Omniverse and the Non-linear Structure of Time and Space.
A full description of the Omniverse is not possible using the linear conventions of written words, but we can try to roughly sketch the outlines. What distinguishes the Omniverse from the more common Multiverse concepts is that the Multiverse is considered as an infinite multiplicity of separate timelines that diverge upon every decision point, with no communication between them. By contrast the Omniverse acknowledges that most decisions are inconsequential, and that there is a "temporal cohesion" between closely associated timelines, such that they occur in bundles. The total number of timelines in the Omniverse is quite large, on the order of Avogadro's number, but the number of bundles is much more manageable, on the order of a few thousand. Those of us whose task it is to map and study the structure of the multiverse generally confine ourselves to the interactions of a small cluster of bundles, often only two. Key turning points in history occur when a timeline bundle begins to unravel and reform into two or more bundles. One such unraveling is beginning to occur in/on 21st century Gaia. It is forecast to divide into two principal bundles and a couple more tiny threads with very low probability matrices.
Otterworld is the name of the bundle of possible future timelines that leads to a future when Otters, not humans, will rule the world. It is forecast to begin during the next intergalcial period beginning some 135,000 years from the present time, and exists today only as a possibility, not a certainty. The OTTERHEAD book offers a mere glimpse into it. The purpose of this narrative is to illuminate why it is so important for the otters and other creatures to survive the current period. But let's take a look at how and why the Otterworld may conceivably come to pass.
The Climate History and Future of Gaia (Mother Earth).
It is well known that this planet has experienced great variation in climate during the billion-plus years that life has existed here. Geologists divide the planetary history into epochs that vary in length but are mostly measured in the hundreds of millions of years. Huge changes in the life, land, seas, and atmosphere have taken place, but our purpose here is to focus on the more recent past of the last million years or so in order to understand and predict the climate course most likely during the most pressing immediate future, the next million years.
The Last Million Years, (including the rise of the hominid clade to worldwide dominance).
By one million years ago the general outlines of the present day continents were more or less established. The hot-house earth of the age of dinosaurs was long gone. With the tectonic widening of the Atlantic basin and the slow movement of most landmasses north of the equator, climatic patterns in the northern hemisphere fell into a periodic regularity based on the Milankovic cycles related to the orbital parameters of Earth and Sun. These periodic and predictable variations resulted in the recurrence of chaotic glacial periods lasting some 100,000 years, followed by relatively stable mild interglacials lasting some 25,000 years. At least eight such glacial periods are known from geological evidence to have occurred. The most recent interglacial, known as the Eemian, took place some 125,000 years ago and included the period in which early proto-human hominids of Sapien, Neanderthal, and Denisovan lineages migrated from their East African origins to populate other parts of Asia and Europe. Little is known of those times due to very sparse preservation of remains and artifacts, but it does not appear that any organized culture beyond familial clan structures arose. The extended glacial epoch that followed would have ushered in a period of climatic instability and any protohumans of those times would have been entirely engaged in the day to day struggle for existence, with little opportunity or incentive to create anything larger or lasting. That situation ended with the advent of the current interglacial period of climatic stability appearing some 15,000 to 20,000 years ago. Around this time, we begin to find the controlled use of fire and the beginnings of more advanced culture in the form of cave paintings, and decorative artifacts. It is thought that language was a feature of culture at that time as well. By 5,000 years ago stratified cultural systems had arisen that enabled the creation of such structures as Stonehenge and The Pyramids, and we begin to have extensive archaeological evidence supporting interpretations of cultural practice. By 2000 years ago humans had developed sailing ships capable of traversing open seas. By 1000 years ago those ships were re-establishing contact between human groups that had long been estranged on different continents. By 200 years ago the discipline of Science had been devised as a counterweight to the superstitions of religion as a means of understanding the workings of the world. At the same time, fossil fuels were found to be able to increase mankind's control of nature far beyond what we could have done by our own muscles or even animal power. Human population began to explode. By 100 years ago the secrets of chemistry and physics were largely understood, including relativity and the latent power stored in the atom. By the current time, artificial minds of great speed and power have been created, but the corresponding growth in moral philosophy has not kept pace with technological and industrial progress. Humans have acquired the power to control the world but have been slow to acquire the wisdom to decide the right use of that power. Even though the inexorable Milankovic cycles predict the inaugural phases of another glacial epoch, mankind has continued to alter the chemistry of the atmosphere such that an artificial global warming period ensues. Human population reaches a maximum of some ten billion souls, and many other species worldwide suffer extinction. This present time of the mid to late 21st century proves to be the unraveling point between two major timeline bundles of the Omniverse. The Otterworld bundle on the one hand, and what we sometimes call the Darkworld bundle on the other. Which will we choose? It is a matter of choice, not chance. The time of choosing is almost upon us.
The Next Million Years on the OTTERWORLD timeline bundle. (including the fall of the homind clade and the rise of the mustelids).
During the 500 years following the so-called present time, the anthropogenic global warming pulse reaches a peak of over four degrees centigrade increase. This results in collapse of the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets and global sea level rise of over fifteen meters. In a final battle for control of dwindling resources, the major world powers deploy their most fearsome weapons, and over 98% of the human population is lost in a matter of a few months. But these events were not unforeseen and before The Fall certain humans acted to ensure the survival of the otters and their clade. By 2000 years in the future there are still humans in far-flung isolated pockets, mostly those who had long lived by traditional indigenous lifeways. Global warming has faded slowly away, and the inexorable path to glaciation has begun. The damage to the environment and the human genome was severe, and by 5,000 years in the future, the last of the humans have finally died out. Gaia slowly heals herself of the radiation, the blast scars fill in by erosion, and the ecosystems begin to recover. By 10,000 years in the future the ice sheets have begun to form across the arctic, and the great kelp forests of the coasts begin to re-establish themselves. By 20,000 years in the future the Sea Otters experience THE AWAKENING and begin to achieve true consciousness and deliberative thought. It begins on the North Pacific Coast with the teachings of The Great Mother. By 50,000 years in the future, the Sea Otters have gathered the River Otters and the Badgers into The Collective, taught them speech and art, and the appreciation of beauty. By 100,000 years in the future the ice begins to retreat and the ecosystems are able to slowly develop up and down all the coastlines. The Collective has expanded to include certain birds, such as the Corvids (Ravens and Crows) that are able and willing to communicate, and liasons with The Cetaceans (Porpoises and Whales) have been established in several locales. Outreach to the Ursids (Bears) has begun, and plans are formulated to try to bring in even more animals, such as the Canids, though great disagreements ensue over whether a wolf can ever be trusted. At this time the Collective becomes known as The Wind the Wave and the Stone. The WWS. By 150,000 years in the future the Home Raft of the WWS has grown in stature and sophistication, and includes permanent structures, institutes of learning, whole libraries of clawn records and written histories, and the science of paleoprimatology has begun to try to solve the mystery of that remote hominid civilization, and why it fell. By 200,000 years in the future the WWS has penetrated from its beginnings in the North Pacific worldwide. By 350,000 years in the future, visitors from some of the neighboring stars systems begin to arrive and establish strong ties of friendship. By 1 million years in the future the WWR becomes a full-fledged member of the local arm of the galactic council. By ten million years in the future the planet has become virtually utopian in character, with a flowering of art and culture matching even the older worlds of the galactic core. By 3 billion years in the future the sun is becoming old-aged and nearing its end, and the still-vital Otterworld applies for and is granted evacuation to a new world. The surviving creatures of the planet move on into the universe and Gaia succumbs at last to old age and the nova of the sun, but she is revered in art and memory and song unto the end of time.
The Next Million Years on the DARKWORLD timeline bundle.
(including the slow decline of the homind clade and the extinction of the mustelids, cetaceans, pinnipeds, and ursids).
During the 500 years following the so-called present time, the anthropogenic global warming pulse reaches a peak of over four degrees centigrade increase. This results in collapse of the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets and global sea level rise of over fifteen meters. In a final battle for control of dwindling resources, the major powers deploy their most fearsome weapons, and over 90% of the human population is lost. With the onset of nuclear-winter the species loss is almost incalculable, the greatest single extinction since the beginning of the Gaia herself. Surviving humans hunt for food relentlessly. All the mustelids, cetaceans, pinnipeds, cephalopods, molluscs, and ursids are lost. Humans manage to survive only in scattered pockets where destruction was less, but genetic diseases caused by radiation and chemical poisoning result in large childhood losses. Few children reach maturity. By 2000 years in the future organized humans have only managed to survive in isolated pockets. Most ecosystems have completely collapsed along with any semblance of civil order. Such events are not unknown in the Multiverse, and there is a cadre of emissaries who stand ready to assist planets in danger of falling off track. 2350 years in the future, the local arm of the Galactic Council agrees to bestow an emissary to ailing Gaia to attempt to help the people cope with the inevitable decline in dignity and with love, without resorting to savagery. The omniversant emissary chosen has been here before in a more informal capacity, has a vast number of assistants, and possesses a great deal of power over matters of Time and Space. In fact, if it were not for the presence of Santa Claus himself and his entourage there would be little hope for any future at all. Foreseeing this, Santa bends some rules and translates a few key individual souls out of the Darkworld bundle to the Otterworld bundle. By 10,000 years in the future the last of the humans have perished, being unable to replenish their number or cleanse the planet quickly enough. By 50,000 years in the future the dominant species are canids (dogs) but even with the efforts of Santa they are unable to overcome their combative natures and fail to form any kind of organized social structure larger than a pack. By 100,000 years in the future Santa has long since abandoned the timeline and moved on to others where he may do some good. By 500,000 years in the future the dominant species are scavengers. By 1 million years in the future the dominant land-dwelling species are ants. By 1 billion years in the future, there is no change, and when the sun finally begins to fail, there is nothing here worth saving. Gaia falls ill and eventually perishes with the sun's expansion into a red giant. Few on this timeline will remember her trials and sufferings.
Otterworld is the hope and the promise.