Here and Now and Then

by Mike Chen

“‘The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.’ Spock says it. In Star Trek II.”

This reminds me of the running reference to Star Trek in Station Eleven.

an infinite number of universes, some wildly different from one another.

Is it infinite? At any given moment in time the number of people on the planet is knowable and the choices that each person makes is a number subject to calculation, albeit, a very challenging endeavor.

The topic turned to informing the family: “funeral stipend” and “counseling stipend” and “trauma recovery period resources.”

Comodifying and monetizing grief.

Resurfaced memories all filled in the blanks about who she was and how they lived their life together, crafting a rich and vivid picture that failed to animate.

Penny deflected with self-deprecation when things got uncomfortable. Markus deflected with sport.

Kin stood at the eye of a hurricane of people, each wanting to know how he was for a brief moment before going on about their own lives.

But then I remember that we’re all different people all through our lives, but that’s okay, as long as you remember all the people you used to be.

They say there are at least seven people in the world at any time who look like you. Facial recognition is only one of the flags.