Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge fan of television. I have been for years and probably always will be. This time of year is always one of the toughest as season and series finales happen. For those shows that aren't returning, you hopefully get closure that makes sense. But for those that are coming back in the fall, we should get a great cliffhanger. Tuesday night, we got a great season finale from The Flash. I'm late to the party when it comes to superheroes. Yeah, I've always known about them and have loved what I had seen, but I had never been a typical comic book nerd. I still don't buy comic books, but the influx of Marvel and DC information into popular culture has begun to feed the curiosity I've always had.
So, as I mentioned, this season finale was amazing. It had everything I had hoped for: an awesome superhero pitted against a fantastic super-villain, closure to a season-long story line, that aforementioned cliffhanger, and unexpected twists. But there was also time travel, another topic of which I've always had interest (see some of my previous blog posts). I always like to see how different authors, writers, etc... do interpretations of time travel. Because it's still all theoretical at this point (and some would say impossible), there is plenty of room for artistic license. Most of the time, I try to take the information and rationally prove or disprove it in my own mind. Tuesday night was no exception. In order to explain it, I'll have to give you a synopsis of this season.
Barry Allen is a forensic scientist for the Central City Police Department that was exposed to the effects of a particle collider malfunction at S.T.A.R. Labs. Dr. Harrison Wells, the scientist who founded the laboratory, nursed Barry back to health but discovered that the explosion gave him the power of super speed. During the season of catching other gifted "meta-humans" that turned to lives of crime, Barry moves fast enough to travel briefly back in time to not only see his mother's murder, which his father was blamed & jailed for supposedly doing, but finds that another speedster (which they dubbed the Reverse Flash) had been the actual murderer. **Please note that if you haven't watched the season and plan to, there will be spoilers in the rest of this synopsis.** Barry learns that Dr. Wells, his wheelchair-bound mentor, actually is Eobard Thawne, a criminal from the future that traveled back to the past to kill Barry's mother to demoralize him from becoming the Flash naturally. After killing Nora Allen, Thawne finds himself trapped in that time period with no way of getting home. He then arranges the death of the real Dr. Wells, assumes his full identity (complete with facial features), and sets up future events that result in the particle accelerator accident to help Barry become the Flash sooner than happened in his original timeline. Barry finally is able to capture Thawne, but is presented with a proposition. Another particle accelerator Thawne built is the key to Barry being able to return to the past once again. By running fast enough and colliding with the particle, it would open a wormhole that would allow a window of traveling to the past in order to prevent Nora Allen's murder. In exchange for this information, Thawne asks to be allowed to return to his own time. Barry finally agrees, creates the wormhole and returns to his childhood home. Instead of preventing the murder, though, and possibly changing his entire timeline, Barry uses the opportunity to say goodbye to his mom, then returns to present time to stop Thawne from returning home. A battle ensues with Thawne gaining the upper hand and is about to kill Barry, when an unexpected twist happens. One of Barry's friends and coworkers is Eddie Thawne, who also happens to be Eobard Thawne's ancestor. Just before Barry is about to be killed, Eddie shoots himself, causing Eobard to be erased from existence. As the show goes off the air, we see the Flash attempting to stop the wormhole from becoming a full-fledged singularity that destroys the entire Earth.
Confused? I hope not. Intrigued? I definitely hope so. Of all the events in that episode, the erasure from existence of Eobard Thawne was what piqued my curiosity. Follow me on this. If Eobard Thawne had never existed, the following items would have changed: Nora Allen would not have been murdered, Barry Allen might never have followed his guardian Joe West's footsteps in working with the police department, he possibly wouldn't have met Dr. Wells (the real one), a particle accelerator accident would never have occurred, Barry wouldn't have become the Flash until much later...the list goes on and on. But the only thing that seemingly changed was Eobard never existing. The rest of that current universe apparently continued on as if nothing had happened. My initial reaction was "this does not make sense". We should have seen immediate differences that would have reverted everything back to the way the timeline would have been had Eobard not existed. Then I started thinking about the situation with an emphasis on alternate universes. Eobard time traveling to kill Nora Allen set about a chain of events that changed major points along a timeline...or did they? Could the act of time travel have also been enough to jump to an alternate timeline, the points of which we saw played out this season? If so, did the blanking from existence of Eobard Thawne only affect him because he was from a different timeline? Only way I could see that happening was if somehow Eddie Thawne came from the same timeline as his descendant, Eobard, and his suicide would then have the effect we saw. In some time travel and alternate universe theories I've read, even the simple acts of making a decision (going left instead of right, eating a sandwich instead of soup, etc...) can be what causes alternate universes to be created. Theoretically, an infinite number of universes exist to cover every single possibility of events that could occur. So the act of killing Nora Allen could even have created this alternate timeline/universe.
Clearly I've put too much thought into all of this and have spent more time on it than I probably should have, but these are the things that play out in my mind while I am performing other daily menial tasks. I look forward to seeing how the writers handle this, if they even do. They could just gloss over it with an "it is what it is" view. For the sake of entertainment, I'm okay with that but Analytical Me is having issues with it. Did any of you watch The Flash at all this season? If so, did you have similar thoughts? Or are you now reading about this for the first time and are gathering opinions? I'd love to hear your opinions on The Flash, time travel, alternate universes, superheroes...whatever thoughts this blog has stirred up inside you. As an extra bonus question: if you could go back in time to prevent a completely awful event in your life, knowing full-well that changing that event could alter everything else that happened to you after that (including even really great events), would you do it? Feel free to comment here or you can hit me up by e-mail, text, Twitter, or Facebook. The ways to reach me are almost as numerous as the number of alternate universes that may or may not exist.
Until my next blog, I wish all of you Godspeed. (Get it? The Flash? Speed? Very punny...)
Showing posts with label nerd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nerd. Show all posts
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Quantum Physics for Dummies
Most of the time when my mind wanders, it finds its way to dead ends. The random problems that my brain thinks up work themselves out when I realize that the answer was either so obvious or I decide that the problems weren't worth the time to solve. But then there are the rarities where I ask myself a question that I can't answer and it just leads to more questions. That's when, if I'm feeling ambitious enough, I start scouring the Net for the answers.
About a week ago, I started thinking about parallel universes. I know, that's not really a light subject to just conjure up out of thin air. I'm not sure how it came up, but I'm sure it was because of a TV show or something I had been watching. Being a sci-fi geek, this happens quite often. So here was the multi-tiered question that occured to me: Has a parallel universe, if it exists, always existed or is it created because of some event? If created by an event, does all history prior to that creation cease to exist for the parallel world, does it use the history of the universe from which it was spawned, or does a completely new history get assumed by the people living in it and recorded as if it had actually happened?
Right now you're probably thinking one of a couple of possible responses. "Huh?" "Are you on drugs?" "This is completely stupid." "That just blew my mind." There probably are a few more I didn't account for, but to answer those: no, I'm not on drugs and yes, it may be completely stupid, but then again, it may be mind-blowing, In preparation for writing this, I did a Google search for "Albert Einstein parallel universe" and clicked on the first link I found that looked like it would have some interesting information. http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/parallel-universe.htm was very short in length, but rich in information about theories concerning parallel universes. My questions still haven't been answered, but at least it's a start. Basically, Albert Einstein believed that alternate universes are altogether possible, but was never able to prove it. Other scientists in the years following his death, like Hugh Everett III & Dr. Michio Kaku have picked up the torch to prove he wasn't off his rocker and some have gotten closer, but still no concrete proof. Their individual theories like "Many-Worlds", "Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle", and "String Theory" sound impressive and that's because they are, but no one can confirm them. That's why they're still theories. But with every day that passes, we're getting closer to some confirmation.
From what I'm reading, some theories, like the Many-Worlds or Heisenberg Uncertaintly Principle, hinge on some sort of event that actually creates the parallel universe, such as a scientist simply observing the state of a quantum object (whether in wave or particle form, wave vibration, etc...) or even by making the decision to not make a determination at all. Such an event can cause the split of the universe to accomodate for all possible outcomes of the observation. What a powerful thing to consider: that even the THOUGHT of multiple outcomes could create those multiple outcomes somewhere. If we'd ever find this to be true, the human mind should be considered the greatest object ever created. Sort of makes you reconsider trying to discuss Schroedinger's cat (Google it). Using this information to my question, my question still remains unanswered; we could still share history, there could be no history prior to the event for the alternate world, or they could create a history from shared thought-pooling once it is established. If we follow the theory of Dr. Kaku, which is called String Theory, it's much easier to believe that the universes have their own histories different from each other. His theory states that all objects in the universe, even on down to the smallest particles known currently as quarks, are made up of tinier building blocks that resemble rubber bands and what matter they create depends on these bands and how they vibrate. This creation happens across eleven separate dimensions. Because of how it's created, our universe is therefore separated by itself inside of a "bubble", which exists along side of the other parallel universes in their own "bubbles". It's theorized that they can interact with each other by sharing gravity, but that would create an explosion similar to what some scientists believe happened at the Big Bang. Probably not a good idea for this to happen. BUT, this string theory would then, as I said, give credence to the idea that any alternate worlds would have a unique history, some being just slightly out-of-phase from each other, but definitely unique to that "bubble".
These theories are just the most prominent; we've barely scratched the surface. Plenty of other scientists have their own ideas on if any of this is possible. The truth could be a combination of a couple or all of them, it could be one singular idea, or another possibility is that none of these can actually occur. Possibly by considering these in this blog, we've created some alternate realities of our own. Maybe some day we'll know...or in another reality, we already know. One thing I do know: I'm not anywhere even CLOSE to answering my own questions. But I think it's fun to keep trying!
If I haven't driven you nuts by this discussion, I invite you to join in. Any of your own theories? Questions that you think I or someone else that reads this may be able to answer? Post them here!
From what I'm reading, some theories, like the Many-Worlds or Heisenberg Uncertaintly Principle, hinge on some sort of event that actually creates the parallel universe, such as a scientist simply observing the state of a quantum object (whether in wave or particle form, wave vibration, etc...) or even by making the decision to not make a determination at all. Such an event can cause the split of the universe to accomodate for all possible outcomes of the observation. What a powerful thing to consider: that even the THOUGHT of multiple outcomes could create those multiple outcomes somewhere. If we'd ever find this to be true, the human mind should be considered the greatest object ever created. Sort of makes you reconsider trying to discuss Schroedinger's cat (Google it). Using this information to my question, my question still remains unanswered; we could still share history, there could be no history prior to the event for the alternate world, or they could create a history from shared thought-pooling once it is established. If we follow the theory of Dr. Kaku, which is called String Theory, it's much easier to believe that the universes have their own histories different from each other. His theory states that all objects in the universe, even on down to the smallest particles known currently as quarks, are made up of tinier building blocks that resemble rubber bands and what matter they create depends on these bands and how they vibrate. This creation happens across eleven separate dimensions. Because of how it's created, our universe is therefore separated by itself inside of a "bubble", which exists along side of the other parallel universes in their own "bubbles". It's theorized that they can interact with each other by sharing gravity, but that would create an explosion similar to what some scientists believe happened at the Big Bang. Probably not a good idea for this to happen. BUT, this string theory would then, as I said, give credence to the idea that any alternate worlds would have a unique history, some being just slightly out-of-phase from each other, but definitely unique to that "bubble".
These theories are just the most prominent; we've barely scratched the surface. Plenty of other scientists have their own ideas on if any of this is possible. The truth could be a combination of a couple or all of them, it could be one singular idea, or another possibility is that none of these can actually occur. Possibly by considering these in this blog, we've created some alternate realities of our own. Maybe some day we'll know...or in another reality, we already know. One thing I do know: I'm not anywhere even CLOSE to answering my own questions. But I think it's fun to keep trying!
If I haven't driven you nuts by this discussion, I invite you to join in. Any of your own theories? Questions that you think I or someone else that reads this may be able to answer? Post them here!
Wednesday, August 07, 2013
Woohoo! for New "Who"
This weekend, unless you're not involved in social media at all (in which case, how are you seeing this?) or don't watch much TV, it was announced that veteran Scottish actor Peter Capaldi will be taking over the role of the Doctor in the long-running British sci-fi TV show "Doctor Who". I join the numerous positive comments on this choice and congratulate Mr. Capaldi on landing the job. To be honest, I've only ever seen him in two other roles before this was announced. Funny enough, one of those was as the patriarch of a Pompeiian family in a previous season's episode of "Doctor Who" (before you consider that strange, check out Colin Baker, who played a Gallifreyan guard during the 5th Doctor's tenure, then went on to be the 6th Doctor). The other was in the "Doctor Who" spinoff, "Torchwood", during their "Children of Earth" series of episodes. His role was a very tortured, dark role, but well played. I look forward to exploring his other works that have been mentioned online since then (especially one called "Local Hero", which looks great).
Besides being a choice of a great actor, I applaud this decision on another level. When the original run of this show was televised starting in 1963 until the late 80's, it was all about the sci-fi entertainment. While there were other plots and elements woven in, the main points were most assuredly about the time and space traveling, the scary monsters, the strange worlds, etc... But with the kickoff of the new seasons in the 2000's, "Doctor Who" has inserted relevant issues of our day into the stories. Not only are they entertaining, but they make us think. The show does just about the best balance of this of any other show I've seen. Of course at the center of it all has always been the Doctor, the mad "spaceman" in a blue box called the TARDIS, that travels in time and space. Most assuredly he's the star of the show, but when someone else needs the spotlight, the Doctor just blends in for the sake of the story. When it was announced earlier this year that 11th Doctor Matt Smith would be leaving, a whirlwind of controversy was stirred up. Because the Doctor has the ability to regenerate and change his appearance instead of dying outright, many have left this open to interpretation about who could take over the prestigious acting role. Questions about possibly having a woman become the 12th Doctor arose. Quickly names like Emma Watson & Helen Mirren were thrown about for consideration. There was also a suggestion about someone of a different race taking over (all previous incarnations of the Doctor have been white males). I didn't disagree with anyone that was named as a possible replacement, including any of the women or guys of a different race, but in the end I think Peter Capaldi was just about the best choice of any...and here's why.
Like I said previously, the newer seasons of "Doctor Who" work so well because it has the ability to make points relevant to today's day and age (somewhat in the same way "Star Trek" did), with keeping a main character that could fade in and out for the sake of the story as needed. Now imagine pressure from various groups to suddenly change the Doctor into, for example, a black male or a female, just because it's possible and "because they can". Suddenly, with one of those changes, the Doctor becomes the focal point of every show. It becomes a change for the sake of change, not for relevancy of the story. Let's be honest: those who will actually stop watching "Doctor Who" because they picked another "white guy" probably weren't fans in the first place. Most, if not all, Whovians would want what's best for the show, what is most logical. What makes most sense is to put someone in the Doctor's shoes who blends in to the part as if he had always been there. To do anything else would interrupt what the new series has worked to build just to placate special interest groups that were only concerned about the publicity from a controversy. Ultimately, I think head writer Steven Moffat did what he felt was best. Ever since Russell T. Davies left has head writer at the end of the 10th Doctor David Tennant's tenure, Moffat has made decisions that have Whovians talking, blogging, tweeting, etc... and not always in a good way. It was his idea, though, to consider Capaldi for the role of the Doctor. In fact, according to the live announcement special, he had almost put him in as the 11th Doctor in place of Matt Smith, but decided against it, thinking the time was not exactly right. It's that type of person that I like to see in charge of such a decision. Moffat will not make a knee-jerk reaction just to ride the wind of political correctness or cave in to pressure of a select few. Again, to draw another "Star Trek" parallel, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one". The "many", in this case, are we Whovians who care deeply about this show.
Unfortunately, we will have to wait for a new "Who" episode until November, which will be the 50th anniversary episode & Matt Smith's penultimate. The no-doubt emotional on-screen regeneration of Matt Smith's 11th Doctor into Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor will come at Christmas, a time fans of the new series have come to look forward to because of the great special episodes released that day most every year since the Doctor reappeared on our televisions. If this Christmas is anything like last year's, I will hopefully receive more cool "Who" merchandise, too! (Hint, hint!) But first, I'll be patiently waiting for November to get here for the 50th. Yeah...patiently waiting... Does anyone have a spare TARDIS they're not using? There's someWHEN I have to be :)
(I hope you've enjoyed this blog, even if you're not a Whovian like me. Any questions, comments, criticism or suggestions? Post them here, hit me up on Facebook, or send me a tweet @nBoEnforcer)
Besides being a choice of a great actor, I applaud this decision on another level. When the original run of this show was televised starting in 1963 until the late 80's, it was all about the sci-fi entertainment. While there were other plots and elements woven in, the main points were most assuredly about the time and space traveling, the scary monsters, the strange worlds, etc... But with the kickoff of the new seasons in the 2000's, "Doctor Who" has inserted relevant issues of our day into the stories. Not only are they entertaining, but they make us think. The show does just about the best balance of this of any other show I've seen. Of course at the center of it all has always been the Doctor, the mad "spaceman" in a blue box called the TARDIS, that travels in time and space. Most assuredly he's the star of the show, but when someone else needs the spotlight, the Doctor just blends in for the sake of the story. When it was announced earlier this year that 11th Doctor Matt Smith would be leaving, a whirlwind of controversy was stirred up. Because the Doctor has the ability to regenerate and change his appearance instead of dying outright, many have left this open to interpretation about who could take over the prestigious acting role. Questions about possibly having a woman become the 12th Doctor arose. Quickly names like Emma Watson & Helen Mirren were thrown about for consideration. There was also a suggestion about someone of a different race taking over (all previous incarnations of the Doctor have been white males). I didn't disagree with anyone that was named as a possible replacement, including any of the women or guys of a different race, but in the end I think Peter Capaldi was just about the best choice of any...and here's why.
Like I said previously, the newer seasons of "Doctor Who" work so well because it has the ability to make points relevant to today's day and age (somewhat in the same way "Star Trek" did), with keeping a main character that could fade in and out for the sake of the story as needed. Now imagine pressure from various groups to suddenly change the Doctor into, for example, a black male or a female, just because it's possible and "because they can". Suddenly, with one of those changes, the Doctor becomes the focal point of every show. It becomes a change for the sake of change, not for relevancy of the story. Let's be honest: those who will actually stop watching "Doctor Who" because they picked another "white guy" probably weren't fans in the first place. Most, if not all, Whovians would want what's best for the show, what is most logical. What makes most sense is to put someone in the Doctor's shoes who blends in to the part as if he had always been there. To do anything else would interrupt what the new series has worked to build just to placate special interest groups that were only concerned about the publicity from a controversy. Ultimately, I think head writer Steven Moffat did what he felt was best. Ever since Russell T. Davies left has head writer at the end of the 10th Doctor David Tennant's tenure, Moffat has made decisions that have Whovians talking, blogging, tweeting, etc... and not always in a good way. It was his idea, though, to consider Capaldi for the role of the Doctor. In fact, according to the live announcement special, he had almost put him in as the 11th Doctor in place of Matt Smith, but decided against it, thinking the time was not exactly right. It's that type of person that I like to see in charge of such a decision. Moffat will not make a knee-jerk reaction just to ride the wind of political correctness or cave in to pressure of a select few. Again, to draw another "Star Trek" parallel, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one". The "many", in this case, are we Whovians who care deeply about this show.
Unfortunately, we will have to wait for a new "Who" episode until November, which will be the 50th anniversary episode & Matt Smith's penultimate. The no-doubt emotional on-screen regeneration of Matt Smith's 11th Doctor into Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor will come at Christmas, a time fans of the new series have come to look forward to because of the great special episodes released that day most every year since the Doctor reappeared on our televisions. If this Christmas is anything like last year's, I will hopefully receive more cool "Who" merchandise, too! (Hint, hint!) But first, I'll be patiently waiting for November to get here for the 50th. Yeah...patiently waiting... Does anyone have a spare TARDIS they're not using? There's someWHEN I have to be :)
(I hope you've enjoyed this blog, even if you're not a Whovian like me. Any questions, comments, criticism or suggestions? Post them here, hit me up on Facebook, or send me a tweet @nBoEnforcer)
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