Of Parallel Universes, Alternate Realities, Realms and Dimensions
As a side effect of the significant amount of Science Fiction I’ve been enjoying lately (most recently having devoured Fringe in no time), I’ve noticed a phenomenon that is almost as inexplicably over-present in fiction as vampires or zombies are: Parallel Universes. There’s just one thing in which Parallel Universes strikingly differ from fiction-favorites vampires and zombies: their existence can not be proven, nor can be proven that they don’t exist. They are the lab cat of science, locked in a box labeled “Schrodinger’s”. Science usually refers to Parallel Universes as the “Multiverse”, which I will also do here, mostly.
The idea of the Multiverse probably comes from the fact that our Universe is, in fact, not infinite. Somewhere, there is the end of the universe and we as humans can’t comprehend the nothingness beyond it. Therefore, theories exist of other universes, similar or completely different from the one we know. But if we could easily jump through the end of the universe into the next one, wouldn’t it be nonsensical to call it “parallel”? If you think about the mathematical definition of a parallel, you might remember from school that a parallel to one thing (e.g. a line you draw on your paper) can never touch it’s counterpart. Therefore it’s absolutely definitely utterly downright IMPOSSIBLE to cross into another universe and all your science fiction is BS.
But of course it wouldn’t be science fiction if it wouldn’t try to achieve the impossible. There must be some sort of deeply anchored, shared human desire of finding a better place for our species, which drives us to imagine entire worlds beyond our reality. One of the most popular notions in science fiction is that every decision we make creates a new parallel universe or “alternate reality” exploring the events that follow it (similar to the Butterfly effect). With this in mind, in visiting a bunch of parallel universes I could find out how my life would have progressed if my mother would have moved to New York with me when I was 14 instead of staying in Germany, how it would have progressed if I had gone to a real High School as opposed to a Design High School, what would have happened if I had not eaten breakfast this morning, and so on. But even if I could look into this “What If Machine”, what good would it be for me? That person who has made those decisions might look like me and be genetically identical, but is she really me? Probably not.
The trouble with this concept is that many sci-fi writers don’t think far enough. When they depict traveling back and forth between one of those universes and ours, they often forget something I always wonder about: how do they make sure they’re always traveling between the same two universes? I’ve been wondering this when watching the TV show Fringe, which in it’s first season explains the aforementioned theory (more than once) and later on only involves two parallel universes (as of the episodes I’ve seen so far). Maybe the writers are just plain sloppy. They constantly forget how much time it takes to drive from New York to Boston as well. (But it’s not only the Fringe writers – I wonder the same thing about the few Doctor Who episodes which deal with parallel universes).
There is however, one good work of science fiction which takes every possibility into account; the book “Interworld” by Michael Reaves and Neil Gaiman. Though it’s writing style is juvenile (well it is a young adult book) and clearly not Gaimanesque, they took all possibilities into consideration and created a very plausible explanation for all that is science fiction or fantasy in the media. In their concept of the multiverse, there are an infinite number of universes stacked on top of one another with one end being the “magic” end and the other being the “cyber” end. In every verse there are copies of the same individual, but sometimes with magic abilities, with feathers instead of hair, or as only half-human cyborgs. We are somewhere in the middle, perfectly balanced between supernatural things and technology (I guess). But the more you read that book and the more you ponder, you’ll find a place for the “Buffyverse” (magic heavy), the “Whoniverse” (science heavy) and every other possible fandom in there. Of course it gets a bit complicated if those Verses introduce yet more parallel universes or “dimensions”…
Dimensions as mentioned in Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel are in my opinion just another form of parallel universes, though slightly different – in that concept, there are no genetically identical copies of ourselves, but rather strange, strange creatures such as evil demons (and sometimes very polite demons who will spill their popcorn if scared in the dark). I’m not really sure how possible, impossible or probable it is in the Buffyverse to travel between dimensions – apparently it’s rather easy because Buffy is constantly nagged by demons. But we should forget that that show is not so much about the physical as about her inner demons.
Dimensions are probably another form of hidden worlds, such as the ones prominent in Clive Barker’s or Neil Gaiman’s novels. This is the “fantasy” approach to the multiverse, in which it’s possible to sail on a hidden see to a mystical archipelago of magical islands, to find a complete world woven into an old rug, to find an unnoticed civilization under ground or to cross into magical realms in a specific point of space and time.
That sounds pretty far-fetched, but looking at it’s origins, you don’t have to look far: concepts of realms of other creatures exist not only in literature, but also in folklore and religion. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam there are heaven and hell, equivalents of which can be found in Greek mythology, Norse mythology and many other lesser know mythologies and religions. Dante’s Inferno describes nine circles of hell, which could be interpreted as some sort of parallel universes as well. But probably a bit more circular than parallel.
Similar concepts exist in many works of lesser known fiction. Another recent example is the “Fourth Realm” trilogy of books by anonymous write John Twelve Hawks. Entertaining, though no masterpiece, it draws inspiration from the six realms of Buddhism where the fourth realm is the realm of humans. Other realms are those of the gods, that comparable to hell, one of demi-gods, one of animals and one of ghosts.
Another of my favorite notions concerning parallel universes is that shared by authors Neil Gaiman and Jostein Gaarder (and hinted at in the Shrek movies). In some of their novels, anything that you create in a collective imagination, exists. If you believe it exists, it exists. Hidden, beyond our eyes to see, in other realms – but they exist. So that’s good news for all you Harry Potter or Star Wars fanboys and girls – somewhere, there is a world where those characters live on with their lives. That sounds pretty ridiculous and impossible, but is it? 😉
Somewhere in between all those concepts of parallel universes, dimensions and realms, there is Paradise Lost-Fanboy Philip Pullman’s book trilogy “His Dark Materials”. It’s yet another work of fiction aimed at young readers with some quite interesting ideas. You might have seen “The Golden Compass”, which is the first of the three books. In it, only one universe is introduced – that of Lyra, a girl who lives in a steampunky Oxford which sports lots of zeppelins. The second book introduces a lot more universes which are sometimes more and sometimes less different from Lyra’s. Traveling between them is possible with a special knife which can cut a hole into the fabric of the universe(s) and create a portal. Unfortunately with dire consequences. The third book sucks and was waste of time, alas.
Zeppelins seem a must-have for every parallel universe. It’s the clichee of clichees when it comes to parallel universes in fiction – “His Dark Materials” has them, Fringe has them, and even Doctor Who has them. But why would anyone want to hang on to such a slow and bulky not to mention dangerous means of transport in the present day, where our technology is far more advanced? Where will our technology lead us? Will some scientist, some day, be able to prove the existence of world beyond our own? But will it cause those worlds to collide as so many fictional examples have taught us?
I think the most reasonable thing to do is live with what we got. We don’t even know anything about our own universe except that there are a few stars and planets in it, why bother to find another one?! Imagine scientists would prove the existence of parallel universes and the outcry that would follow of people wanting to see them with their own eyes. There are plenty of places to discover where no man has gone before in our own universe, but even that we cannot know, because why would we be so arrogant to believe there are no other planets inhabited by human-like creatures in this vast and seemingly endless space? Only the history of the future will tell…
Books referred to:
Dante Alighieri – Divine Comedy
Clive Barker – Abarat
Clive Barker – Days of Magic, Night of War
Clive Barker – Weaveworld
Jostein Gaarder – Sophie’s World
Jostein Gaarder – The Solitaire Mystery
Neil Gaiman – American Gods
Neil Gaiman – Anansi Boys
Neil Gaiman – Neverwhere
Neil Gaiman – Sandman Comics
Neil Gaiman – Stardust
Philip Pullman – Northern Lights
Philip Pullman – The Subtle Knife
Philip Pullman – The Amber Spyglass
Michael Reaves and Neil Gaiman – Interworld
John Twelve Hawks – The Dark River
I love this entry. I really like scifi and I’ve read most of the books on your list. I agree that there are so many holes in science fiction theories and sometimes it makes me angry but somehow I still enjoy it very much.
The Alternate Dimensions Crap is one of those storytelling devices that you really must make a point of overlooking if you’re reading SF works. It is simply everywhere. But it’s a good thing: Once the reader has accepted that parallel universe with such-and-such configuration is plausible, writers can use pretty much anything they can dream up without challenging suspension of disbelief in the slightest. It even helps to overcome the sad truth that SF writers have no sense of proportion (to a point).
That is why we find nearly every genre within Spec-Fi works. There are horror stories, crime novels, pulp — which have been common ever since the renaissance of SF in the 1960s — and, more recently, comedy (Adams, PTerry) or heart-wrenching romance novels (I think I only know the one by Audrey Nifenegger, but there appear to be a growing number of them) and every other genre via fanfic.
Many great SF authors have started their career by way of fan fiction (some are now ashamed of what they’ve written in the past, but that is another problem entirely). Having a pre-generated world and a convenient device to take the readers there seems to lower the entrance barrier substantially, giving unexperienced writers the opportunity to concentrate on what they’re going to say, without the headache of setting up the environment to do so.
Bam! Instant Kirk-Spock-lovestory. Harry Potter on a spaceship. Captain Jack Sparrow fighting Ninjas…
What’s not to like? Well, sometimes, it’s just too easy. Especially in TV, where the vast majority of storylines begin with somebody stepping throug a green, shimmering oval that conveniently pops up in their living room. Or the old Trek trick, a transporter accident. In short, when used by TV writers who need a quick filler episode on a budget, it produces the kind of story that has in the past given SF its bad image.
There have been a couple of shows that did not fall into the lure of Alternate Dimensions Crap, most notably Doctor Who, which makes especially good use of the trope, and Firefly, which shuns it completely to give way to actual character-driven storytelling.