Parallel Universe

[on:]

I'm not sure this is the right place to put this but did anyone notice that in Farnsworth's Parabox the parallel universe wasn't parallel enough? The only changes was the main character's color, the planet express building's color, and the sky's color. Everything else is very similar.

[Reply #1 on:]

And the fact that Fry and Leela were married

[Reply #2 on:]

 

Originally posted by DrZoidberg112:
... did anyone notice that in Farnsworth's Parabox the parallel universe wasn't parallel enough? The only changes was the main character's color, the planet express building's color, and the sky's color. Everything else is very similar.

T'would seem you're arguing the universes were too parallel, if the only differences were colors. 

We didn't see Zap or Kif.
We didn't see Morris or Munda, nor any of the Mutants.
Nor the Robot Mafia, Flexo, Angelyne, or Roberto;
Nor Mom or her sons;
Nor Leo or Inez;
Or Scruffy, Mayor Poopenmeyer, Nixon, Belze-bot, Wernstrom, Ipgee, Terry, Lou, and more!

All we saw of Universe 1 was that which was necessary to the plot of "Farnsworth Parabox."

If that's all what we saw;
Who knows what else might have been  different?
Wernstrom could be Farnsworth's good bud!
Mom could be a sweetheart!
Or Zap could respect women!
 
Oh my... it makes my head spin!
I... I... aye-yai-yai...
[*Thump!*]

[Reply #3 on:]

*Nudges SpaceCase* looks like its my turn to play nurse.
*picks up SpaceCase and moves to a safe spot*
Now, lets see, how to wake Spacey up, hmmm
*puts smelling salts under SpaceCase's nose*
Wake up Spacey, someone could harvest your organs

[Reply #4 on:]

Hmm...I still think it could have been more parallel. The character's personalities could have been different. The backround objects could have been opposite colors of the objects in universe A. It was a good episode anyway 

[Reply #5 on:]

Hmmm. The differences between the parallel universes are what make them less "parallel".

What you mean is that you think the universes should have been more divergent, ie: not true "parallel" universes, but "alternate" universes, like the increasingly odd universes generated by the machine towards the end of the episode, that the two Zoidbergs run amok through.

A 100% paralell universe would have only ONE difference between itself and our own portion of space-time. That difference would be cosmically insignificant, such as the makeup of a far-flung star containing 1% more helium than our own universe's analogue of that particular star.

[Reply #6 on:]

The first thing that the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has to say about Parallel Dimensions is that they are NOT parallel, and they are NOT, in fact, dimensions.

[Reply #7 on:]

Yeah... the writer's created the parallel universe that was "too" parallel to set up the idea  whther or not you could really stand having to spend time with your exact copy...
(I'm paraphrasing)

[Reply #8 on:]

Although the light spectrum was subtly different in Universe 1, the basic differences in causality weren't sufficient to make it unrecognisable from Universe A. It's basically the same world with minor alterations.
The term 'parallel universe' really only means that they are existing concurrently, and moving along the same timeline at the same relative point in history.
Trust me on this - you don't ever want to visit a Universe that ISN'T parallel. I spent five minutes in one that was travelling the wrong way in time, and when I returned here to my home Universe I ended up 500 years in the past. Now I have to sit around here in the 21st Century waiting for the H-bombs to fall all over again. Curses...

[Reply #9 on:]

Wow i didn't know i was starting such a confusing topic.

[Reply #10 on:]

 

Originally posted by jle1993:
*Nudges SpaceCase* looks like its my turn to play nurse.

Gotcha! 

Originally posted by DrZoidberg112:... I still think it could have been more parallel. The character's personalities could have been different. The backround objects could have been opposite colors of the objects in universe A. It was a good episode anyway   

It was a good ep. Having the characters’ personalities more different wouldn’t have suited the goals of the plot.

Originally posted by totalnerduk:
Hmmm. The differences between the parallel universes are what make them less "parallel".

And how the writers exploit those differences make an interesting story. Or not.

What you mean is that you think the universes should have been more divergent, ie: not true "parallel" universes, but "alternate" universes, like the increasingly odd universes generated by the machine towards the end of the episode, that the two Zoidbergs run amok through.

We’ve already split the ‘alternate vs. parallel’ hair into its component atoms in at least one other thread.

A 100% paralell universe would have only ONE difference between itself and our own portion of space-time. That difference would be cosmically insignificant, such as the makeup of a far-flung star containing 1% more helium than our own universe's analogue of that particular star.

In other words, “boring.”

Originally posted by coldangel_1:
... Trust me on this - you don't ever want to visit a Universe that ISN'T parallel.

If you mean that the laws of Physics are different there, I couldn’t agree more!

I spent five minutes in one that was travelling the wrong way in time, and when I returned here to my home Universe I ended up 500 years in the past. Now I have to sit around here in the 21st Century waiting for the H-bombs to fall all over again...

Now, now. Don’t ruin the surprise... 

Originally posted by DrZoidberg112:
Wow i didn't know i was starting such a confusing topic.

You want “confusing?” Try starting a Time-travel thread! 

[Reply #11 on:]

So is there any such thing as a "perpendicular" universe?

[Reply #12 on:]

There is one. It's kinda leftfield though.

[Reply #13 on:]

 

Originally posted by LuvFry:
Yeah... the writer's created the parallel universe that was "too" parallel to set up the idea  whther or not you could really stand having to spend time with your exact copy...

No. No. No. I should beat you with the Stick Of Ignorance.
 

(I'm paraphrasing)

No. You're not. You don't even know the word which refers to what you are doing. The word you are looking for is babbling, closely followed by incoherent and nonsense, possibly with both rancid stupidity and congenital defect making guest appearances.

 

Originally posted by SpaceCase:
 

A 100% parallel universe would have only ONE difference between itself and our own portion of space-time. That difference would be cosmically insignificant, such as the makeup of a far-flung star containing 1% more helium than our own universe's analogue of that particular star.

In other words, “boring.”

Funny, I took 46 words to say what you managed with one... Yes. I believe that a one-hundred percent paralell universe would be boring. I'm hoping that eventually I'll end up in another universe which is at least 99% divergent.

 

You want “confusing?” Try starting a Time-travel thread!   

I believe that the various threads dealing with time travel on this board suffered more from people going off-topic than anything else. Time travel is relatively straightforward. You travel. In time. Hilarity ensues, and the universe ends up subtly, scarily different.   

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Edit: Nevermind. PEEL tried to make me post it twice. Damn Internets. Tubes must need cleaning.

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'Transit' between alternate Universes and the concept of time travel are inextricably linked due to the singular nature of space and time, the fact that time-travel may actually *create* alternate Universes, and the more recent theories stating that travel to alternate Universes in different historical periods may be the only practical form of time travel to be found (with the exception of a chilly one-way stasis ticket to the future).

Whether that's true or not, if you travelled back to the past you would technically already be in an alternate Universe, because your presence there in the timeline is a divergent factor - you would have created a new branch to the timeline, thus severing you entirely from the future from whence you came and making yourself an entity who is quite literally 'from nowhere'.
Even if you then attempted to travel back to your own time, it would be a different world (no batter how minute the difference), and you would be confronted with another you, thus unable to lay claim to your apartment and your Futurama collectables.

I learnt all about this the hard way when I travelled back to the first world war and inadvertantly helped save the life of a young German soldier named Hitler. Look what happened after that....
Sorry, y'all...

[Reply #16 on:]

You saved Hitler, you monster
*strangles Coldangel* die fiend

[Reply #17 on:]

I didn't know, I didn't know!!
*choke!* *splutter*
In my Universe nobody had ever heard of him!!

[Reply #18 on:]

*Continues strangling Coldangel* What the hell were you thinking, saving someones life, you're a disgrace and you caused WW2

[Reply #19 on:]

Actually, World War 2 happened in my Universe as well, except instead of Hitler it was a bloke named Gareth Leafbottom.

[Reply #20 on:]

I don't give a damn, you saved Hitler *re-strangles Coldangel*

[Reply #21 on:]

But I killed the guy who led a brutal campaign of genocide against short people. I guess the two things kinda cancel each other out, right?

Anyway, the moral of the story is - don't play around with time machines unless you have direct supervision by a historian.

[Reply #22 on:]

*stops strangling Coldangel, then kicks him in the groin, hard* Now you're forgiven *Walks off leaving Coldangel in a heap on the floor*

[Reply #23 on:]

Awww..... can someone kiss my groin better?
Someone female of consenting age?

[Reply #24 on:]

*comes back and kicks Coldangel in the head then walks off again*

[Reply #25 on:]

What? What? Was it someting I said?

[Reply #26 on:]

Yeah, it was something you said, I swear if you weren't so cool and nice and sweet an...Forget I said anything. Just watch what you say in my presence.

[Reply #27 on:]

You got it, sugartits.
...I mean... uhh...
Ahhh, crap. Too Mel Gibson?

[Reply #28 on:]

*punchs Coldangel* Watch you mouth boy. Way too Mel Gibson

[Reply #29 on:]

SugarBREASTS. There, see - I *can* be politically erect.
.....-CORRECT!

DAMN!!!!

[Reply #30 on:]

*punchs coldangel again, hard*
Watch it! You're going offtopic and being inappropiate.

[Reply #31 on:]

It's 2:20 AM. 'Tis the hour for off-topic and inappropriate. Plus I'm enjoying all this violence...

Ah, anyway. Alternate Universes, eh? Some have theorized that the Tunguska event in Siberia in 1908 was the result of an Alternate Universe kind of 'brushing' against our own through a tear in the fabric of time and space.

Actually, Tunguska is a good historical event to work into the continuity of science fiction shows. The X Files used it rather heavily. Futurama could too - in a future episode the gang could go back in time yet again and cause the Tunguska explosion when they reenter the Earth's atmosphere. Only problem is there's not much to do in Siberia... unless you have a fetish for peat and permafrost.

I thought the 'politically erect' comment was hilarious. I just spent the better part of half an hour laughing about that.

[Reply #32 on:]

*slaps Head* I give up you're a lost cause, Boy.

[Reply #33 on:]

 

Originally posted by coldangel_1:
It's 2:20 AM. 'Tis the hour for off-topic and inappropriate.

Welcome to my life...            

Ah, anyway. Alternate Universes, eh? Some have theorized that the Tunguska event in Siberia in 1908 was the result of an Alternate Universe kind of 'brushing' against our own through a tear in the fabric of time and space.

From what little I know of cosmology, our universe 'brushing' against another in space-time would probably have much more far-reaching effects than "only" a multi-megaton detonation in the atmosphere, and it's subsequent effects.

Actually, Tunguska is a good historical event to work into the continuity of science fiction shows. The X Files used it rather heavily. Futurama could too - in a future episode the gang could go back in time yet again and cause the Tunguska explosion when they reenter the Earth's atmosphere. Only problem is there's not much to do in Siberia... unless you have a fetish for peat and permafrost.

There's not a lot to do in Roswell New Mexico, either, but Futurama used it. 

I thought the 'politically erect' comment was hilarious. I just spent the better part of half an hour laughing about that.

Nope.
Not with a electric cattle-prod; I ain't touching that... 
 

[Reply #34 on:]

Maybe he'll listen to you

[Reply #35 on:]

 

Originally posted by jle1993:
Maybe he'll listen to you

That'd be different: Nobody else does! 

[Reply #36 on:]

At least it'll stop him makeing lewd comments to me

[Reply #37 on:]

Call that lewd? You haven't heard my joke about the Bishop and the jockey.
I'm not actually allowed to tell it anymore - court order. But woooo-whee!

[Reply #38 on:]

God help us all

[Reply #39 on:]

That's what the Judge said.