I have a question about a comment made in "THM" by the novel's lead character, Mike Raglan. It's on page 151 of the most recent paperback edition where he's answering the question of the local sheriff, "Who knows about fourth dimensions and parallel worlds?" (Paragraph) "That isn't really new. Einstein started it all back in 1919, I think it was. From all I hear, he didn't like it much either. Most people are still living in that nice, comfortable world that Newton accepted." (Paragraph) What was meant by his answer? Why didn't Einstein like it? Is there any background information that was used for Raglan's answer? Is there anything in LLM's files that might have an answer? Any info would be a help to me.

Quantum Mechanics is where you get the supposed science behind the "many worlds" idea in physics. To put this in terms that Dad was probably thinking of when he wrote the book in the 1970s:

Though he contributed to the theory, Einstein had questions about Quantum Mechanics. He famously debated Niels Bohr on this subject and later said:

"Quantum mechanics is very impressive. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory produces a good deal but hardly brings us closer to the secret of the Old One. I am at all events convinced that He does not play dice."

I'm not really qualified to say but, at a guess, Einstein didn't feel that the Quantum guys had enough figured out to be saying they had a full fledged theory, as opposed to a hypothesis. Dad is suggesting that whether Einstein or Bohr were right there is still something beyond Einstein's theoretical conception of the universe ... and it is in that area that the guts of this story lurk.

At the time that Dad was writing it was common for people, particularly fiction writers, to discuss the concept of Alternate Realities or Parallel Worlds using terms like "Other Dimension" or "Fourth Dimension" ... as opposed to another SET of dimensions, or an infinite number of other sets of dimensions.

I like the idea that we all dwell in multiple realities all the time ... it's just that there is so little difference between the differing realities we never notice unless we wonder where that missing sock went, or why everyone started acting like they grew up in a totally different country.

Perhaps, places like the "other world" in THM lurks just a bit off to one side, needing just a bit too much energy for us to make the jump unless conditions are exactly right. More likely these "other worlds" or other sets of dimensions are reflections or related aspects to the reality we see every day, like the relationship a photographic negative has to both reality and the printed photo.

At one time I trained myself to meditate or self hypnotize to the point where I was hallucinating. I believe that my Dad could to this to a certain extent too. These were not random hallucinations (they always started the same way) and contained a certain amount of tactile sensation as well as things I could "see." Was I able to visit the dimension of the "code", the photo negative? Was I just activating my natural DMT (a hallucinatory chemical in our brains)? No idea, but it was convincing that there was something legitimate and consistent beyond or underlying this reality ,it just wasn't anything like another "world."

Take a look at the Lost Treasures version of THM. There's a good deal of background in it. I think that it and The Californios were both reactions to the realization that rockets were never going to take us to other worlds, the technology was just too limited. Science Fiction needed a different frontier.

Dreams can be strange and very real. When I was 6 or 7 I had a recurring dream about a woman who stood talking with me on a street corner in Baltimore, near my Aunt’s house. She was checking to make sure I was okay. A few years later I met her. It turned out she was a neighbor of my elderly Aunt in Baltimore City, and had actually rented the house next to us in rural Maryland near Magothy River for several months when I was about 5.. I remember she drove me to a store and bought me a toy gun and holster when she found out it was my birthday. After my Aunt died we lost contact, so over 60 years ago. From memory she was a Baltimore Colt season ticket holder, as was my Dad and cousin. You never know about the origin of dreams…or when they might originate. I can remember dreams I had before I could walk…and I walked at ten months.

LAST EDITED ON 06-20-22 AT 02:33 PM (Pacific Time)
 
One odd experience I can relay. Sorry that its a bit long...

Being apparently the big softy that I am, I took the passing of both of our dogs Lilly and Mabel very hard, even though it wasn't a surprise. They were both on borrowed time, having had their first bouts with congestive heart failure, so once they had their initial event it was essentially a countdown. And the doctor's estimate was correct. Even with hundreds of dollars a month in meds, they both lasted just about a year.

After Lily passed away, I had an interesting thing happen. I sleep poorly much of the time, and I will end up climbing out of bed at 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning and going out to the couch so I can have the TV hopefully lull me back to sleep. For various reasons, once I'm awake I can't generally fall back to sleep in bed as it's too quiet and too all sorts of things.

Anyway, as I was sitting on the couch, I had a strange feeling come over me and this thought came to my mind at that moment, "the veil is thin".
And at that moment, on the back of the couch behind me, I felt Lilly there much as she used to be, creeping up and nuzzling behind my ear as she always did until I called her down to my lap. In all my life I don't recall having anything happen as a vivid as this, and it was absolutely VIVID. It was so shocking that I bolted straight up and sat there with tears filling my eyes.

Tracy explained it as something called lucid dreaming which I was unfamiliar with. I don't have vivid dreams in that fashion and have not had such again. I suppose I could sit back and attempt to do so once more, but the reality was it was way too sad for me. I sure miss my pups