At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements.😉
Today I'm going to go with another sci fi standby, the time loop. Specifically, I'm talking about the Groundhog Day loop, where characters replay one day over and over and over again... (Warning: link goes to TV Tropes. Click on links at your own risk.)
What if we're living in a Groundhog Day loop, but it's a really, really long one? That is, what if this loop started, say, at the beginning of recorded time? And, what if something resets the world every time? (For argument's sake, let's assume we've done this loop of time at least a dozen times so far.)
I already feel like we are in a time loop.
ReplyDeleteThere have been so many movies with this kind of set up. It's really intriguing. Edge of Tomorrow comes to mind where the loop begins each time the main character dies. I'm not sure if I would be beyond annoyed having to relive the same day/moment/hour/what have you or if I would be happy to re-do certain things. It probably all depends on where the loop is in my life and what causes it to reset.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm positing that the loop would have begun long before you were born and continues long after your death...
DeleteHerm could be an alternative explanation for reincarnation in a way, I guess :)
ReplyDeleteIf I were in a time loop, it would explain why I feel fatigued a lot. :)
ReplyDeleteA short one, maybe. I'm talking a very long one.
DeleteSo much time would pass, I doubt we'd remember the first time around.
ReplyDeleteAlex is right. It would always feel new again.
ReplyDeleteGroundhog Day is one of our favorites.
In this case, it would.
DeleteMan, really? I have to go through my whole life all over again? That sucks...
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alex, too. With so much time passing, it would feel new and different.
ReplyDeleteJ E's comment made me laugh. I second them!
Yeah, that would be a bummer.
DeleteYeah, with so much time passing, it would feel all new again!
ReplyDeleteUnless each time was a bit different. Although, I didn't specify that.
DeleteThat actually makes a lot of sense to me. It explains deja vu. We HAVE been here before, but most of us don't remember. But maybe a few do...
ReplyDeleteThat was sort of the premise of a book I read, The Fifteen Lives of Harry August. One of my favorite reads :)
FUNNY....I saw Supernatural today and they were going through a time loop like Groundhog Day! Seen it before, several times but it just so funny that your question came up after seeing it today. Now....what if. I think I would have to jump out of the loop....somehow!
ReplyDeleteYeah, every show ends up doing one. Stargate SG1's hit it out of the park.
DeleteMaybe this is why we have déjà vu. It would be cool if the time loop screws up and we suddenly see people from the 1500s walking around looking at us with the same perplexed look.
ReplyDeleteOh wow. Now, that's a story.
DeleteOh, my gosh. One of my Futurama cartoon episodes covered this. The characters kept trying to get back to their own time and saw all kinds of crazy things, including the universe's end and new beginning. So cool. I dread this thought, especially if I can't do so better with a life lived multiple times. I should have been some sort of scientist by this time, not such a shiftless drifter. Heh... Be well!
ReplyDeleteYou can blame your ancestors for not setting things up right this go-round.
DeleteIt's intriguing. And now, I'm thinking, I never saw the Futurama Darla refers to. I would have loved it! (And, believe it or not, I've never seen Groundhog Day). Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteWell, if you're not a Bill Murray fan, I can see why you'd skip it.
Delete