This article is classified "Fictional"
Universe Hopping - an Everyday Experience
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I have noticed that lately (since 1905) there's been a lot of interest in
Einstein's theory of relativity. This theory deals with what happens at
velocities close to the speed of light. Einstein's theory has a lot of
applications in science, for instance in astronomy and elementary particle
physics. The theory is also a grateful subject for layman dinner table
speculations and discussions. I think Einstein's theory seems so
interesting because it deals with phenomena very far from our daily
experience.
All this time these people have neglected to pay attention to all the
things going on at relatively low velocities like for instance the
velocities of trains, cars, bicycles, hikers and people not moving at all
(the motion operandi of the hitchhiker). This is to their loss, because
there are so much unexpected interesting phenomena at these velocities.
In this article I will reveal to the world one of these phenomena.
Definition of the Universes
---------------------------
My experience is that each of the aforementioned velocities has its own
reality or universe. To be more precise, each velocity interval around
the average speed of the vehicle used to attain this velocity has a
certain universe attached to it. The interval edges of a universe are a
bit fuzzy: in which universe you are at a given velocity mostly depends
on which hopping device you are in.
For reasons of convenience I have named these universes the T-, C-, B-, H-
and PNMAA- (or just Z-) universes (from respectively the Train-, Car-,
Bicycle-, Hiker- and the People-Not-Moving-At-All- (or Zero-) universes.)
One might be led to believe that there is another alternate universe, the
one where the minds reside of some people of whom you at first glance might
say "Wow, here's a dude living in a whole different universe altogether,"
but in this case the phenomenon is purely psychological.
Optical Observations of the Universes
-------------------------------------
You might wonder how I got this idea of several universes instead of the
simpler idea of only the one we think we live in. Just one universe seems
simpler, but it must be clear that we observe different things travelling
at different speeds. Generally we observe geometrically large structures
when going fast and small lines when going slow.
But what exactly is it that we observe? Imagine driving through a city in
a car. You see blocks of houses and stores, sometimes being able to read
what kind of stores they are, but most of the time without a clue to what's
really inside. It is clear that you can't drive through a store to observe
the interior, so as far as you are concerned the interior doesn't even
exist. Slowing down to have a peak is leaving the general speed of your
vehicle and transferring to a different universe again.
On the other hand, *walking* down that "same" street will give you a
complete different set of observations. You can discern most of the
different products in the windows and read who had put them there for you.
If you stand still you can even read how much the products cost and how
much they are supposed to have cost last week (mostly in flagrant disagree
with last week's observations of the same tag). When walking, however,
you do miss the understanding of the larger structures plus the amusing
sight of pedestrians hurriedly running away from you to get themselves out
of the path of the rapidly nearing vast amount of metal you are sitting in
(especially near zebras).
Clearly two different universes altogether!
Just to show how very different our observations at these low velocities
are from observations at the speed of light, consider this. If you were
to move at the speed of light, you would be able to see a weird bright dot
in front of you [1]. This is not the so called "tunnelvision," but a
consequence of Einstein's theory of relativity.
Hopping Devices
---------------
You have surely noticed that the transition to other universes is only
possible with help of machines. To be more specific: electricity-to-motion
converters (electromotors); fuel-to-motion converters (combustion engines);
muscle-to-motion converters (pedals); chemical energy to motion converters
(muscles) and, well, food to fat converters (enzymes). It must be clear
what the more common names for these machines are (otherwise, get a life!)
Now for a moment be amazed by the wonder of the difference between the
archaic ideas about universe hoppers from the extensive Science Fiction
literature and the simplicity of the everyday universe hoppers.
(*Amazement*)
There are other hopping devices which are not machines. Strictly seen,
these fall outside the course of this article. These jumping devices are
optical in nature and they refract light. They are called spectacles.
Spectacles are completely velocity unrelated. However, the number of
alternate universes you can be in can be doubled with them. Spectacles
add details, or differently put, smaller lengths to what you see, but a
Spectacles-C-universe (SC) is not equal to an ordinary B-universe. In
principle you see the same details, but not the same amount of them,
because you don`t have enough time to see as much.
There are also more fine tuned, miniaturized devices that work on this same
principle. These are called contact lenses, but they are more complex and
difficult to handle and maintain, as is most of the most modern, state of
the art technology.
Hopping Patterns
----------------
This jumping between universes has a certain pattern. A high velocity
universe is commonly used to translate fast in the Zero-universe. The
jumping through hyperspace to get to other stars in a fraction of time,
taking place in myriads of science fiction books, ought to give you the
right picture. On our scale though, it is much simpler. It is even so
simple that it is possible to draw maps which can be used in several
alternate universes at the same time! And note: this has been done!
Everyone has, of course, seen one of these maps one time or other,
but few know that these are multiverse maps.
Exploring a Universe
--------------------
The higher the velocity, the less we are able to observe and scrutinize
the accompanying universe. Try smelling a green, white, blue and yellow
field from a train! (This would be a lovely odouring flower covered
meadow in the Zero-universe). From fast to slow the hearing, smelling,
feeling, and tasting sense perceptions are added, in respective order, to
the seeing sense perception.
An example: from a train you can see (and provided it takes you through a
heavy industrialized or heavy farm animal dunged area, smell). One might
be mislead to say that you can feel and taste in a train as well. That
is wrong. The T-universe is outside the train, surrounding a local
Zero-universe. Indeed, one can use all the sense-organs one has and take
in all the sensory input there is in the Zero-universe.
Space in a Universe
-------------------
Anthropocentrically, the low velocity universes are spatially bound.
Strange as this may seem at first, we have a smaller amount of space to be
in (the body) in a high-velocity universe, than in a lower one. (This law
breaks down when exceeding the T-universe, as I shall soon explain).
Hiking, in principle, you can get everywhere, but in trains, you are
limited to area's which in the other universes correspond to railway rails
and some space surrounding it.
As I said before, this law breaks down at higher velocities. In the plane
and helicopter universe (P&H-universe), space extends from the complete
shell of earth, to high into the atmosphere. The spacecraft universe
(S-universe) even extends to infinity, but this is in fact the domain of
Einstein's special relativity, and as the S-universe is beyond the reach of
the average hitchhiker, it is not interesting to us.
Conclusion
----------
If after reading this article you are not convinced and think that, to say
the least, my logic is a bit fuzzy, remember about how successful fuzzy
logic is becoming in the world of computers; why shouldn't it work here?
I hope you will now hitchhike with a complete different perception of the
world around you than that of the average car-driver (if this wasn't so
already).
[1] Could it be that before the universe began, God was driving his Ferrari
at the speed of light (looking at this bright dot in front of Him,
representing the state of the universe). For some reason He must have
pulled over (not because of malfunctions or lack of fuel because
everyone knows He is all-powerful and all-mighty and all-knowing),
causing the dot to expand... (hmm... is there a highway patrol that can
stop even God? Or was He just slowing down because He, allknowingly,
*knew* there was a radar control coming up..?)