5 Mind-Bending Points on Dark Matter

[Hasan]

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to start a discussion on Dark Matter as I’d be intrigued to hear what your thoughts are on the points I’m about to raise.


POINT 1 - How is it that Jason1 manages to make it back to the exact world he was taken from?


The whole concept of the multiverse outlines that there is an endless number of parallel universes for every other possible variation of life that could have been. Every time a new choice is made, the world splits off into infinite variations of that world.

Now, the individual travelling in the box cannot control exactly where they end up - the destination is dependent on their thoughts and feelings at the time. Therefore, even if Jason1 is thinking about his life with Daniela and Charlie, it is likely that he’ll end up in a world in which they exist (as he does throughout the story) but the likelihood of him arriving in the exact world he was taken from is as close to impossible as you can get.

So how does he manage to get back to that world?

After going over this in my head for a while, I came to the deduction that… he didn’t.

He arrived in a world that was extremely similar. A world in which the variations were so insignificant that it appeared to be the exact world he came from. Afterall, there are infinite worlds in which Jason was abducted after leaving the bar that night. And therefore, infinite world’s he could return to in which Jason2 had stolen the life he had with his wife and son. It could have been a world in which the only difference from his original life was that a vase in his house was a different colour (for argument’s sake).

Blake Crouch didn’t really raise this idea in the story, but if we’re abiding by the laws of a multiverse – this has to be the case. I suppose that in the book, it was made to seem like Jason1’s original world as it wraps up the story nicely.


POINT 2 – Why would all of the other versions of Jason allow the three of them to get back into the box?


Afterall, some of those versions of Jason became far more desperate and violent than the Jason we knew. So much so, that they were willing to shoot at a car with Charlie inside in order to get what they so desperately desired.

If you stop to think about it, there are infinite versions of the Jason who first got into the box with Amanda. Some of those Jasons must have travelled through worlds which were a living hell - far worse than the things our Jason went through. They would have killed people. Perhaps survived within an inch of their life in order to escape and get back to Daniela and Charlie. This explains how a lot of them were so murderous.

So why would they just stand back and allow Jason1, Daniela and Charlie to get back in into the box? To know that after everything they had been through, another man was going to take their wife and child?

I suppose, to reference my first point, this was simply a world in which they let them pass. There were countless other worlds in which at least one of the Jasons would not let them through.


POINT 3 – Jason2 has ruined the lives of every single version of the Daniela and Charlie that existed in a world in which Jason1 was abducted.


There are infinite versions of Jason now trying to make it back to the world from which they were abducted. Therefore, in every world that has any similarity to Jason1’s original world, there will be thousands of men coming out of a box and murdering one another to get to Daniela and Charlie. Their lives will never ever be the same again.

Upon creating the box, did Jason2 really not consider this happening? A man who was intelligent enough to build a portal which allows one to travel to parallel universes– you’re telling me that he didn’t predict the infinite loop of multiverse-travelling versions of himself coming back to hunt him down? All of the destructive chaos it would cause?

Maybe he was a man so unhappy with his life that he was blinded by selfishness.


POINT 4 – In the book, we are biased in favour of ‘our’ Jason.


In actual fact, every other Jason is ‘our’ Jason. They are the same man from the beginning of the story. The same man who built a life with Daniela and Charlie. The only difference between these men, are the things that happened in the window of one month since they were abducted. Jason split into infinite versions of himself, but they were all the same person.

(The only exception is Jason2. He was effectively a different person who stole someone else’s life)

Of all of the other Jasons, we’re biased in favour of our character and it seems like all of the other versions of Jason are undeserving of Daniela and Charlie. But the sad fact is, none of them are any more deserving than the other. This again makes me think about POINT 2.


POINT 5 – What will all of the other Jasons do now?


Perhaps the most fun point to think about. Jason1 has now taken Daniela and Charlie into the box and disappeared. Gone forever. There is no way any of the other versions of Jason will be capable of finding them, considering that they have escaped to somewhere effectively random.

What will they do now? Try to get on with their lives in that version of Chicago?
But the thing is … there will be hundreds, thousands, millions, billions of men that come out of a box, who all look exactly the same. They overpopulate Chicago...and eventually overpopulate the world. What happens?!

Can you imagine what comes onto the news stations when civilisation starts to realise what’s going on? “There have been further sightings of the mystery clone man today. Analysts now believe that the number has risen to around 300,000”


THANKS FOR READING


Ultimately, I loved this book because it made me think so much.

If anyone would like to add an opinion to even one of the points above, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Alex]

About 5. Thats how matrix began. Agent Smith haha.
One more point. On the chat. He registered as Jason 9. So our Jason isn’t actually the first.

[Proudcat]

Interesting points however I actually would believe that Point 1 and 2 are correct and could happen.
Unclear by what you actually mean about Point 3... I think Jason2 was just too good of a person and it was a mistake that he didn't kill Jason1 when abducted. If he did kill himself i.e. Jason1, nothing would have happened to other Jasons and other people...
Point 4 is a definite yes, the whole journey back is from a point of view or 'our' Jason hence we are biased as he is our protagonist. Any other Jason could have been him.
Point 5 - this was the main question on my mind at the end. I doubt it would be millions of Jasons as it is hard to find this particular world, right? But even with a few hundreds how could they all assimilate? I guess stolen identity and spread around the world :-))

[Jenel]

We know that the Jason we are reading about is the Jason that makes it back, removes Jason 2 and out of his original world.
We know that the Jason living with his wife is called Jason 2.

We don't really know that our Jason is Jason 1. He is just the Jason we are following who makes it back to what he thinks is his time and manages to convince his wife and son to take the leap with him.

I think the other Jasons pinch of, die out, sputter out because they no longer have a goal, a desire, a compass to guide them. Unless they go back to their 1st love and make a different life altogether.