The Multiverse

There is a famous thought experiment that simplifies the concept of quantum superposition called Schrödinger’s cat. A cat is placed inside an opaque and enclosed box. In addition to the cat, there is a contraption comprising of a mechanical trigger attached to a hammer. A radioactive isotope is placed inside, along with a Geiger counter (device used to measure radioactive particles). Within an hour, if the isotope decays, the Geiger counter will trip the trigger, and drop the hammer onto an ampule of hydrogen cyanide, poisoning the cat. (Yeah, morbid, I know.) This is used to illustrate after the hour, the cat is said to be neither alive nor dead. It is in a state called superposition, where it is BOTH alive and dead at the same time. Only after opening and checking do we then find out what the case is.

This thought experiment leads to the many worlds theorem, which suggest that choices which have multiple outcomes, will each branch off into its own universe or timeline. In the case of Schrödinger’s cat, there will be two separate timelines create, one where the cat lives, and one where the cat dies. Although the life status of a cat is quite insignificant in the grand scale of the universe, it really taps into the crux of human psyche; do we have free will to make choices in our lives? How different would our lives be had we made other decisions? Is it even possible to reasonable predict what WOULD have happened?

Causality

Obviously, we can’t predict the future. We do our best to make well informed decisions with our past knowledge and our present status. Take (Robert Wayne)[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Wayne]. Unbeknownst to most people, other than Steve, and the other Steve, Apple had another founder. This man was Robert Wayne. He had a 10% share of Apple (about $4000 USD adjusted for inflation) when it was founded on April 1, 1976. On April 12, 1976, less than 2 weeks later, he resigned from the company, and cashed out. Most people would have said that he made the biggest mistake of his life selling. Yeah, but how the fuck was he supposed to know that Apple would blow up like that? Robert Wayne had first hand experience in business failure, and with the rocky relationship with both Steves, he deemed that leaving was “the best decision with the information available to me at the time”. Well, considering he made that decision, he’s still alive today, stating he “probably would have ended up the richest man in the cemetary” had he stayed with the added stress. Steve Jobs passed in 2011 from pancreatic cancer.

It goes to show that any choices that we make in life will really snowball in every way possible. Every single choice will snowball in a different way, there’s no dead end, except for being dead. We can’t predict what will happen with moderate accuracy, so the majority of us like to play the game of statistics. Some of us gamble that if we make “good” choices in our life, we will be rewarded in the future.

The Supenatural

Some of us don’t really like the uncertainty of the future. That might be a major reason why a subsciption to religion is so widespread. The majority of all theistic religions share one common message which goes something like “Do to others what you would have them do to you”. The golden rule as you may know. Personally, I think it’s flawed. I’ve mentioned before that anyone who wants to “game” the “system” can just farm these good merit points to cash them out later. Its purely transactional. Do something good for someone else, and they’ll return the favour, or someone else good will come your way. And vice versa. The dicotomy between good and evil basically create a free economy, where instead of fiat money being transacted, its good/evil deeds.

Although, how can you even tell that you’re being genuine? In the absence of a god, is there any other metric that you can measure your “kindness” level? Maybe its that easy to spot someone being fake. Otherwise, if you participate in this merit economy, does that ironically make you a bad person?

I think that if you’re raised subscribed under a religion (and actually follow it for the most part), being genuine is easy. It comes naturally. Since it doesn’t take that much effort to resist temptation, I’d argue that a murderer preserving life, a rapist raising children, and a thief contributing to charity is more virtuous than someone who has no capability to commit such crimes. Everyone has their version of a malevolence in them. The idea of “good” cannot exist without the possibility of evil. I believe that it takes a tremendous amount of temperance to be able to allow the inner demon that resides in everyone a chance to be present, but never to manifest.

Say you start studying MMA. With enough time, effort, and dedication, the average person can quite literally become a human weapon. But the first thing that is taught when studying is the idea of control. If you become the knife, you have the capability to stab. It is then noble to show restraint, and not be violent if you KNOW it will benefit you. Someone who does not have that capability is therefore not virtuous, but simply weak. Not necessarily a negative trait, but it is not to be confused with being virtuous. You don’t even have to be trained in a fighting technique. If some fucko at a party is trying to shit talk you, not punching them square in the face is a good action in and of itself.

A|B

We’re always going to make decisions. Its upto us to make the most well informed one we can. One that adds to your merit XP, but dont count it. Some choices may seem neutral, but might favour one side over the other after the snowball. Its like (plinko)[https://i0.wp.com/bucketlistjourney.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Pachinko-inside.jpg]. We all start at the same place, but these little choices add up and give us a whole different universe at the end.

“We all make our choices. And those choices, they put us on a road. Sometimes, those choices seem small, but they put you on the road.” - Mike Ehrmantraut

-ekd