Assignment 21 - Kyle Hosey

>Be me
>Procrastinate by playing golf all day
>Remember I have blog posts to write
>Procrastinate more by watching half a season of Rick and Morty
>Think about how the infinite universe theory in the show makes a pretty good topic for this
>Log on and open 4th hour posts
>See Victor's 30-minute old post on literally that exact thing
>Me:


     Goddammit Victor. Ruining Socratic Seminars and my blog posts since 2017. Anyway, I guess I still have to actually write this, so I'm just going to go ahead with it, just in a different direction. It's late, it's a school night, and this GIF I put in is distracting me way too much to think of some other (inferior, I'm sure) topic, so spare me your judgement. Besides, Logsdon only explicitly said one per topic about the talent-showing thing, sooo... sue me. Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh, right, infinite universe theory. So without further ado...

     Somewhere, right now, in this universe, literally anything could be and is happening. There, I just rewrote Victor's blog in one phrase. Now, on to more elegant, non-peasant theories. Infinite universe theory holds that not only is time and space infinite for just a singular reality, but also for an infinite number of realities themselves. Also called multiverse theory, it is typically attributed to Edwin Schrodinger, because Austrians have incredibly twisted imaginations. Supporters of multiverse theory include Stephen Hawking and Neil DeGrasse Tyson. It's kind of related to the Schrodinger's Cat thought experiment, but it's a little easier to grasp. In the version of the theory seen in Rick and Morty, and indeed in most aspects of modern popular culture, every single eventuality under the laws of physics is provided for because every single duality, or crossroads if you will, causes the creation of a new parallel universe. Every situation with a heads/tails outcome exists, just in a different reality. The sheer number of permutations and combinations results in a multiverse of truly infinite possibility, not just one constrained to human action or indeed the action of any extraterrestrial species in our own universe. That means infinite lifeforms, variations on those lifeforms and their own, individual lives and actions... I would say "everything you can possibly imagine", but the nature of what this theory suggests cannot be encompassed by the greatest extent of human thought. For instance, just to quote the show, a planet that has a Purge just calls it "Murder Night". One version of earth has eleven 9/11s and giant telekinetic spiders. Hive-mind entities. The Amazons. That's the race of female warriors, not the river. So, to answer your question, at this moment literally anything is happening inside some reality, somewhere.

     I both hate and love thinking about the infinite universe theory. On the one hand, it's cool to imagine that everything physically possible has happened, is happening, and will happen in the future. It's like looking at the stars on a clear night, if you somehow managed to infuse that action/sensation with enough cocaine and LSD to overdose Keith Richards. On the other hand, it makes one feel rather small and insignificant, and we humans hate that. It basically confirms total nihilism, and that's a dangerous path to venture down. So perhaps, since the existence of a multiverse is probably not provable either way, it's best not to dwell on it too much. To go back to the well of Rick and Morty one last time:

     "What about the universe where Hitler cured cancer Morty!? The answer is don't think about it!"
     - Rick Sanchez


Note 1: I know I made Rick and Morty sound like this really weird, fringe TV show. Well, it is weird, but it's also intelligent, funny, and thought-provoking. Check it out sometime. Just not the pilot, because I thought that one was fringe-y.
Note 2: No, I was not on something while writing this.