This writer: Deist.

Extra Sensory Perception: Maybe, but open.
Unidentified Flying Objects: Maybe, but doubtful.
Supernatural Phenomenon: Maybe, but skeptical.

Why the litany of the paranormal? Simple, I just want you the reader to know where I stand on these topics. I want you to know that I am keeping an open mind and not shading my experiences with predetermined notions and dogma. Being a Deist means I do believe in a god, however I believe that it (god) was the “First Cause” and that everything sprang from that action. The interesting notion concerning god being a first cause, it does not negate any other theory of creation, be it scientific or dogmatic. So even if this is the first universe (doubtful) or the twenty millionth (more likely), the same belief still holds true.

I will admit I am not a physicist or cosmologist, but I have few ideas of my own in regard to the above listed phenomenon. These ideas are inspired by years of reading and some speculation on my part. But to get to the root of it we have to understand where we are.

By our own perceptions we are in a three dimensional universe (height, width, depth) or a four dimensional universe if you consider time a dimension, and I do not see why you would not classify time as a dimension. With these four dimensions you can postulate that we are in an expanding universe, a universe expanding at the speed of light in all directions. The speed of light you ask? Sure, light is emitted in all directions, the energy (light) from the beginning of time is fourteen billion light years from the origin and thus as it expands where there was once nothing, there is something now and that defines the edge of the known universe. (This is a simplification; if this were truly the case the background radiation would be heavier in some spots than it is, not seemingly evenly distributed. If that were the case, that the background radiation was completely even no matter where we looked, we would be we are at the center of the universe, and let me ask you, how likely is that?)

Let’s consider a fifth dimension, gravity. If you think of gravity as a dimension as opposed to a force that acts on other bodies (mass) than you have an interesting though problem, but one that helps us to understand the way things work. Einstein illustrated the interaction of gravity with mass as a rubber sheet. If you drop something on the sheet it deforms and the space around it curves. Passing mass (like light) will be affected by the deformation and its course will deflect as it passes the mass. I would bet we have all seen examples of this on TV or the class room. But consider this, gravity, the weakest of all the natural forces can affect objects very long distances away. In fact the mass of all matter in the universe is currently affecting you, all be it in a very slight way, but it is there. The gravity from the M13 galaxy (millions of light years away) is pulling on you. The gravity from the light at he edge of the universe is affecting you too, so in a sense you have a connection to the whole of the universe, and gravity is the dimension providing this ability. Gravity does not travel at the speed of light, it is dimension therefore immune to the “E=mc^2” equation of old Uncle Albert.

Huh? I thought that the speed of light was a universal constant? Yeah, for something with mass. As far as we know gravity does not have mass. Oh, ok, I get that. Really, wow, you’re good.

So now we are up to five dimensions, but doesn’t Super Symmetry and String Theory require ten or eleven dimensions? And if so, what do these extra dimensions do? Ah, now we are getting to the fun part.

Let’s think through some interesting things we know from going to five dimensions. If we suppose that gravity can break the speed of light speed limit, then it brings a real interesting notion to mind. Information can travel faster than the speed of light! Whoa, where did that come from? Well, not the office steno pool, but the fact that gravity can affect something a galaxy away instantly means that something is communicated. That being the case we can suppose data can be carried the same way. Cool huh?

So far we have not interfered with good old Uncle Albert, information is a “fiction” and thus has no mass, thus maybe we can use gravity to communicate across long distances, instantly. So, if this is case, what is to say that something like telepathy is not possible? Thoughts have no mass (or at least I would suspect, just a bunch of neurons firing off), so why not believe something like telepathy could be possible using some other dimension, say the sixth dimension. Brings a whole new meaning to “Sixth Sense” doesn’t it? How strange. OK, ESP is possible and conceivably explainable.

So, if we look at the fifth dimension, that bumpy but mostly flat model of the universe using gravity for the deformations, what do you suppose a seventh dimension might look like? What if the seventh dimension is sort of like a wrinkled up ball of paper? You know, like the ones you’ve thrown at you cubicle neighbor. Since it is a dimension, just all balled up, it is everywhere in the universe, it is a part of the universe, but, now it is just “smaller”. Maybe this dimension got off on the wrong foot and never matured properly. Who knows, but lets suppose this dimension is “smaller”. Could we use it?

I bet you have all seen the scientist say there was a way to move around the universe using what are called “Einstein-Rosen Bridges”, right? You know… worm holes. The problem with this theory is that you need a black hole to open up and then you have to hope that the white hole that will spit you out is at a place that is useful. All this is yours if you can survive going through the black hole in the first place. Hmm, let think about this for a second… nah, impractical. But what is we can use a dimension?

So, we have a small dimension, what does that mean… well, if it is “the universe” then everything in it would have to be very close to everything else, right? Sure. Stars could be a few steps away, galaxies just a short jaunt down the street, if we can access that dimension. Would this break the Albert law? Nope, we would not have to move fast to get where we are going, just a leisurely stroll would do. Pop out of the seventh dimension and boom, you are MANY light years away… Cool… and why not? So, if I can think this stuff up (and I am not original in this) why couldn’t the aliens in the UFO figure it out and use it. I mean if you think about it, we would be just one stop on their “Alien Country Safari”, interesting and not much to really pay attention to. So, I think we can reasonably check UFOs as a possibility. Oh, and why do I consider UFOs doubtful? Well, there are a lot of planets out there, what are the odds they found us at all? I mean we have only been broadcasting at any strength for about sixty years. And even a sixty light year radius sphere is not really very large to get any response. So, no, it is doubtful that anyone else has found us… yet.

So now it comes to the eighth dimension, one where we could explore the idea of supernatural forces. How could we explain the supernatural? If we listen to the psychics and that ghosts and other phenomenon are “imprints” of energy on a localized space, then we can think of another theory to explain it.

What if the eighth dimension was a place of opposite energy density? We look at the universe and marvel that there is so little energy in any given spot. If mass is energy, then there is a lot of open space not being used. What if the mass we are looking for resides in the eighth dimension? It would be a “thick” soup huh? Sort of like so called ectoplasm. The eighth dimension would be one of solidity and slow movement. We could suppose that energy release in our reality could get caught in the eighth dimension. Maybe the energy is from living beings. Maybe it is why “ghosts” stay localized to the spot the energy was released. Maybe there is a way to get to this dimension, maybe the energy forms can touch their familiar dimension. Lots of maybe’s, but if you think about it, why not, and still we are in this universe and not speeding. So, maybe there is something to supernatural phenomenon.

So where does that leave us? Well, there are dimensions nine, ten and possibly eleven still to explore. One of these is the realm of Super String Theory, maybe one more is the balance of Super Symmetry, and the third could be the dimension of Branes, P-branes and Membranes. What is it they do? Don’t know yet, got to think about it and I will let you know.

Some people would categorize the above as psychotic, a ranting of a dream ridden and/or delusional mind, but is it really? Can you tell me for sure I am wrong? Can you prove it? Didn’t think so.

So, when I have a dream and things happen the next day, is it deja vous? Is it just coincidence? And if I tell someone about it and after I tell them things start to happen, am I imagining the correlation? When I look at someone and know what they are thinking, and it turns out that they were thinking what I supposed they were thinking, is that just a highly honed skill of body reading that I did not know I had? Is it possible that their thoughts were imprinting on the eighth dimension and I could sense the energy imprints and “read” them. Could we be exchanging information without knowing it? Sure, that would mean there is something to psychics, and who can say there was not something to it. Am I psychic? I don’t know for sure, but if I am, we all are, we just have to know how to tune into it.

So, I look at the world of the paranormal in a different way than most, I look at it as clues to a science we have not developed yet. A science that could be extraordinary if can harness it. It would be the key to many problems that astrophysicists are working. And maybe, just maybe this is a lot simpler than a lot of people suppose.

I could be wrong, but then again I could be right.

While I am elucidating on multidimensional theory, there is one other thing I think about, and that is the connection that everything has with everything else. The weather affects people’s mood, affecting how groups of people will react. Opinions on a particular subject affect the way groups of people react. Small connections can affect larger groups and populations. The little notions change the world and shade our perception from day to day.

When I look at a problem, I see it in my minds eye as “spheres” of influence. Call them “Venn Diagrams” in three or more dimensions. I see it as a sphere of possibilities overlapping other “areas” of influence. I see facts as fuzzy options, applying to other facts in a fuzzy way. Just because a fact is a fact, it does not mean that it applies in all cases. For example, Las Vegas is a dry city. As a matter of general acceptance, this is true and would be a fact. However, today it is raining in Las Vegas, thus it is not true today. This does not diminish the legitimacy of “Las Vegas is a dry city”, but it does introduce and “fuzzy” element.  On the whole, over time, say a year the statement is true, but fuzzy 2% of the time. When we apply granularity to the statement we find there are times that the statement is not true. But generally it is.

When people argue a point, they argue generalities. Why? You can always find a case where a statement is not correct. Applying generalities is a way of eliminating extraneous cases without causing too many complications. It is harder to argue the exceptions unless you know how exceptional the case is. If it is a rare exception you may be hard pressed for your case. On the other hand if it is a common exception it may have a legitimate place in the argument. Of course it will all depend on the argument. Exceptions add a “sphere” of possibilities to a case.

Thought exercise: Think about a subject and draw a circle on a piece of paper, label it with your subject. Think of a related subject and make a circle overlapping the original subject. Over lap it as much as you think that the two subjects are related. Keep doing this. Example: Original subject: Cooking. Related subject: Heat (overlap about 85%). Related subject: Soups, overlap heat about 80% and cooking 100% (may be a small circle compared to all of cooking). From this we can see soups are cooking, and most soups require heat. See how the interactions work? You can get some very complex diagrams with relatively few subjects, thus eliminating extraneous exceptions is a good idea. In fact your could overlap Soup 100% over Heat and Cooking, this ignoring the fact that some soups are served cold or use a completely cold cooking method, thus simplifying the whole diagram (the diagram now would look like two circles side by side overlapping and a circle in the overlap.) The more overlaps and intersections in the diagram, the more complex the argument. Now turn the circles into spheres and you can imagine how I see things.

When I analyze a problem the interactions can get pretty involved and everything can eventually be related to everything. In the above example you then realize that “heat” is a lot broader subject than cooking and you can expand on it by adding subjects like “Solar Fusion” or a string of subjects “Iron / smelting / forging / carbon / swords / combat / edged weapons / knives” and so on.

It is these interweaving that can get confusing and can nullify an argument or make it stronger. It is these chains I navigate when arguing and understanding. And when you really see that everything can affect everything you realize that any argument can be made, but the most correct argument becomes clear.