I'm an artist doing a project about the phenomenon of simultaneous, parallel realities. It's called the Simultania Project and it's about having people from all over the world film the same 1-minute-moment in time on Nov. 13, and then assembling the resulting footage into a video installation that plays back all the simultaneous perspectives together and in sync.
The story of how I got inspired to do this is philosophically interesting I think. I was in LA skyping with a friend in Paris when at one point during the conversation he pointed the webcam out of the window to give me a view of the street below. I saw people on the other side of the world walking around, living life in real time. It triggered the visceral realization that the world and everything in it (not just this little pocket of Paris) is existing everywhere and at all times, with or without me there to observe it.
So the project is about proving to ourselves that other experiences of reality/consciousness are occurring right now in addition to one's own.
One point of interest in all this is why should seeing phenomenon on the other side of the world in real time cause a sense of such wonder in a person? Don't we already know that things are happening on the other side of the world all the time? Why are we so surprised when we have a direct experience of it? What does this reveal about the nature of how our brains are wired to perceive the world and ourselves in relation to it?
Interesting questions with no concrete answers. I tend to think it does have something to do with how our brains are wired physiologically, but also that maybe constantly being aware of such information, i.e., that the world and everything in it is existing at all times, would be impractical. It would be too much for the brain to handle at once perhaps. One existence is enough for it to keep track of in other words.
Love to hear people's thoughts on this. Anyway, I'm doing this project because I find this fascinating and I want to experience simultaneous realities and escape the prison of the singlular self, even for just a little while.
If you want to take part in the project, sign up at http://www.simultaniaproject.com
The project is on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/simultania
