"All the Myriad Ways" is a short story that appears in a collection of Larry Niven's work of the same title. Also in this collection was the short essay we read earlier in class "The Theory and Practice of Time Travel".

In this short fiction piece, we deal with a concept of the multiverse, i.e. multiple timelines branching off from every single action and decision made to infinity, a concept we will watch in Sliders and Noein.

In this story, this multiverse theory is not questioned but understood as a reality. Our narrator, Gene Trimble is not a time traveler himself but offers another perspective of time travel. Usually we focus on the traveler through time but what happens to society when time travel is discovered? What is the sacrifice then?

Within the story is a reference to the poem "Richard Corey" by Edwin Arlington Robinson. If you are unfamiliar with the poem - you can read it here and I suggest you do. The character of Richard Corey could be considered an allegory (using a specific character or situation in writing to express a more general truth). Certainly, his name rhymes with the term, allegory. What are the general truths expressed in this poem? Perhaps the truths could be that the things of our neighbors always look better to us, we want what we don't have, and the tendency to make quick superficial judgements, especially about people. Think about the old adages: "The grass is always greener on the other side" and "don't judge a book by it's cover". Richard Corey appears to have everything and others are envious of him. However, the reality is quite different. Obviously his life is not so perfect as he kills himself.

Think about the connections between the suicide epidemic and the Richard Corey reference. Gene Trimble associates Ambrose Harmon with Richard Corey, but does the analogy stop there?  Is Gene Trimble like Richard Corey from the poem? Or, what role does that reference play in deriving a deeper understanding of this piece? The reference was included by Niven intentionally, for what purpose? Could these larger truths extend beyond any one character and refer to the story as a whole? For example, the thought of an awareness of parallel dimensions, the ability to travel between them, may seem exciting but what is the cost? How do you measure the value of your human life when there is an awareness of an infinite number of "yous"?

Think about paintings that are numbered. The original is always the most valued, the lower the number of a reproductions the greater value as well. What if there is no original painting, or original you for that matter? How is your life more valuable than the lives of millions of other yous in other dimensions? Keep in mind, according to the multiverse for every possible outcome there is a split timeline. So the idea that any one human would exist when they are born as a single copy and then from there the others branch out does not exist because your parents had to decide to give birth to you, that was an act and every possible variation would branch out from there. So even when you are born, there is no "one original" you. What validation of your existence as a unique entity exists?

posted by JM Venturini (instructor1) on 6/14/08

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