Physicists and mathematicians tell us we might live in a universe of many dimensions, in a multiverse, or, at least, in a universe among universes. Their hypotheses, based on clever math, make some sense and even suggest that a multiverse is arguably undeniable, even though it is as largely unimaginable as a third dimension is to the fictional characters of Edwin Abbott Abbott’s Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (1884). Like Abbott’s doubters, we crave a demonstration; reasoning alone leaves us as perplexed as the Chief Circle, a two-dimensional resident of Flatland who cannot understand what Square tries to explain as “height.” Yet, now more than a hundred years after Abbott’s novel, many accept the undemonstrable and take the word of the physicists and mathematicians: “Yes,” we say, “there is a multiverse, and even now researchers are working not only 'to prove' the hypothesis, but also to demonstrate the shapes of other dimensions.”*
So, let’s assume a proof obtained. Assume that we can both reason and imagine through computer simulations the shapes of other dimensions. Assume, also, a sophistication of worldview that admits to such variety previously satirized in works like Abbott’s. Now look at our hypocrisy.
Within this “multiverse” many of us still see a one-dimensional world in those who live differently or with whom we disagree. Is there proof of this? Look at the bulk of politically-oriented comedy—if not all political comedy. While holding themselves to be multidimensional, almost all—if not all—political comedians see those with opposing political leanings as one- or, at best, two-dimensional. Jokes are always “aimed” at the other side of the “Political Center,” a side much like a number line that separates positive from negative integers, but is different in kind. The dimensionless number line is always perceived to be “thicker,” to have more substance on the “positive” side, the favored side the comic takes in ridiculing the negative side, so easy to satirize because of its simplicity in a recognizable flatness.
And the principle holds for more than political comedy. All the while many of us recognize our own “multidimensionality” and “multiverses,” we rarely recognize such multi-dimensions or multiple universes in those with whom we disagree. We see width, length, thickness, and time in our own worlds but fail to see the same in the worlds of others. Yet, the physical, emotional, and intellectual realities of all of us reside in the same universe.
*University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Physicists Find Way To 'See' Extra Dimensions." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 4 February 2007. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070203103355.htm
So, let’s assume a proof obtained. Assume that we can both reason and imagine through computer simulations the shapes of other dimensions. Assume, also, a sophistication of worldview that admits to such variety previously satirized in works like Abbott’s. Now look at our hypocrisy.
Within this “multiverse” many of us still see a one-dimensional world in those who live differently or with whom we disagree. Is there proof of this? Look at the bulk of politically-oriented comedy—if not all political comedy. While holding themselves to be multidimensional, almost all—if not all—political comedians see those with opposing political leanings as one- or, at best, two-dimensional. Jokes are always “aimed” at the other side of the “Political Center,” a side much like a number line that separates positive from negative integers, but is different in kind. The dimensionless number line is always perceived to be “thicker,” to have more substance on the “positive” side, the favored side the comic takes in ridiculing the negative side, so easy to satirize because of its simplicity in a recognizable flatness.
And the principle holds for more than political comedy. All the while many of us recognize our own “multidimensionality” and “multiverses,” we rarely recognize such multi-dimensions or multiple universes in those with whom we disagree. We see width, length, thickness, and time in our own worlds but fail to see the same in the worlds of others. Yet, the physical, emotional, and intellectual realities of all of us reside in the same universe.
*University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Physicists Find Way To 'See' Extra Dimensions." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 4 February 2007. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070203103355.htm
RSS Feed