Everyone has a different way of dealing with the situations they are put in. In light of the recent presidential election in the U.S. many people have created poems, songs, paintings and more to express how they feel about the results. Some have been dealing with the results through protests and twitter rants. For myself and the nerdy minority, comfort and motivation is found in science. Through different theories, hypotheses, and observations, I can explain how Donald Trump did not win the election, but also find motivation to thrive in the world in which he did.
In order to explain to you how there is a world in which Donald Trump did not win the presidential election, you must understand the theory that there are infinite versions of our reality. It is a difficult concept to explain and, quite frankly, difficult to accept as anything more than complete fiction; however, YouTuber Charlie McDonnell, who goes by the name “charlieissocoollike,” explains the idea of infinite realities very well. The set up for Charlie McDonnell’s explanation of infinite realities sounds like a word problem from math class, but bear with me.
Imagine, if you will, a man who owns 100 shirts, 250 different ties, and just 2 pairs of pants resulting in 50,000 possible unique combinations. Assuming he is immortal (thus having an infinite amount of days) and never buys any new clothes, with an infinite amount of days and a finite number of clothing combinations, eventually he would have to start repeating outfits.
In our universe there is a number of different particles. Through different combinations, these particles make up everything in the world around us. The different combinations they make are so numerous that trying to get an exact number is not worth figuring out, yet it is finite. Relating back the the example, given the fact that there are a finite amount of combinations of particles and that prevailing scientific theory suggests that the universe is infinitely big, eventually the universe is going to have to start repeating itself. What does this mean exactly?
This means that in theory, there is a copy of this universe virtually identical to this one, and not only is there one copy but infinitely many copies. As such there are also slightly different versions of this world. There is a world in which you aced that math test you bombed, where you actually did ask out the person you have a crush on, or even where Hillary Clinton is the President-elect. Yes, I am saying that in one of these other versions of our world Donald Trump did not get elected President of the United States. Yes, I know that saying this sounds a bit ridiculous. This concept sounds like it is a part of an episode of Doctor Who, but it is truly based on rational thinking and scientific ideas.
Even if this hypothesis does one day prove to be true, those other worlds are still not the ones we live in. Even so, I find comfort it the idea that they exist. Similar to how writing a poem helps people deal with their emotions, this is how I am able to deal with mine.
But what good comes from being in denial over the situation? While the idea of a world where things went the way that I would’ve hoped is easy, eventually there has to be a point of acceptance. To me, thinking that there is this other version of this world that is better than this one gives me a drive to do all that I can to make our own reality as best as it can be. For as many things that have gone wrong, my community, my country, and the human race have all done many things right. Some people are happy with the results of the election and as such, are glad that they live in this version of our world. No matter how you feel about the events of this past week, we should all work on moving forward together. Thrive in spite of your situation and to spite the people who put you there. Whatever your motivation, make this world for the next generation what you wish it had been made for you.
