Rohan's Blog

This musing is in reference to the multiverse and its implications. The main idea is that since everything has consequences, there exist many realities where consequences have been equal, thus each reality ultimately accounts for nothing. There is no good or bad, there just is. All systems of morality and responsibility are mere fabrications of a mind controlled entirely by propaganda and brainwash. There are no rules, nothing is hard and fast, not even the most seemingly astute scientific principles.  There is no overarching plan, life is a just a vast and cold simulation, a mathematical combination of various variables. The question then arises, what is the purpose of living? There is no purpose, whatever you do is all in absence of any real consequences because there exists another universe where you haven’t done that particular thing.

We all try to make meaning out of the meaningless. There is no intrinsic meaning to falling in love, it is a mere chemical process which happens to most simulations when the factors that cause it arrange in the right order. Since these factors are absolutely arbitrary and limited in number, they will fall in place for most at some random point of time. The number of factors varies for each type of achievement in life and the access one has to these factors is affected by another random variable, that of birth. We live our life to a template, there is no escaping from that, any struggle is useless. There are a million other beings like you who have lived identical lives, who have the same goals, who went through the same processes of life. You are not unique, you are an added skin to the template. You add absolutely zero value, whether you live or die, it doesn’t matter. One, because there are a million other beings almost exactly identical to you and two, because there are countless other versions of you in the multiverse. Even the most original of our thoughts and feelings are inspired by the most mundane of influences, consciousness is but an effort to explain that which is unexplainable. You feel angry because of your interaction with a variable, you can never organically feel angry in the absence of stimuli, stimuli that is arbitrary.

However, since the multiverse is affected by every single interaction of each variable, it would mean that ultimately everything matters because it literally decides the future of the universe. Yes, and no. Since everything matters, nothing really matters. Since there are infinite possibilities, the outcome of one possibility accounts for nothing.

Are you a voracious consumer of youtube videos? A snapchat hero? A facebook legend? A memelord? Well, first of all, I offer my condolences to you. Trust me, I’m not being condescending, I am in the same gigantic boat as you. Except, I know that the Titanic is going to sink and I am fully aware that I can do sweet nothing to prevent the unpreventable. Now, on average, how much time do you spend ‘linked in’? FOMO, you can be honest, the primal fear of missing out ensures that we as a people cannot and will not go out of the ‘loop’ else we’d be one of those ‘loopy neo-luddites’.

What do we watch videos about, whom do we try to emulate on snapchat, what posts do we love to follow on faceboook? For the most part, we love spectating success, it is a natural impulse. We can safely get a kick of dopamine, sitting at home, with none of the risk attached with ‘real-life’ ventures in pursuit of this enigmatic, unrealistic, unachievable ‘success’. We love watching people play football, drive lamborghinis, date supermodels; we all would absolutely love to live this surreal dream life. But we also innately know that this life is safely, securely and permanently out of our reach. We contend ourselves in spectating, not playing. This spectator like mentality takes away from us any and all semblance of a drive or, more importantly, individuality.

This over glamourized depiction of success makes it seem unachievable. We are content with our current situation because we know that the people who achieved success were ‘exceptional’. Zuckerberg definitely didn’t live like your sorry self, he was fed ambrosia, he learnt wizardry at the Harvard school of witchcraft and wizardry, he was a ‘genius’. You are a muggle, you shouldn’t even have such dreams, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Thus you contend yourself in blinding mediocrity, you accept being an ‘unperson’ and choose to live a ‘regular’ life.

What is an unperson? An unperson is an individual who isn’t an individual. He is little more than part of the herd. He listens to top 40 pop music, wears the clothes everyone else wears, watches the same videos everyone else watches and probably is a fan of at least one famous person. The ‘unperson’ claps in the audience when Kohli hits a six. His existence is expressed in birth registers and population surveys and ends in death registers. He thinks he is unique and different, his problems are distinct. In a world where everyone lives life on not their own terms, nothing is unique, everything is a copy of a copy of a copy and so on.

Non-conformity is a dangerous, dirty word. In a system that rewards conformity in an almost mechanical way, it is easy to see why we act like a herd of sheep. Success = Ivy league school + finals club + top job + big house. Follow this set template, and success is guaranteed. You don’t need to ‘think out of the box’, follow the beaten path and you should be fine. All of us essentially live similar lives, the ‘templates’ may be different.

The digital world serves as a readily accessible tool of escapism for an increasingly disenchanted generation. I don’t own a car, I feel bad. Well, at least I can watch videos of Mr. What’s-his-face driving his brand new Ferrari. This erodes any remaining drive in us to better our situation. Instead of engaging with our own miserable reality, we choose to live in a fool’s paradise. Here, everything is nice, everyone is happy and successful.

We are so scared of playing the game that we are happy with cheering for the ones who do.