Some scientists have speculated that we may be living in a “Multiverse:” other universes in existence, parallel universes similar to but not the same as ours, possibly existing just slightly out of sync with ours, so similar, so close, and yet oddly different.

Yesterday I found proof that the multiverse not only exists, but actually interacts with our own world!

A student came up to me after class.  To all appearances, she was a typical undergraduate.  But then she told me that the bookstore had run out of copies of the book I had assigned for class, that it would not be in for several weeks, so she would have to be excused from the readings until then.

There it is.  Proof of the multiverse!

You see, in MY universe, there is a big building on campus that lends out copies of books for free, called a Library.  In MY universe there are bookstores off campus, including one of the largest used bookstores in the nation, Powell’s, less than 10 minutes away.  In MY universe there is this remarkable on-line service called Amazon that will ship a book to you overnight, or in many cases provide you with an electronic copy of a book instantly, and for even less money that the paper copy.  In MY universe there are thirty other people in the room we were standing in who had copies of the book, who would likely loan her a copy long enough for her to read it, or to take it to a copy machine and copy out a few pages to read.

I looked at this poor soul, trapped in a different, parallel universe without these options.  I was so grateful for the incredible universe I live in, where there are so many ways to be empowered!  How could I not feel the glory of riches in my universe, and not pity her the poverty of her parallel universe?

I was worried about her.  But then it dawned on me: in MY universe, a student with no ability to overcome obstacles fails, at the university and in life.  In MY universe, it is unlikely she would even be able to get into a university.  But in HER universe, clearly, the standards and demands of daily life are clearly more forgiving.  So, I guess there is a silver lining to every multiverse.

Update: Some scientists have been skeptical of my claims to have discovered a parallel universe interacting with our own.  One way science knows something is true is that it is reproduce-able, that it happens over and over again.  Well, here I have a dilemma.  You see, it has now happened three times, with three different students!  I thought that was proof, but now I am not sure.

When I patiently explained to my poor, lost multiverse refugees that in THIS universe not having the book was unacceptable, that in THIS universe a 20 year old who says something like this is bound to fail both in my class and in life . . . they disappear!  I didn’t see them vanish, of course, so I don’t know how or where they found the gateway back to their own universe.

All I know is that, when the second class began, they were no longer there!

Poor souls.  I hope they got home again safely!