Dark Matter

by Blake Crouch

“We all live day to day completely oblivious to the fact that we’re a part of a much larger and stranger reality than we can possibly imagine.”

Then I think of all the possible events that could have stopped this moment from ever happening, and it all feels, I don’t know…” “What?” “So fragile.” Now he becomes thoughtful for a moment. He says finally, “It’s terrifying when you consider that every thought we have, every choice we could possibly make, branches into a new world.

The Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics posits that all possible realities exist. That everything which has a probability of happening is happening. Everything that might have occurred in our past did occur, only in another universe.

“But the problem is that we’re lost. Right?” “We’re exploring.” “Jesus Christ.” “What?” “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life wandering down this never-ending tunnel.” “I won’t let that happen.” “How?” “I don’t know yet.” “But you’re working on it?” “Yes. I’m working on it.” “And we’re not lost.” We are so fucking lost. Literally adrift in the nothing space between universes.

If you strip away all the trappings of personality and lifestyle, what are the core components that make me me?