I’ve been watching Fringe and it’s got me thinking about different dimensions and what that might be like. I believe in a multi-dimensional universe, let’s get that out of the way right at the start. No, my problem is not in its plausibility, it’s in whether it would be advisable to traverse between different dimensions and alternative universes.

Movies and TV shows make meeting one of your ‘other’ selves an interesting experience that brings positive benefits but I’m not so sure that would be the case if we did it for real. If you’re having a shit time of it here in this dimension and you get the chance to pop over to an alternative one where you find another you is living what you believe to be the perfect privileged life, how are you going to feel? Yeah, me too.

What would you do, use the experience to positively motivate yourself here in this dimension? Shoot the other you and take their place in theirs? Get suicidally depressed and do nothing but mope? I doubt too many would do the first. Most of us would do either of the latter two.

Supposing it was the other way around and you found the other you living a shit life. Wouldn’t you be tempted to try to sort them out? Would you not try to give them the benefit of your experience? I know I would.

The main thing is this, how would all this interfering affect both your own dimension, and theirs? Would the general universal time line (if there is such a thing) be able to cope with millions of people ‘meddling’ in each others’ dimensions? I’m tempted to think not. I can imagine millions of lives collapsing, and millions of people not knowing whether they’re coming or going, whether they belong here or there or somewhere else. Who’s dead and who’s alive and which one are you sleeping with tonight?

No, I can foresee nothing but chaos if we fiddle about in other dimensions, and let’s face it, coping with all the shit in this one is enough work, isn’t it?