WEBVTT - Season 8 Episode 2: Desire Production

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<v Speaker 1>Have you ever wondered about the nature of reality? Ever

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<v Speaker 1>considered that the world around you might not be as

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<v Speaker 1>it seems that it's constructed, or that your life is

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<v Speaker 1>on a course outside of your own control. If so,

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<v Speaker 1>you've likely stumbled upon a series of questions which have

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<v Speaker 1>been at the core of human thinking for thousands of years,

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<v Speaker 1>from Plato's allegory of the Cave to Descartes's evil demon.

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<v Speaker 1>The nature of ontology, that is, the exact composition, veracity,

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<v Speaker 1>and reality of living has given rise to a multiplicity

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<v Speaker 1>of questions about not only our own place within the universe,

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<v Speaker 1>but the fabric of the universe itself. We feel it

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<v Speaker 1>acutely when we're sleeping, when our imaginations to borrow from

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<v Speaker 1>Freud become untethered from the strictures of ego, offering us

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<v Speaker 1>a glimpse into strange and sometimes unsettling other worlds. Dreams,

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<v Speaker 1>and hallucinatory visions are strange frontiers that cannot be mapped

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<v Speaker 1>with any certainty. Scientifically speaking, they are simply images conjured

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<v Speaker 1>from the depths of our subconscious a way for our

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<v Speaker 1>brain to process the many complex events and emotions we

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<v Speaker 1>experience on a daily basis. But what if, as some

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<v Speaker 1>might have as believe, there was more to these often

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<v Speaker 1>familiar but other worldly, supposedly self made moving images. What

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<v Speaker 1>if they weren't distorted depictions of our earthly experiences at all,

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<v Speaker 1>but were in fact actually glimpses into other worlds. You

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<v Speaker 1>may be familiar with Hugh Everett's many World's theory. Essentially,

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<v Speaker 1>it posits that we exist as only one in an

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<v Speaker 1>in series of possible worlds, so that at any given moment,

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<v Speaker 1>there are potentially infinite versions of ourselves busily going about

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<v Speaker 1>our lives in ways that might seem unimaginable to us. Somewhere,

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<v Speaker 1>some version of you has died in a war. Elsewhere,

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<v Speaker 1>you have become a famous rock star, won the lottery,

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<v Speaker 1>received the Field's Medal for mathematics, have three heads, or

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<v Speaker 1>were never even born. At a time when so much

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<v Speaker 1>about the world seems untethered and beyond our control or understanding,

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<v Speaker 1>it is hardly surprising that the many world's interpretation is

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<v Speaker 1>now prevalent in mainstream culture. Two of Marvel's studio's most

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<v Speaker 1>recent ventures, Spider Man No Way Home and Doctor Strange

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<v Speaker 1>in the Multiverse of Madness, secured earnings of over two

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<v Speaker 1>billion and one billion dollars at the box office, respectively.

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<v Speaker 1>In twenty twenty two, A twenty four's Everything Everywhere, All

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<v Speaker 1>at Once, directed by best friends Daniel Kuan and Daniel Scheinert,

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<v Speaker 1>took home six Academy Awards. The film was ostensibly about

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<v Speaker 1>a mother traveling through the many worlds of Everett's theory

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<v Speaker 1>to save her family. For the most part, it seems

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<v Speaker 1>we have latched onto Hugh Everett's Many World's idea out

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<v Speaker 1>of an urge to escape the uncertainty of the world,

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<v Speaker 1>or to appease the disappointment we might feel when life

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<v Speaker 1>and the world doesn't turn out the way we might

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<v Speaker 1>have hoped it would. There is great comfort to be

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<v Speaker 1>found in the possibility that out there, somewhere is a

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<v Speaker 1>version of our world and ourselves in which everything we

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<v Speaker 1>have ever hoped for actually comes true. Surely, as many

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<v Speaker 1>of Everett's colleagues believed when he first proposed the idea,

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<v Speaker 1>the notion that there might actually be infinite versions of

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<v Speaker 1>ourselves existing out there somewhere is an utterly ludicrous proposition.

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<v Speaker 1>And yet we need only look back at the history

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<v Speaker 1>of our scientific understanding of the universe to see a

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<v Speaker 1>field littered with strange, unfathomable theories, once thought ridiculous, only

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<v Speaker 1>to later be proven to be very real. Indeed, it

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<v Speaker 1>was back in nineteen oh five that Einstein published his

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<v Speaker 1>Special Theory of relativity, later refined in nineteen fifteen as

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<v Speaker 1>its General Theory of Relativity, in which he proposed that

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<v Speaker 1>mass and energy were essentially the same thing. Einstein's theory

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<v Speaker 1>also suggested that time is experienced differently between two individuals

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<v Speaker 1>if they are traveling at different speeds relative to each other. However,

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<v Speaker 1>it would be another four years before concrete proof of

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<v Speaker 1>this theory was actually demonstrated to be true. For every

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<v Speaker 1>minute of those intervening years, many continued to doubt it.

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<v Speaker 1>The same with no doubt have being thought of Paul

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<v Speaker 1>de Rack's theory on the possible existence of antimatter, which

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<v Speaker 1>he first proposed in nineteen twenty eight, But the doubters

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<v Speaker 1>would have been eating their words when it too was

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<v Speaker 1>finally proven correct, also four years later. And it was

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixty four when Peter Higgs theorized the possible existence

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<v Speaker 1>of the Higgs boson, and by extension, the existence of

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<v Speaker 1>the Higgs field, the field of energy that gives mass

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<v Speaker 1>to fundamental particles such as quarks and electrons. Many still

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<v Speaker 1>doubted its existence right up until the moment when, almost

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<v Speaker 1>fifty years later, it too was finally proved to be real.

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<v Speaker 1>In a space vically unstable and uncertain times, it can

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<v Speaker 1>also seem as though reality is tenuous, that we live

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<v Speaker 1>in a world not bound by strict physical laws, but

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<v Speaker 1>something of far more insidious design, a world in which

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<v Speaker 1>reality is decided for us in some other realm, that

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<v Speaker 1>it is merely a fiction tramped up for the gratification

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<v Speaker 1>of an absent audience. Take Neil Bostrom's simulation theory, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>the concept that we might in fact be living in

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<v Speaker 1>a simulation created by other beings. In the late twentieth century,

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<v Speaker 1>a science fiction writer from the United States took all

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<v Speaker 1>of these ideas and condensed them into his own brand

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<v Speaker 1>of paranoid fantasy. Perhaps you've read one of his stories

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<v Speaker 1>or seen one of the many films adapted from his

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<v Speaker 1>dozens of novels. I am talking, of course, about Philip K. Dick.

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<v Speaker 1>There are some who declare him the greatest writer of

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<v Speaker 1>science fiction that ever lived. Others consider him a prophet

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<v Speaker 1>fated like nostrodamis, and some believe he was nothing but

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<v Speaker 1>a complete and utter madman. You're listening to Unexplained, and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Richard McLean Smith. All things considered, it was an

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<v Speaker 1>average day in Orange County. A tepid wind was blowing

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<v Speaker 1>in off Newport Beach, and Philip known as Phil to

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<v Speaker 1>his friends, could almost taste something in the air. Perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>it was the breakfast burrito he'd had that morning at

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<v Speaker 1>the local diner, or maybe it was the series of

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<v Speaker 1>stressful phone calls he'd had to feel from his ex

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<v Speaker 1>wife Nancy. Whatever it was, Phil felt more apprehensive than usual,

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<v Speaker 1>and it didn't help that he was on his way

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<v Speaker 1>to have his wisdom tooth removed. Despite being one of

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<v Speaker 1>the most well respected writers in the world, forty five

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<v Speaker 1>year old Philip Kindred Dick had just endured some of

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<v Speaker 1>the most turbulent years of his life in nineteen seventy one,

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<v Speaker 1>after a long standing amphetamine addiction began to derail his

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<v Speaker 1>domestic life. Phil's marriage to his fourth wife, Nancy Hackett,

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<v Speaker 1>fell apart when she moved out of their home, taking

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<v Speaker 1>their four year old daughter, is Old with her. Phil

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<v Speaker 1>began indulging in a way he never had before, he

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<v Speaker 1>often allowed other drug users to share his home with him.

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<v Speaker 1>In November, the house was ransacked and burglarized. The increasingly

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<v Speaker 1>paranoid Dick believed this was an attempt to undermine the

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<v Speaker 1>work he'd been doing. When the police police investigated, however,

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<v Speaker 1>finding no obvious suspects and nothing of value taken save

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<v Speaker 1>for some of Dick's own personal papers, they concluded the

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<v Speaker 1>writer had staged the robbery himself. By March of the

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<v Speaker 1>next year, Phil upended his life and moved to Vancouver

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<v Speaker 1>to pursue a relationship. When that too fell apart, he

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<v Speaker 1>overdosed on potassium bromite in a desperate attempt to end

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<v Speaker 1>his own life. It was only after being convinced by

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<v Speaker 1>friends to return to California that he tried to get

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<v Speaker 1>his life back on track. All at once. He found

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<v Speaker 1>himself writing again after more than three years of writer's block,

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<v Speaker 1>and for the first time since his divorce from Nancy,

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<v Speaker 1>Phil was starting to feel good. It felt like nothing

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<v Speaker 1>less than the universe giving him another chance. Now it

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<v Speaker 1>was nineteen seventy four and Phil was convalescing after recently

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<v Speaker 1>finishing his latest novel, A Scanner Darkly under guidance from

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<v Speaker 1>his psychiatrist and several trusted friends and confidants. The then

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<v Speaker 1>forty five year old author had recently started incorporating elements

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<v Speaker 1>of his own life experience with the kind of speculative

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<v Speaker 1>fantasy he had first become famous for. Critics were excited

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<v Speaker 1>by what they saw as the emerging broody, paranoid texture.

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<v Speaker 1>This lent his work almost as if the author was

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<v Speaker 1>on the cusp of something, and Phil was satisfied that

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<v Speaker 1>he was producing some of the most thoughtful, philosophical, even

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<v Speaker 1>therapeutic writing of his career. On the afternoon of February twentieth,

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventy four, Phil underwent an excruciating bout of dental

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<v Speaker 1>surgery aisy from the dose of sodium pentathal. He was

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<v Speaker 1>advised that he'd need painkillers if he was going to

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<v Speaker 1>make it through the next few days. In peace, Phil

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<v Speaker 1>Dulye contacted his local pharmacy and requested a home delivery

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<v Speaker 1>of the synthetic opioid Darwin, which arrived soon after. Having

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<v Speaker 1>taken some of the medication, Phil had just fixed himself

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<v Speaker 1>an iced drink when his front doorbell began to ring

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<v Speaker 1>with urgency. Not expecting any visitors. He felt a pang

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<v Speaker 1>of anxiety at the thought of who on earth might

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<v Speaker 1>be calling on him at this time. With no small

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<v Speaker 1>degree of trepidation, Phil opened the front door to find

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<v Speaker 1>the striking aspect of a dark haired, young delivery woman

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<v Speaker 1>standing on his doorstep, a woman whom he instinctively felt

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<v Speaker 1>reminded him of the twin sister he had never known

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<v Speaker 1>who had died in childbirth. Taken in by the woman's

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<v Speaker 1>beauty and something ineffable he would later struggle to explain,

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<v Speaker 1>Phil was entranced by the golden necklace she wore over

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<v Speaker 1>her uniform. In fact, he couldn't take his eyes off it.

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<v Speaker 1>He asked the woman about its strange fish shaped design,

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<v Speaker 1>something which at once felt both familiar and alien to him.

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<v Speaker 1>What is that, he asked? The woman smiled. It's the

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<v Speaker 1>symbol early Christians used to signal one another, she said.

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<v Speaker 1>The vesicle pie SATs, or christian icthus perhaps better known

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<v Speaker 1>as the Jesus fish, consists of a simple fish shaped

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<v Speaker 1>insignia fashioned out of one continuous loop or line. As

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<v Speaker 1>the woman turned to leave, Phil noted that the sun

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<v Speaker 1>on his porch seemed to then suddenly shine brighter, that

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<v Speaker 1>it's energy almost seemed concentrated on the pendant as one

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<v Speaker 1>of the Sun's rays made contact with the Iicthus, its

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<v Speaker 1>glancing reflection threw off an intense beam of pink light.

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<v Speaker 1>It struck Phil on the forehead, leaving him momentarily mesmerized.

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<v Speaker 1>Moments later, the woman was gone back alone inside his house.

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<v Speaker 1>Phil couldn't be sure how he knew, but he felt

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<v Speaker 1>that in that moment he'd been gifted with a long

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<v Speaker 1>dormant sense of wisdom and clairvoyance, that the pink light

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<v Speaker 1>had been intelligent, even tangible in form. Over the next

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<v Speaker 1>few days, Phil later claimed to have experienced several intense visions,

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<v Speaker 1>visions which he at first dismissed as hallucinatory, but that

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<v Speaker 1>he gradually came to believe were revealing the true nature

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<v Speaker 1>of the universe to his Phil's visions apparently came in

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<v Speaker 1>the form of words that he both saw and heard,

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<v Speaker 1>as well as elaborate pictures, figures of people, and the

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<v Speaker 1>frequently repeated motif of words printed on a page. It

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<v Speaker 1>was as if quote sights of his brain were being

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<v Speaker 1>selectively stimulated by energy beams emanating from far off, perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>millions of miles away. He believed it was a message

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<v Speaker 1>coming directly from God. He remained house bound for several

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<v Speaker 1>days as the messages kept on coming, later telling a

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<v Speaker 1>journalist that it seemed to him that his mind had

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<v Speaker 1>been invaded by another transcendentally rational mind. He felt as

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<v Speaker 1>though he had been insane all his life, but was

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<v Speaker 1>now now finally, saying, though the frequency of the visions

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<v Speaker 1>gradually began to wear off, their intensity seemed only to grow,

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<v Speaker 1>moving from the conceptual to the physical, and several weeks

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<v Speaker 1>after the initial event, he still found himself at their mercy.

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<v Speaker 1>That any of this was the consequence of the high

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<v Speaker 1>strength medication Dick had been taking was an impossibility to him.

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<v Speaker 1>As something of a self proclaimed authority on casual drug use,

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<v Speaker 1>he knew of no drug he had taken before that

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<v Speaker 1>would have affected him so strongly for such a long

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<v Speaker 1>period of time. Dick's strange visions continued periodically into March.

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<v Speaker 1>He began to document them in a series of journal

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<v Speaker 1>entries he referred to as two three seventy four or

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<v Speaker 1>February to March seventy four. The visions were said to

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<v Speaker 1>mostly comprise of complex geometric patterns, before later becoming vivid

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<v Speaker 1>images of Jesus Christ, and even depictions of the plight

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<v Speaker 1>of the early Christians and the corruption at the heart

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<v Speaker 1>of the ancient Roman Empire. It was Phil's absolute conviction

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<v Speaker 1>that this information was wholly in origin, and thus should

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<v Speaker 1>be regarded as a form of scripture. One night, Phil

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<v Speaker 1>was apparently woken by the sudden re emergence of the

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<v Speaker 1>strange pink light. In that moment, he was filled with

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<v Speaker 1>the complete certainty that his youngest son, Christopher, was gravely ill,

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<v Speaker 1>and that he needed medical attention before it worsened irrevocably.

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<v Speaker 1>The problem he was supposedly in that moment being made

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<v Speaker 1>acutely aware of was something to do with an undiagnosed hernia.

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<v Speaker 1>After pleading with the boy's mother, Tessa that he needed

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<v Speaker 1>to be taken seriously, she and Phil rushed Christopher to

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<v Speaker 1>hospital in a panic. Unknown to Phil at the time,

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<v Speaker 1>the child had indeed been suffering from a vague abdominal complaint.

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<v Speaker 1>The doctor found nothing wrong with him, but Phil insisted

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<v Speaker 1>they give his son a scan, much to the doctor's astonishment.

0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:24.960
<v Speaker 1>There in the boy's bow region was a clear herniation,

0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:40.520
<v Speaker 1>for which the boy was promptly treated Throughout the nineteen seventies,

0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:45.400
<v Speaker 1>Phil's visions increased in duration and frequency, though by now

0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:48.760
<v Speaker 1>the author was so inured to their message that they

0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:52.760
<v Speaker 1>no longer frightened him. He began to regard them as

0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:57.320
<v Speaker 1>a gift. By the time nineteen eighty came around, Phil

0:17:57.600 --> 0:18:01.560
<v Speaker 1>now claimed that he was living to para lives, one

0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:06.680
<v Speaker 1>as Philip K. Dick, writer father occasional person of interest

0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:11.400
<v Speaker 1>for the FBI, the other as a man named Thomas

0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:16.320
<v Speaker 1>an icthus swearing Christian and revolutionary who was persecuted by

0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:21.159
<v Speaker 1>the Romans in the first century AD. Throughout it all,

0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:25.280
<v Speaker 1>the pink Light had continued to visit him. He was

0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:28.960
<v Speaker 1>now unequivocal in his belief that it really was some

0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:33.199
<v Speaker 1>kind of rational mind in its own right. Sometimes he

0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:37.560
<v Speaker 1>called it Zebra, other times God, though the name he

0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:40.480
<v Speaker 1>most frequently used for it was the one he would

0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:47.320
<v Speaker 1>eventually choose for one of his most divisive and controversial novels, Vallis,

0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:51.600
<v Speaker 1>in which he presented, through his alter ego horse Lover Fat,

0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:57.320
<v Speaker 1>much of what had been occurring to him. One evening, Valis,

0:18:57.720 --> 0:19:02.160
<v Speaker 1>all Vast active living in teens eligent system told Phil

0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:05.680
<v Speaker 1>that the reason for its communication with him was simple,

0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:10.200
<v Speaker 1>the people of Earth were being silently controlled by an

0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:15.600
<v Speaker 1>underground cabal with its roots in the Roman Empire. At

0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:18.919
<v Speaker 1>the head of this cabal who had to be taken

0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:26.440
<v Speaker 1>down in order for the descendants of Vallas's true messenger,

0:19:27.200 --> 0:19:32.560
<v Speaker 1>Jesus Christ to continue their work liberating humankind from its

0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:38.400
<v Speaker 1>universal blindness. Phil would later claim that the Watergate scandal

0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:42.560
<v Speaker 1>of August nineteen seventy four, which ultimately led to the

0:19:42.600 --> 0:19:47.640
<v Speaker 1>resignation of Nixon from high office, marked the final downfall

0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:53.280
<v Speaker 1>of this hidden Roman Empire. Philip K. Dick published Vallis

0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:57.879
<v Speaker 1>in nineteen eighty one. In it, his alter ego horse

0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:02.959
<v Speaker 1>lover Fats communication with the godhead Valis ultimately leads to

0:20:03.000 --> 0:20:06.920
<v Speaker 1>an elaborate encounter with the fifth Savior of the universe,

0:20:07.600 --> 0:20:12.959
<v Speaker 1>a two year old Messiah figure named Sophia Lampton. Quite

0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:17.000
<v Speaker 1>why Dick chose to first render his apparent real life

0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:21.480
<v Speaker 1>experiences through the medium of fiction is not entirely clear,

0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:26.000
<v Speaker 1>though what we do know about his private beliefs regarding

0:20:26.040 --> 0:20:29.960
<v Speaker 1>his alleged contact with the divine was later recorded in

0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:36.680
<v Speaker 1>a nine hundred page journal known as The Exegesis. What

0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:40.160
<v Speaker 1>makes this a compelling story and not one which can

0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:43.760
<v Speaker 1>easily be dismissed as the delusions of a man plagued

0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:47.719
<v Speaker 1>by mental illness and drug addiction. Is that Dick himself

0:20:47.960 --> 0:20:52.439
<v Speaker 1>struggled with its veracity as a narrative. Using the figure

0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:56.640
<v Speaker 1>of horse lover Fat to outline his concerns, Dick not

0:20:56.720 --> 0:21:01.400
<v Speaker 1>only provided the supernatural explanation to everything that had befallen him,

0:21:01.800 --> 0:21:07.240
<v Speaker 1>but also offers up several lucid, rationalist explanations about what

0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:12.160
<v Speaker 1>may have transpired. Philip K. Dick was well aware that

0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:17.520
<v Speaker 1>visual and auditory hallucinations could sometimes seem persuasive to the sufferer,

0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:22.640
<v Speaker 1>even going so far as to question whether schizophrenia, bipolar

0:21:22.720 --> 0:21:29.440
<v Speaker 1>induced psychosis, or flashbacks could be responsible. Having spent significant

0:21:29.440 --> 0:21:33.400
<v Speaker 1>time in psychiatric hospitals over the years owing to multiple

0:21:33.480 --> 0:21:37.800
<v Speaker 1>suicide attempts, phil knew only too well about the counter

0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:42.879
<v Speaker 1>arguments in Valis. He outlined them with care and precision,

0:21:43.480 --> 0:21:46.760
<v Speaker 1>ultimately leaving the reader to make up their own mind

0:21:47.080 --> 0:21:50.680
<v Speaker 1>about whether the trials of Horse lover Fat had been

0:21:50.840 --> 0:21:55.240
<v Speaker 1>self generated or really had come from some higher power.

0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:05.879
<v Speaker 1>Perhaps what this all comes back to relates to what

0:22:05.920 --> 0:22:09.040
<v Speaker 1>we discussed at the beginning of the show. If the

0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:14.000
<v Speaker 1>universe really is as complex as quantum mechanics theorizes, and

0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:17.959
<v Speaker 1>the Many World's theory proves to be correct, then surely

0:22:18.000 --> 0:22:21.280
<v Speaker 1>it must follow that some version of Philip K. Dick

0:22:21.560 --> 0:22:25.159
<v Speaker 1>will have had these experiences somewhere, even if in this

0:22:25.400 --> 0:22:30.879
<v Speaker 1>timeline they arose simply from mental illness or drug induced psychosis.

0:22:32.280 --> 0:22:36.960
<v Speaker 1>In his nineteen sixty nine semi autobiographical novel slaughter House Five,

0:22:37.560 --> 0:22:43.520
<v Speaker 1>Kurt Vonnegut envisioned a fourth dimensional race of beings called Trouphammadorians.

0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:48.359
<v Speaker 1>These aliens are imbued with the power to traverse the universe,

0:22:48.840 --> 0:22:52.520
<v Speaker 1>as well as the latent ability to observe all points

0:22:52.560 --> 0:22:57.040
<v Speaker 1>within the space time continuum. They treat death as barely

0:22:57.119 --> 0:23:02.520
<v Speaker 1>registrable on their infinite timeline, a non event that interrupts

0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:06.560
<v Speaker 1>rather than ends proceedings. They see the past, present, and

0:23:06.680 --> 0:23:12.480
<v Speaker 1>future simultaneously. They embody both free will and determinism, chaos

0:23:12.480 --> 0:23:16.480
<v Speaker 1>and order, and for them, death is merely the transfer

0:23:16.600 --> 0:23:21.520
<v Speaker 1>of energy from one state to another. It is comforting

0:23:21.600 --> 0:23:25.160
<v Speaker 1>to think that in some other reality the people we've

0:23:25.200 --> 0:23:29.560
<v Speaker 1>been bereaved by are still happily living their lives. It

0:23:29.640 --> 0:23:33.280
<v Speaker 1>also provides comfort to think that somewhere we are right,

0:23:33.800 --> 0:23:37.879
<v Speaker 1>even if in this universe our actions or beliefs have

0:23:38.000 --> 0:23:43.399
<v Speaker 1>proved wrong. For centuries, we lived under the presupposition that

0:23:43.480 --> 0:23:47.959
<v Speaker 1>the universe works entirely within the realm of Newtonian mechanics,

0:23:48.440 --> 0:23:51.360
<v Speaker 1>that it is a kind of giant clock, with each

0:23:51.400 --> 0:23:57.600
<v Speaker 1>of its components in perfect harmonious working order. In reality,

0:23:58.040 --> 0:24:02.000
<v Speaker 1>what quantum mechanics proves, and the many as yet still

0:24:02.160 --> 0:24:07.679
<v Speaker 1>unproven theories like Everett's Many Worlds suggest the universe is

0:24:07.840 --> 0:24:13.840
<v Speaker 1>vastly more complex. An antecedent to the many world's interpretation

0:24:14.320 --> 0:24:17.520
<v Speaker 1>developed by Hugh Everett can be found in the double

0:24:17.600 --> 0:24:22.720
<v Speaker 1>slit experiment. It is, according to Richard Feynman, the experiment

0:24:22.840 --> 0:24:26.280
<v Speaker 1>with which all of the mystery of quantum mechanics can

0:24:26.320 --> 0:24:31.280
<v Speaker 1>be found. The experiment was first devised by Thomas Young

0:24:31.520 --> 0:24:35.240
<v Speaker 1>in eighteen o one and revealed that photons of light

0:24:35.640 --> 0:24:40.680
<v Speaker 1>also behave like waves. In the experiment, photons of light

0:24:40.840 --> 0:24:43.960
<v Speaker 1>are fired at a screen with two slits cut out

0:24:44.000 --> 0:24:47.600
<v Speaker 1>of it, with another screen behind to record the pattern

0:24:47.640 --> 0:24:52.000
<v Speaker 1>they make. You might assume the resultant pattern recorded on

0:24:52.080 --> 0:24:55.600
<v Speaker 1>the back screen would mimic the shape of the slits,

0:24:55.640 --> 0:25:00.639
<v Speaker 1>creating two matching lines in the manner of a stencil. Instead,

0:25:01.200 --> 0:25:04.760
<v Speaker 1>it creates a wave interference pattern of many strips of

0:25:04.880 --> 0:25:11.880
<v Speaker 1>light interspersed with darkness. Subsequently, however, the experiment revealed something

0:25:12.080 --> 0:25:17.159
<v Speaker 1>even more staggering that when single particles, be they photons

0:25:17.200 --> 0:25:20.840
<v Speaker 1>of light or electrons, have fired one at a time

0:25:20.920 --> 0:25:25.480
<v Speaker 1>through the slits, an interference pattern is still generated behind

0:25:25.480 --> 0:25:32.040
<v Speaker 1>the screen, suggesting the single particles are somehow interfering with themselves.

0:25:33.160 --> 0:25:36.119
<v Speaker 1>As if that weren't strange enough, if you place a

0:25:36.160 --> 0:25:39.919
<v Speaker 1>device next to the slits to detect which particle go

0:25:40.080 --> 0:25:44.760
<v Speaker 1>through which slits exactly, the pattern generated behind the slits

0:25:45.160 --> 0:25:49.160
<v Speaker 1>is not one of wave interference, but rather two lines

0:25:49.359 --> 0:25:53.239
<v Speaker 1>that mimic the shape of the slits. After all. In

0:25:53.280 --> 0:25:57.560
<v Speaker 1>other words, it seems to suggest that a subatomic particle

0:25:58.040 --> 0:26:01.720
<v Speaker 1>is not one single thing, but that it exists rather

0:26:02.040 --> 0:26:14.240
<v Speaker 1>as a probability of possibilities until it is observed. Though

0:26:14.240 --> 0:26:17.680
<v Speaker 1>the true implication of the double slit experiment has yet

0:26:17.720 --> 0:26:21.840
<v Speaker 1>to be established, it has led to some interesting interpretations,

0:26:22.480 --> 0:26:26.119
<v Speaker 1>chief among them being the idea that it is consciousness

0:26:26.200 --> 0:26:30.440
<v Speaker 1>that somehow fixes what could potentially be an infinite amount

0:26:30.480 --> 0:26:34.639
<v Speaker 1>of possible realities into the one that we actually experience,

0:26:35.880 --> 0:26:39.600
<v Speaker 1>a fanciful notion, perhaps, but one that at least allows

0:26:39.640 --> 0:26:43.200
<v Speaker 1>for the poetic idea that perhaps we really do hold

0:26:43.240 --> 0:26:46.960
<v Speaker 1>the power to make our own reality, and that other

0:26:47.040 --> 0:26:51.920
<v Speaker 1>worlds are always possible and always existing side by side

0:26:52.320 --> 0:26:56.879
<v Speaker 1>in one way or another. I'll leave you with the

0:26:56.920 --> 0:27:02.320
<v Speaker 1>beautiful poem Snow by Lewis mcneie. Yes, the room was

0:27:02.400 --> 0:27:06.919
<v Speaker 1>suddenly rich, and the great bay window was spawning snow

0:27:07.119 --> 0:27:13.479
<v Speaker 1>and pink roses against it, soundlessly, collateral and incompatible. World

0:27:13.600 --> 0:27:18.280
<v Speaker 1>is suddener than we fancy it. World is crazier and

0:27:18.400 --> 0:27:23.080
<v Speaker 1>more of it than we think, encourageably plural, I peel

0:27:23.160 --> 0:27:27.280
<v Speaker 1>and portion are tangerine and spit the pips and feel

0:27:27.359 --> 0:27:32.200
<v Speaker 1>the drunkenness of things being various, and the fire flames

0:27:32.240 --> 0:27:36.320
<v Speaker 1>with a bubbling sound. For world is more spiteful and

0:27:36.480 --> 0:27:40.879
<v Speaker 1>gay than one supposes on the tongue, on the eyes,

0:27:41.240 --> 0:27:45.480
<v Speaker 1>on the ears, in the palms of one's hands. There

0:27:45.520 --> 0:27:49.640
<v Speaker 1>is more than glass between the snow and the huge roses.

0:27:55.440 --> 0:27:58.040
<v Speaker 1>Thank you, as ever for listening to the show. Please

0:27:58.080 --> 0:28:00.719
<v Speaker 1>subscribe and rate it if you haven't already done so.

0:28:01.359 --> 0:28:04.440
<v Speaker 1>In some other news, unexplained will be coming to YouTube

0:28:04.520 --> 0:28:07.600
<v Speaker 1>very shortly in video form, so please watch out for

0:28:07.680 --> 0:28:10.920
<v Speaker 1>future developments there. You can subscribe to the channel at

0:28:10.960 --> 0:28:14.959
<v Speaker 1>YouTube dot com Forward slash at Unexplained Pod. You can

0:28:15.000 --> 0:28:18.000
<v Speaker 1>also now find us on TikTok at TikTok dot com.

0:28:18.040 --> 0:28:22.639
<v Speaker 1>Forward slash at Unexplained Podcast. This week's episode was written

0:28:22.680 --> 0:28:27.080
<v Speaker 1>by James Connor Patterson and produced by me Richard McClain Smith.

0:28:27.720 --> 0:28:31.120
<v Speaker 1>James is a brilliant writer and poet. His debut collection

0:28:31.240 --> 0:28:35.560
<v Speaker 1>of poems titled Bandit Country, exploring the hinterland between the

0:28:35.600 --> 0:28:39.040
<v Speaker 1>North of Ireland and Republic, was shortlisted for the twenty

0:28:39.120 --> 0:28:42.400
<v Speaker 1>twenty two ts Eliot Prize and is out now to buy.

0:28:42.840 --> 0:28:47.640
<v Speaker 1>Do check it out Unexplained as an av Club Productions

0:28:47.680 --> 0:28:52.240
<v Speaker 1>podcast created by Richard McClain Smith. All other elements of

0:28:52.280 --> 0:28:55.680
<v Speaker 1>the podcast, including the music, are also produced by me

0:28:55.960 --> 0:29:00.640
<v Speaker 1>Richard McClain smith. Unexplained. The book and audiobook is now

0:29:00.640 --> 0:29:05.080
<v Speaker 1>available to buy worldwide. You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes

0:29:05.120 --> 0:29:09.760
<v Speaker 1>and Noble, Waterstones and other bookstores. Please subscribe to and

0:29:09.880 --> 0:29:13.160
<v Speaker 1>rate the show wherever you get your podcasts, and feel

0:29:13.160 --> 0:29:15.800
<v Speaker 1>free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas

0:29:16.080 --> 0:29:19.080
<v Speaker 1>regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you

0:29:19.160 --> 0:29:21.520
<v Speaker 1>have an explanation of your own you'd like to share.

0:29:22.160 --> 0:29:25.640
<v Speaker 1>You can find out more at Unexplained podcast dot com

0:29:25.680 --> 0:29:29.360
<v Speaker 1>and reach us online through Twitter at Unexplained Pod and

0:29:29.560 --> 0:30:01.000
<v Speaker 1>Facebook at Facebook dot com. Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast m