps looking for some sort of mechanical process to explain what precipitates into our physical reality (i.e., as sub-atomic particles pop in and out of existence). But they will never find a mechanical process, because not only is it a non-physical process, it is an intelligent process. The Universe, in its genius and its wisdom, weaves and blends and fits things together, orchestrating synchronicities and serendipities and lining up causes for the events that will be a fit for the soup of Quantum Signals that we are collectively emitting in the Quantum World. The Universe continually produces a soup that is a match for that soup – while at the same time producing a reality that is tailor-made for our individuated Soul’s path and the Quantum Signals we are individually putting out there. (If you ponder that notion just a bit, you should find yourself in awe of the brilliance of the Universe in action.)
Some things in “the soup” are going to be there for us all. For example, I don’t believe any of us fully dodged the effects of the COVID pandemic. And yet, we were affected by it on a highly individuated basis. Some lost their livelihood, others thrived. Some became very ill (or worse); others, if they eventually did catch the virus, experienced it as a cold that was entirely transitory.
Some things that are in “the soup” for all of us may be there because, for now, they need to be. (I am thinking in this particular regard about a particular war.) When we are collectively ready to be done with such things, they will leave for all of us. In some respects, we are on an evolutionary journey together. Even though the details along the way will be experienced on a very individuated basis, we are in it together.
(As an aside, I postulate that the one time we may actually be off on our own is during the “life review” that, by many accounts, takes place immediately following death, i.e., as part of the debriefing process following a round of Earth Game. I gather that, as part of the life review, some may have lengthy experiences of roads not taken. That is, the “program” would play those “what ifs” out for them in as much detail as was helpful to their personal journey. But, in that limited scenario, I would think all that would play out as a single-person version of Earth Game; i.e., the “program” would supply facsimiles of other players.)
I like the feeling that, at the deepest level, we are all in it together here in Earth Game. It feels true to me. I make my choice accordingly: I am not playing this game alone. No, we are in it together, and I celebrate your comradeship and your company. As we move forward together – no, not in lockstep, but as teammates – on our evolutionary journey homeward.
Notwithstanding my above conclusion, a case can be made that one’s experience within Earth Game is way more subjective than what might appear; likely more subjective than objective. Perhaps that is not the case relative to major world events or societal mores. But at the individual level, a whole lot turns on what one chooses to pay attention to. That applies not only at the physical level but more importantly at the quantum level; what you pay attention to will generate more of the same. That can be more beauty, more love, more abundance; or, it can be more of things you don’t want. Even viewed through a purely materialistic lens, it is easy to see that some individuals (and their businesses) thrive in recessions, and that some go broke during economic booms.
Beyond all that, there is a subjective element in perception. Viewed from the perspective of Abraham (as channeled delightfully by Esther Hicks), physical reality is a “vibrational interpretation”. As they see it, “Manifestation is always in the eye of the beholder”. Obviously, we don’t see it quite that way, and we likely can’t see it from that perspective. But we do know that this world of “Maya”, i.e., illusion, is mostly a trick of the light.
Coming back to my initial question, I invite you to carry on, Earth-Gamer, from the standpoint I have adopted: You are not alone.