Joe Blog #14: The Block Universe Theory...

Well let’s just start off by saying I don’t understand it really and this is Joe’s topic. Hahaha.  Here goes...well, I am not really sure.

I think it is really hard for me to wrap my mind around this concept because I have so bought into time as a linear thing.  Thinking about time as a variable that exists in some other time other than linear...is hard, like really hard for me.

The block universe theory (in case you, like me, were completely unaware), also known as eternalism, proposes that all points in spacetime, including past, present, and future, exist simultaneously. It's a static, four-dimensional structure where time is not considered a flow but rather a dimension, like space. This contrasts with the common perception of time as a linear progression where events unfold sequentially.

Yeah, I know it made my head hurt also.  I really thought when it was proposed as a topic it was some new Mindcraft universe.  I know, I know, you think I am kidding, but I am not.  Like at all.

Fuck, I am really not sure I am going to be able to write anything intelligent here...

I guess the best I can do is to see that perhaps the past, present and future do all exist at the same time in my consciousness.  I mean, right now, in this “present” moment I am capable of going to the past and future and so they “exist” simultaneously because I can and am thinking about all three at the same time.  My thoughts about the past today are capable of changing not the factual events that actually happened way back when, but they are capable of changing the past for me.  So the past that existed for me yesterday can be different today because of the new way I choose to think about it.  Same goes with the future.  And I suppose the present, although that one really fucks with my mind.

I feel like I would have done a better job thinking about this earlier in my life when my mind was sharper and more malleable.  Today, sometimes, my brain feels like soggy oatmeal that I am just trying to work my way through.  I miss the clarity and razorsharpness of my past.  But I guess in the block universe theory, my razor sharpness still exists in this present moment and I would really like to find it as I move through this dimensional space/time continuum...but fuck if I know where it is currently.

There are some parts of me that find peace in the thought that everything exists within this block:  all the past, the present and the future.  And I can just make my way about it and know that it is all contained herein.  But that whole easy idea that initially brings peace to me gets fucked hard when I think about the block being about as concrete as outer space.   Then my mind is blown and I feel myself floating out in space on some fatal mission to find the present moment amidst the nebulous past and present and ever looming future.

I think I am just not smart enough to really grasp the concept.  Or perhaps, I just don’t have the mind necessary to grasp this...I met someone recently that plays mile marker math (that is a blog subject for another day) which is basically doing math word problems in your head while driving.  Why anyone would do this is beyond me, and why anyone would also think it was fun, really perplexes me.  I am amazed at the way and manner this person’s mind works in ways that mine just doesn’t.  He drives for hours lost in mile marker math and me I am trying to solve the relational inequities of gender roles and love.  Both tend to be all consuming, just roll out very differently.

I do not have a scientific mind.  I have a good mind that is intelligent and relatively reliable, but I just don’t have the kind of mind that can do complex math problems in my head.  Math and physics have always been a struggle for me.  So when poised with a question that feels existential, mathematical and physical, I struggle to find my place at that particular table.

I guess what I will say in relation to block universe theory is I am sure that I don’t completely get it.  And while it makes my head hurt just thinking about it, I know that I will spend the better part of the next month thinking about it.  Likely I will get nowhere...but, perhaps I can hope to come to understand that which I do not, better.

I guess, what this whole block universe theory has given me is a new experience with how my mind works and how it doesn’t.  And as much as my tired, old brain just wants to fall into a regular groove about love, commitment and relationships, I know I will find myself drawn to that which I do not understand and have trouble comprehending.  My brain likes problems.  A lot.  In fact, I am sure that my brain creates problems just to have something to do and solve.  So I guess the block universe theory is going to be a new rut for me to ponder.

For today, me and all my pasts, presents and futures have to move onto getting ready to board a plane to the east coast where time and space are different than they are here in my current environment.  I get that the time and space over there exists in the same universe as my current time and space...so maybe I am capable of thinking in blocks and not just in straight lines.

I really do love straight lines though...so clear and I find comfort in that.  The block universe theory makes me feel like I am on a space mission without support and a relatively low oxygen supply.  But also, an attitude of “well since I am out here...”

And like everything else, my brain tends to glom onto things and not let go...and now, thanks to Joe, I have something new to think about that causes me as much consternation as it does intrigue...which is kinda cool, I guess.  I can feel my mind expanding out in all directions in this very vague, free floating way and that is kind of cool, and I am pretty sure what people on acid experience.  I have never done acid so I do not know for sure...which is exactly how I feel about this whole block universe topic...

Again...still.