Connection: Einstein's Dreams and Chances Are

Two nights ago, as I read through pages 6-9 of Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman, I was immediately reminded of a film that I saw a couple of weeks back called Chances Are.

Although the pages are few, they are loaded with complex ideas that really make one think. Within the small chapter, Lightman begins by saying, "Suppose time is a circle, bending back on itself" (6). If this were so, everything would repeat. However, most people are unaware of this repitition and they unknowingly relive the same life over and over. Every breath, action, and word spoken would be the same in each life. Despite these many unmindful people, there are those who are educated with the fact that they live a recurring life. Not entirely consciously do they know this, but in their dreams it is confirmed. These people suffer deeply, knowing that every mistake and misfortune they ever had will continue repeating itself in the loop of time.

Chances Are affirms Lightman's theory about circular time to some extent. In the film, a young man is hit by a car and dies just a short time after getting married. He is sent to heaven and is asked where he'd like to return in his next life. Flustered and upset, he runs off without getting the special injection that would make him forget his past life. He is then reborn again and ends up coming into contact with his wife and his daughter! Slowly, he begins to remember his past life and a series of comical and sentimental events follow.

Both Einstein's Dreams and Chances Are play with the theory of circular time. As I read through that chapter, scenes from the film replayed in my head and allowed me to better understand what I was reading. Though lighthearted and sometimes silly, the film helped me comprehend a difficult concept in the book, and for that I was grateful. Because I read that chapter, I feel like I have a better grasp on the movie now, as well. Having deeper insight on an odd idea surely helps one's mind adjust to that idea. Therefore, both helped me understand the other.

The idea of circular time is significant because it is possible that this is exactly how time works on this earth. However, there are many possibilities for how time works as Lightman explains in Einstein's Dreams.