Against my better judgment, given the fact that I'm still single and not happy about it, I watched Serendipity tonight. As a result, I am not thoroughly in love with Kate Beckinsale. As if I wasn't before.

I spent a good half-hour or so this afternoon discussing Fate and my lack thereof in believing in it with Jenn, and I also spent some time educating her in the Infinite Quantum Universe theory. So here's my story, an' I'm stickin' to it.

Given that I am steeped in science, I don't believe in fate or destiny or things like that because there's no proof of it. The only proof we have is that random coincidences occur, and that's all I believe is what some call "fate" to be -- random coincidences. It's not fate that you ran into your friend in a strange city 3000 miles away from home, it's not fate that you happened to get a job you love. It's a series of events -- some that have more effect than others -- that lead up to that particular occurrence at a point in time. You ran into your friend 3000 miles away because the both of you happened to make decisions that led to your being in the same place at the same time. You got the job because you happened to notice the ad and you applied for it and they thought you were the best suited for it. To me, fate is kind of like what God was to the ancient Greeks and Romans: a way to take blame or explanation for something and place it in someone else's hands. To assign "meaning" to an event is just to do that -- you're assigning personal meaning to it, but it doesn't mean that it was orchestrated by the Powers That Be or affects anything in the Grand Scheme of What's Going On. And for those of you who believe that fate leads you to that specific place and point in time, let me offer up this contradicting theory that says that somewhere, sometime, you actually don't make it to that place at that point in time. The Infinite Quantum Universe theory says basically that every time an occurrence happens in which a decision is made, an alternate universe is created where the opposite decision is made. And since there's so many of us making so many miniscule decisions throughout every day, that's why there's so many damn versions of these different quantum universes floating around. It's basically the theory that the movie Sliding Doors was based on, except on a much larger scale. The simplest way to put is to say that everything that could happen, does happen. Just not in the specific universe that we're aware of.

Supposing tomorrow morning, you come to a traffic light that's yellow. In the universe you're aware of, you stop for it and don't try to run it. In another universe that's created the instant that decision is made, another version of you runs that light, then decides because you made the light and have an extra minute, you'll stop at the corner shop and get donuts. In yet another universe that's created, you ran the light but decided not to get donuts. In yet another universe that's created, you didn't get donuts so you made it to the next intersection early where someone else driving along the cross-street runs that light and you get into a car accident. And so on and so forth.

My personal theory is that déjà vu is leakage between the universes. A strong feeling that you've done something before that you know you didn't, or a strong feeling that you're in a situation that you've been in before that you know you haven't, may come from a version of you that actually did do that thing or was in that situation that you are in when you get that feeling. But again, that's my own personal theory.

And now, I'm going back to the living room to watch another film. But in a different quantum universe, there's a version of me who stays at the computer. And in another quantum universe, there's a version of me that goes to In 'n' Out to pick up a Double Double. And in another quantum universe, there's a version of me that goes out and finds a dominatrix to spend the night with. And in another quantum universe, there's a version of me that watches a different film than the one I'm about to watch...