2: The Network of Coexistence

It's time to begin the series. I ask for only one thing. We begin this series with only one assumption- That the Universe (or something) exists. From here, it will be purely logic moving forward. No biblical citations will be thrown out until after it's been proven that the Bible can be used. No assumptions based on any sort of religious tendencies will be used. It will be logic moving forward. Here we go.

So, to begin this series, we’re going to start with a blank slate. Basically, we have the Universe. That’s it. Everything in the Universe is existing together simultaneously. Let’s imagine the world as a movie, playing constantly forward (mostly because we don’t know how to rewind it). Everything progresses forward together, one instant becoming the next, moment to moment, forever onward. Now, pause.

We’re going to use this picture of a dog as our example. So, in this image, the dog is in midair after jumping off the pool deck, to get the ball, which is at just that position in the picture, while in the background, another dog is sitting on the deck. Now, all of those things, plus a thousand more, create this specific instant, captured here. Change any single one of those factors, and you’ve created a different moment.

N.B. We're dealing with what is, not what could possibly be. Yes, the dog could possibly be green or orange or a cat. But the fact of the matter is that the dog is not those.

If the dog was black, for example, the moment would change. If the ball was green, it would be a different moment. If the ball were on the right instead of the left, it would change the moment.

So all of these factors must themselves exist in order to create that specific instant. It could be said that they all must coexist, exist together, and that without everything just so, the moment wouldn’t exist. The moment is built by everything existing together, and if anything were to change, the moment would be different. In this instant, the dog only exists as jumping. The ball only exists as floating. They cannot truthfully be described otherwise. The dog cannot be said to be sitting. It is jumping. The ball cannot be described as rolling. It is floating.

N. B. It will become very important moving forward to deal with things honestly and objectively. Simply because something sounds nice will not be a good enough reason for it to be considered true. Just because something will hurt someone’s feelings is not a good enough reason for it to be false. It must actually be proven to be false. (Definitions for these terms will be coming in the future.)

Now, the dog is jumping, with the ball floating in the water. If the ball were still in midair, the moment would change. If the dog’s tail were on the right instead of the left, the moment would change. If even one tiny hair on that dog’s back were in a different place, it wouldn’t be the same instant. To create this instant, everything in the picture needs to be exactly where it is. That’s true of every moment everywhere in the universe. If any one thing were to change, such as a butterfly flapping its wings, the entire universe would be thrown into a different instant.

Everything must exist together, including energy. Everything is so radically bound together that they actually depend on each other for their very existence in each moment. The ball does not exist except in relation to the water and the dog, in every instant. And this extends to every corner of the universe. Everything in the universe coexists, exists together, and is dependent upon everything else to exist in that moment. If literally anything in the universe changes, if a single electron spins in the opposite direction, suddenly a new moment is created. This is the network of coexistence. And, to visualize, it would look something like this.

And this is where we’ll stop this time. We’ll pick up this network again next time.