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I turn the page and continue reading.
01/22/96
More than one universe?
They say the universe is infinite. But how far does infinite go? To infinity, obviously. We can’t even imagine infinity because our brains are finite. Yet we can conceptualize infinity—funny. Anyway, before the discovery of quantum mechanics, the top-dog physicists pretty much closed the book. Nothing new to see here; move along. Or keep studying atoms. But someone dared to ask, “What’s INSIDE an atom?” And now we have quantum mechanics and string theory.
The question unlocks the door, not to the answer but to exploration.
The exploration ends when we decide on the answer.
But is there only ONE answer?
Is there only ONE universe?
On his deathbed, Copernicus publicly released his controversial work that proved the sun, not the earth, is the center of the solar system. At the time, it was considered heresy. Now we can’t imagine a time when people believed anything else.
Perhaps one day, we won’t be able to imagine a time when people thought there was only one universe.
Theories differ, and I don’t know which one seems most likely. But the idea that we exist in another universe, in another world, and have made a completely different assortment of decisions that have set us on the course of a completely different path in life… It’s almost not so freaky as to be outside the realm of possibility.
Quantum physics allows this. So who are we to call it an impossibility?
Scientia corrumpitur
Soulmates
According to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs, and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate beings, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves.
–Plato’s The Symposium
I always thought the concept of soulmates was ludicrous. It’s obviously a construct of ancient mythology, an explanation for the unexplainable—a feeling you have when you meet someone and feel like you’ve met them before. Like you’re not getting to know them for the first time but rather remembering who they are… from another life.
Or perhaps from another universe?
I think people want to believe in soulmates because
That’s where the entry ends, as if he was interrupted while writing the conclusion of this musing. And now, here it lies in my hands, unfinished. I have no idea what some of these words mean, like Infinitum and Copernicus and soulmates, but I enjoy the vicarious romp through someone else’s thoughts. Adam’s writing is so different from the perfectly polished science and biology books I grew up reading.
There are many previous entries in the journal, some of which are entire pages filled with words I can’t read—another language. My eyelids grow heavy with fatigue, and eventually, I surrender to close them for a moment.
* * *
Something warm and wet touches my fingertips. I open my eyes to find morning light pressing through the window and Adam’s journal lying open on my chest. Lucius peeks over the edge of the bed, licking my hand.
“Oh no, it’s light already?” I bolt upright, shoving aside my blankets. “You should have woken me hours ago, Lucius! We need to search the woods today, remember?”
I stumble into my favorite blue linen jumpsuit, hurrying to fetch some breakfast for myself and Lucius. I run up to the lantern room to check on the light and examine the sky. Foggy mist hugs the shoreline, and to the west I spot a smudge of dark clouds gathering on the horizon. I watch them for several minutes but can’t tell where they are headed. Perhaps out to sea. In any case, there is always a chance of rain in Washington. I can’t let it stop me from searching the woods.
I fly back down the spiral staircase and into the backyard—heading straight for the chicken coop behind the house. When I swing open the door, they all squawk cheerfully and scatter in every direction to begin foraging freely in the grass.
“Lucius, come!”
The mongrel flies out the back door and zips to my side. We’ve trained him to leave the chickens alone, and he now regards them as family.
“Ready to search the woods? We have to be very observant this time. And stay on one path so we don’t confuse ourselves.”
I reach into my pocket and take out Adam’s journal, letting Lucius sniff the pages.
