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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Starfox" data-source="post: 9575007" data-attributes="member: 2303">Neal Stephenson’s Anathem presents a multiverse model based on causal links between realities that also inspires my fantasy cosmology, if less directly.The universe we live in under this model are causally connected, meaning that events flow logically and consistently from one to another, forming structured "narrative". However, most universe-states lack this causal structure—they exist in isolation and contain absurd or highly improbable phenomena, like a block of ice inside a star. These universe-states remain disconnected because they lack a coherent chain of causality linking them to a past or future. They are mathematical possibilities but there is no way for a progression of events to lead there.This idea is inspired by quantum mechanics and Tegmark’s Mathematical Universe Hypothesis, where every mathematically possible universe exists, but only those with strong causal coherence are meaningfully connected. In Anathem, the ability of conscious minds to observe and interact with these structured realities plays a role in their stability and persistence.In a fantasy setting, this could mean that certain realms are deeply intertwined through history and myth, while others remain unknowable voids of chaos—places that exist but have no structured link to the worlds we experience. This aligns with Anathem's themes of perception shaping reality, where certain possibilities remain inaccessible due to their lack of causal integration. It also opens a mechanism for magic as the ability to connect to these unconnected universe state, tapping them for power, matter, and even summon creatures from such places.</blockquote>

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