A Tryst with Destiny
There’s something about the end of the year, that makes me sit back and ask the BIG questions. Questions like:
Where do I want to be in 10 years?
Does life exists elsewhere in the Universe?
Why do humans keep killing humans? How much time does Humanity have left?
What’s the next big technology? Is it Quantum Computing? Or synthetic biology? Gene editing?
But the biggest question I grapple with is my purpose here on Earth. What is my destiny? And, do I really have any control over it?
A hypothesis
I recently watched a show on Apple TV called ‘Dark Matter’ which is centered around a physics professor ‘Jason’ who is kidnapped and sent to an alternative reality. In the show we find out that the person who kidnapped Jason — is himself, albeit from another reality. A multiverse.
This other Jason (the kidnapper) in his alternative reality has built a box which can put people in a state of ‘superposition’ which enables them to travel across the Multiverse into infinite alternative realities.
Reality #1 — Jason is a physics professor in a sub-par university in Chicago. He’s married and has a kid. He is living a normal life and you can see he is probably not very thrilled with it. He could have achieved more, he feels.
Reality #2 — Jason is a big shot scientist who has developed a way for people to travel the multiverse. However, he’s not married. Doesn’t have a kid. It is BECAUSE he chose not to get married and pursue his dream, that he became such a great scientist. But, he’s not really happy. And he wonders, what his life could’ve been if he had married the woman of his dreams.
A simple decision — not to get married and pursue science — completely changed Jason’s life in another reality.
And that’s how I think destiny works.
At the micro level, every decision you take shapes your life. All possibilities exist. If you decide to start a newsletter and you keep pursuing it, you might become a great writer. Or you could start a business and invent a disruptive technology. Or you could pursue sports. Or become an astronaut. Or start a NGO to help the underprivileged. Or you could just keep watching memes.
At the macro level, decisions that the collective humanity takes, shapes our life on Earth. If we decide to do something about global warming, we could still save the planet. If all of us decide to use cryptocurrencies, you’d not need physical money anymore. If we decide not to kill each other over religion / caste, we could live a more peaceful life.
The macro level decides how you experience life externally while the micro level decides how you experience life internally.
And so, you’re one decision away from completely changing your life.
I want to leave you with this wonderful exchange between Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe in ‘The Last Samurai’ — a movie that got me thinking about the concept of destiny in the first place.
Katsumoto: You believe, a man can change his destiny?
Algren: I think a man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed.
Interesting Read!!