As I learn and think about the world, the universe, and what is, I'm left with questions. Today, I propose a thought: if our universe is indeed cyclical and is born anew, did something exist before? This thought and the idea of indestructible information makes me wonder. Is there a way we could look further back than our universe's birth to whatever that was before, was? Is the sheer concept of before meaningless at scale? Do the laws of physics change over a period of time or with the rebirth of a universe? What is our significance, if any?
To this, I propose a story, or whatever you wish to call it. I want you to imagine you are truly alone. A lone being floating in space in absolute solidarity. Your kind, your species, is dead, and the galaxies before you begin to lose shape. The ultimate heat death, that is, approaches. A dull and stagnant fate awaits, and you are just there, existing. Waiting, thinking, or whatever you wish to do in this imaginary place. Nothing appears as if it can change the fate that awaits you and the end of your universe, your life, and any memory that was. Your being, your kind, your identity, or any "thing" that was is being deleted before your very eyes. How would you feel? Is this the true feeling of existential dread? Would you truly understand the concept of ceasing to be? Would you welcome it? Or would you deny it, act out of sheer defiance, and try to overcome the very laws of causality itself?
Is there some way, some unseen and unknown force can preserve the information that was? An event horizon, perhaps? Would being stored in an infinitely small film of information give it meaning? Could something in the future universe look back, and see a slice of what was once your being? Would that information justify existence, or is existence justification in its own right? The idea of there being infinitely many futures, paths, choices, and even universes raises more questions. Is there a possibility that some "thing" shifts and the death of the world is avoided? Or by some strange paradox do you become immortal, as if one of Schrodinger's cats? Do the infinitely many paths lead to an immutable singular solution or repeated cycle?
Now, step back in your mind, your own life, your being. How does your existence compare to this final being?
If you read this with a loss of self, then you now truly understand the feeling that is existential dread. As all of us, all that is, all that was, all that will be, await the same inescapable fate. Unless that is, we master these laws, change the song that is causality, and in doing so, become true creators in our own right. For what is the purpose of discovering truth if not to apply it? As independent variables with choice, can we master the laws of causality, and in doing so, could we change them? Have others tried or succeeded? Could we ever even know?