u/theoutstandingmeh

The OverThinker

A man sits in his living room with the day off and no obligations. I shouldn’t say that. I do have obligations. A man sits in his living room choosing which obligations to fulfill. I am technically obligated to breathe, although I do not consciously (at least all the time that I am aware of) choose to breathe. I can take my ‘awareness’ and bring it to the fact that I breathe and even control how long each breath lasts – to an extent (without dying). I can even go back further a “layer of reality” and observe that I am actively thinking about breathing as I am doing it.

I am that man and I love overthinking. Often to my own “detriment”.

He decides to ponder absolutely ‘everything’. A substantial task for sure. But this is the ultimate goal of the overthinker, I think it is, anyway.

He is not foreign to using technology to assist in his ‘thinking’. By that I mean, there are so many other people out there ‘thinking’ and technology has produced a way to essentially share all of available information. It is the ultimate ‘pocket knife’ for an overthinker. He stumbles across a video explaining dimensions.

I could not possibly sit here and explain the different dimensions. But here it goes. The way I have learned it (and I am a flawed human so I could be completely off), you start with a ‘point’ essentially, for lack of a better word. That ‘point’ in what we consider ‘spacetime’ (all of time and space essentially mapped out on a ‘grid’, where there are infinite points on said grid for that ‘point’ to exist). In the ‘zeroth’ dimension, there is only that one point, there is no direction for it to move up, down, or side to side. But further than this, that one point in spacetime cannot only not ‘move’ in any direction but it cannot ‘move’ through time. It simply ‘is’ that moment in all of infinite space and time (spacetime).

It helps me to think of it as a grid, which I later found out the cartesian coordinate system was created by the same guy that said ‘I think, therefore I am” (man, I really think that guy was onto something). But damn, we have to go back to dimensions to explain this properly (I am very scatter brained but try to be thorough, please bear with me).

Zeroth dimension – a single point in space and time with no direction to ‘travel’ and no ‘time’ to move to, it is a single moment that ‘exists’ in the ultimately perceived ‘here and now’.  This is not to say we exist in the zeroth dimension (as we are obviously 3d beings) but in the realm of dimensions, this is how a conscious being could best “interpret” the zeroth dimension, much like showing a 3d model of a cube using the 2d tool of a ‘drawing’ (I know technically the drawing is “3d” but I could overthink this to death so we have to draw the line somewhere to see this idea all the way through (another curse of the overthinker)

1^(st) dimension – now take that point and stretch it into a line, the ‘point’ in that line can now theoretically move from side to side along that line. Only back and forth in that one direction.

2^(nd) dimension – think of a drawing on a piece of paper. There is the popularized idea of ‘Flatland’, on which I have not read the book but the premise is fascinating.

Quick side note about how dimensions work to really hammer in the ethereal ‘mindfuck’ that is other dimensions, imagine you are surgeon for those in flatland, since you are not bound by their rules, you could theoretically (given the existence of an interdimensional pencil equivalent) simply erase and redraw any errors in the person – broken bone? Redraw it fixed. You just performed interdimensional surgery. Many of those who have experienced psychedelic “trips” have often reported a sensation similar to an “interdimensional being” performing surgery (most often brain surgery) on the experiencer. Just something to consider the next trip you take…

3^(rd) dimension – okay, enough sidetrack dimension thought experiments, we’re familiar with this one, it’s where we live, it’s our length, width, and height.

4^(th) dimension – Now I’m not a physicist or quantum theorist (yet…or maybe I am now, I am not sure if there are ‘qualifications’) but the way I understand the fourth dimension is time. I understand this is a ‘theory’ but the overthinker has to follow this possibility. The way this was best explained to me is as if you were using video editing software for a video you created. You could see the whole video file before you and every ‘moment’ in that video at one time (you cannot watch it all simultaneously but the whole entirety of that “time” you recorded is available in front of you to see. (think of a ten minute youtube video and you can use the scrubber to go back and forth in ‘time’. The fourth dimension would be essentially seeing every ‘moment’ in time. I think of the idea of a ‘worm’ of human experience. There is the moment you are born up until the moment you die and each moment in between those two points is a cross section (a small piece of the worm), creating a ‘3d’ representation of our lives in ‘4d’ spacetime.

5^(th) dimension – now add in possibilities. If quantum theory is correct, then every ‘particle’ is in ‘superposition’ (again, not a scientist) and the double slit experiment showed that it chooses a state when observed, implying there is possibly another outcome where it chose the other state when observed. This is essentially where the fifth dimension comes in. In addition to endless “heres” and “nows” there is an ever-extending branching network of “what-ifs”, possibly (if the theory is correct) a different universe for every single ‘atom’ making a different state ‘decision’. Imagine every possible outcome of every single atom being ‘observed’ existing in it’s own “here and now” in spacetime.

For understanding this theory/idea that is as far as we really need to go, but let’s push it.

6^(th) dimension – from what I understand the fifth dimension would contain all of the possibilities…That our current physics allows for. Welcome the sixth dimension, where not only do all possibilities of our current “world” and it’s physical laws exist but simultaneously every world is contained that would not be allowed by our ideas of physics and reality (that are limited by our own 3d… (4d?) experience – remember, “up” would not exist if you mentioned it to a ‘being’ in the 1^(st) dimension, the idea would make no sense given those 1^(st) dimension parameters. See where we’re going here?

There are more dimensions according to what we ‘know’ but I need to check back in and let you know “I” am still here. The overthinker may have gotten lost in thinking about dimensions for a moment but I am here and present in the “here and now”. This begs the question what do you mean “I am here”? Enter back in the idea of “the observer”.

This idea of the observer is one many of us have probably ‘thought about’ without ever really ‘thinking about’ it. Right now, I just need you to bring your awareness to the fact that you exist in this moment in space (and in time). Really focus on that and realize that every moment is theoretically it’s own ‘entity’ in the realm of spacetime. No matter how hard you try (at least with current technological capacity), there is no way for you to be anywhere other than your current moment in space and time. We are trapped in the ‘now’. You can think about a moment a couple minutes, a couple seconds, or even a couple milliseconds in the future but you cannot ‘physically’ get yourself there outside of moving or waiting (to get to the desired place or the awaited for time), in which you have already “lost” that past moment in here and now. This is just a fancy way of saying you can only ever truly be “in the moment” as there is nowhere else to be. We can get into visualization and daydreaming, but in physical space and time, we are essentially “trapped in the here and now”.

This idea alone can drive you crazy, but for the overthinker it was just an appetizer.

What is this “observer” and how does it actually “move” through space and time simultaneously? It happens as subconsciously as does breathing and you can bring that same attention you drew to your breath earlier to the fact that there is an observer observing. There are many terms for this observer (the self, the soul, some believe it is actually God himself observing through the eyes of it’s creation) that’s overthinking for another time, let’s think this idea to death first. There is an observer in some way shape or form, and as far as we know, this observer is “trapped” in the here and now (understandably if the observer is God seeing things through his creation’s eyes we will assume he has ‘limited himself’ to his creation’s eyes in this context for this argument – or in his case, for this ‘experience’ – basically I am just saying even if we were ‘God experiencing himself’, he has essentially given us “limited tools” to do so by – probably by design). This observer is there and spacetime is being experienced by the observer…How does this actually play out?

He understood in the grand scheme of things it plays out as “time moving forward and you experiencing life” and he could not deny that, but he wanted to he was an overthinker and that kind of answer is never satisfactory for an overthinker, we want to know why and how.

To put together a working theory of how this actually works, he combined the ideas of infinite universes and possibilities in a spacetime grid. Every moment in the ‘grid’ represents a certain possibility (the electron choosing a position) at a certain moment in spacetime (what the user experience as the here and now of that possibility playing out). This cannot accurately be pictured or even fully comprehended as it would be incredibly expansive and infinite but the overthinker must try.

If all those possibilities and ‘here and now’ moments exist independently of whether or not they are being actively ‘experienced’ by the ‘moving spotlight’ (awareness, consciousness, the soul, whathaveyou), that places an incredible amount of importance on the ‘moving spotlight’, the ‘observer’ to be going down an “appropriate path” (if such a thing as appropriate in this theory would even be an applicable word). That would also place an incredible amount of power in the observer (whether they were aware of it or not).

The overthinker thought about what modern day science has ‘concluded’ – this word used very cautiously as science is ever-correcting itself and is an entity that allows for new discoveries). He thought about how science has essentially deemed our world “a projection”, meaning we only know what our brains can ‘process’ with the data in front of us and construct our world view based on that; so it is a ‘projection’ to each individual ‘moving spotlight’. He understood what the idea was getting at but believed there was still an actuality behind that ‘projection’. This idea for how the ‘moving spotlight’ can navigate through spacetime (through all the points on the grid representing all “heres”, “nows”, and “possibilities” could be plausible, but he wanted to overthink it some more.

If the ‘moving spotlight’, the observer, is constantly moving through spacetime, do they have any conscious intent while doing so? If they do not currently, could they develop that intent and attempt to move accordingly?

This works towards the ideas of “do unto others” and “be the change you want to see in the world” and the overthinker always thought those were good messages, however, if his idea of spacetime and travel by the moving spotlight were even somewhat accurate, this gives not necessarily a whole new meaning to the phrase but definitely a new way to visualize it.

Let’s clarify, the overthinker thought. This is a good working idea but there are so many people in the world and so many other living beings, if each person, each consciousness even (science has determined plants have a form of ‘consciousness’), has their own “moving spotlight”., how could that possibly be?

He thought of the observer as more than an observer. In the aforementioned ‘double slit’ experiment, the atom (or electron) chooses a state once it is observed. Many scientists have drawn that idea to the conclusion that, in a way, we “create” the reality by forcing it to choose a state (we cannot necessarily control the reality but we ‘create it’ simply by observing it – you ‘created’ the experience of you sitting down and drinking coffee this morning. Take that ‘simple’ idea and combine it with the idea of the ‘moving spotlight’ moving through a grid of ‘endless realities’ and it is simply ‘shifting your point’ on the grid. When you put two sugars in your coffee instead of one, the ‘you’ experiencing the ‘now’ went to a slightly “to the right (or left)” area on the ever-expansive grid of possible universes. This moving spotlight continues along the path it makes for itself microscopically influenced by every decision and every electron choosing a state from those decisions. You can imagine how little everyday decisions at that point would potentially drastically change the trajectory in an infinite array of ‘points’. Sure, it may ‘bump you over’ into a universe slightly (ever so slightly, most of the times not even noticeable) different than the one you could’ve ‘ended up in’ in, but over an expansive ‘time’ we would see the impact of those small changes affect the trajectory of the moving spotlight.

It would make sense the observer is in a sense ‘creating their universe’ without even actively trying to if all it took was ‘experiencing it’, which is what his thought framework allowed).

But now when we add in all the other “moving spotlights” (other souls and observers) we are forced with the confrontation that we do not all experience “our own reality” . In other words, we all have a ‘consensus’ on the ‘here and now’ (relatively speaking). The overthinker thought of the moving spotlight, the observer, himself, as a force (similar to gravity) pulling things towards it. Only not “things” but points on that time space grid. The moving spotlights are all “trapped” in this “here and now” experience but collectively “travelling” through spacetime experiencing collective “heres and nows” (and possibilities).

He reconsidered the implications of this thought. If this was true, then things like major religions, world events that are broadcast on the worldwide news, social trends, and historical and political figures all carry a heavy sway in where the collective consciousness “goes”, there “here and now” it lands on at any given point.

Then he overthought to his own detriment (as he is one who is prone to do). What if this has already been realized? The overthinker has heard before “there is not one original thought”. Well shit, if this has been thought up, it is possible it has been utilized or is even currently being utilized. What if this got into the wrong hands? In the wrong hands, malevolent entities could “drive the moving spotlights” towards a specific “point on the grid”. He thought of what this form would look like back on his 3d plane of existing.

It would probably look like major belief systems controlling ideas of the population, it would look like constantly sensationalized stories on the news for all the moving spotlights to see and ‘react to’, it would be practices that keep the population at large from ‘achieving’ their goals, possibly with something to keep them distracted and demotivated all day.

He looked up at the TV, which had been playing on mute in the background and shut off the program, which appeared to be two ‘prominent’ figures yelling at each other about the way something or the other should be. He considered diving more into the thought he had so meticulously crafted, it really did excite him and he thought “maybe I will actually get a small, tiny glimpse into the ways things actually work”. But ultimately decided instead to take what was left of his day off and get some rest. Or maybe he did laundry. There was something to do…some obligation. The irony was not lost on him but he really needed the rest. After all, he did have work tomorrow.

*This is actually a narrative form of a quantum / philosophical theory that I am working on getting published. It is called the Attractor-Observer Model

I need friends from the Monsoon region, it is the only region I’m missing for my Vivillion medal.

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Thank you!