Source Code : No parallel universe

No parallel universe

After going through some of the threads here its getting clear that it cannot be an alternative universe.

First of all, source code was just a computer program and it cannot create alternate universe or its not a time machine to change the future.

Many saying that in one universe/dimension Colter finally saves the world and Goodwin shuts him down and in another universe the bomb in train never exploded and they caught the suspect.

But this can't be possible, theoretically. Since we change the future with our changing decisions/incidences and so can have multiple possibilities. But here the time is same in all parallel universes and Colter is within the source code and trying to figure out a case, which should be the same in all other universe as well. And since the source code reality is not a real one, no matter what happens in that reality of source code in all the parallel universe, it will not impact the future of that universe.

Also the possibility of Goodwin receiving a message from Colter is none. For a simulation program it need not be connected to internet. Also it seems like Goodwin received that message a day later, why the time lag? If he could send message then why didn't he just call her like he did to his dad? That would be so obvious and it will screw the story in many ways.

So the only reasonable theory I could think of is that after the moment of freeze in source code when Goodwin shuts him down, we are seeing what Colter was imagining in his real brain. The last 8 minutes of action in his brain and not the source code and not the parallel universe.

The movie is open to debate though.

http://roadsidemovies.blogspot.com/

Re: No parallel universe

The explosion happened at commuter time, beaning while people were heading into work. Godwin receive the text the same moment we see Sean doing it.

Had he been sent back and actually change things inhis initial universe, ecientist would have keen. The reason they didn't is because he was really doing it in an alternate universe. The final alternate reality he was stuck in as he had no but day t return to.

I do like the idea that what he was seeing after the freeze was his last 8 minute, but we don't really know how long that was but if it was just his last 8 minutes how did he sent the txt from seans phone?

I do believe we see him making the text to Goodwin, showing that it was real not a simulation.

Re: No parallel universe


how did he sent the txt from seans phone?


That's the point. All he did was playing with the virtual simulation of the last 8 min of Sean's perspective of the world and basically was just playing it in his mind using source code. Nothing can happen if he sends text or nukes the city. It's just computer codes, so if source code had a bug and if it crashes then the world wouldn't end.

http://roadsidemovies.blogspot.com/

Re: No parallel universe

How about I let stevens explain if for you, since you aparently missed the last 2 minutes of the movie.


"You thought you were creating 8 minutes of a past event, you are not. You've created a whole new world"


Or how about let the doctor who invented the source code explain it for you.


"Its not time travel, rather source code is time reassignment. It gives us assess to a parallel reality."


They didn't care about what happened in the parallel reality, as it didn't change anything in their own reality. All they needed was to learn the most they can from the alternate realities in order to prevent future attacks.

Or how about when the doctor explained the phone call Stevens made in the alternate reality.


"There is only one continuum on this end and it cannot be unsettled (the trainbombing already happened in the original reality ). You may have made that call from the train but I would not have received it here. Its a DIFFERENT REALITY captain, if the call even went through it would be received by a DIFFERENT ME entirely.


But I suppose you know more than the inventor of source code himself though, right?

And if source code was just the last 8 minutes of Sean's life, how was he able to change thing or discover this gs that Sean couldn't possibly have known, like where the bomb was.

Also, if it was just 8 minutes of Stevens consciousness, how are independent events, Goodwin going into work, be part of those memories? Not to mention this contradicts what we've been told.

Source code is the last 8 minutes prior to death, not an extra 8 minutes of life after death!


Another theory I have of all the flashes he sees from going into source code and leaving it is him passing through a variety of other universes.

Re: No parallel universe

Your are right. I went through the movie again and got your points. Indeed they are referring to parallel universes.

But there are some logics that doesn't make sense. This movie portrays as if they can access past of one universe through another. Or go back in time through another universe, but doc clearly said the source code is not a time machine.

Also the events in parallel universe will always be different from another universe considering the possibility of events until a moment, like being in that train for example. There couldn't have be a train station at all or may sean could've be doing something else instead of being on that train. So it seems like the source code is able to access the exact replica of our current universe or creating a new universe itself, which I think not possible (logically).


But I suppose you know more than the inventor of source code himself though, right?

Even Stevens says as if he found something the inventor countn't. And there is no "source code" in our reality, so can only assume the possibilities by combining the facts throws by the inventor in the movie and our current facts/logics/theories/physics etc that we know of and interpret the outcome.

If they say it's magic, then it become like a harry potter movie we just have to enjoy the ride without any logical questions. But if they want to say it in terms of science, it has to be believable in terms of the current science facts, so that we can relate. From todays world, computer codes will not create "a whole new world". But nice concept though.

Anyway, it all depends on how much subject matter one know for him/her to accept or reject the idea of the movie.

http://roadsidemovies.blogspot.com/

Re: No parallel universe

You are missing the point.

In the primary starting universe: you can not go back in time and you can not change anything. They keep trying to remind him of this no matter how much he tries to change things / save people.

The main character also misses the point: he keeps trying to actually change things.

What the source code does IS create an alternate or parallel universe, placing the mind of the user into the body of a dead person 8 minutes before they die.

Why? The theory is basically with any event or series of choices there are already many alternate realities being created. These divergent threads all have their own endings and changes. "In one universe you turned left, in another you turned right". All the source code is supposed to let him do is go experience 8 minutes before a death in another universe.

The hope is that enough there is similar to the primary universe that the information learned will be useful in some way. (whether or not that information is useful is another debate)

The point however is that no matter what you do in that alternate universe, that location is where those changes are taking place. They have no bearing on the primary original universe because: that isn't where you are.

So really, you could go in and do whatever you like; blow up the planet and you'll have blown up some alternate reality.

The source code doesn't alter our reality or send people back in time in the original universe; its just shifting a persons mind over into a different one for a specific period of time.

Beyond that the only real question is: would there be any point in making changes in the other universes? That really comes down to: does the machine "create and maintain those universes"? Or do they exist as their own entity and the source code simply lets you enter them.

Even than, if they exist on their own: than any changes you make really is just creating more ripples of more universes with more changes and you've simply decided to "stay" in the reality with the set of changes you liked.

On the other hand if those alternate realities only exist while the source code is active; than the changes will not even effect the user since they will be shut off when the machine shuts off and those universes cease to exist

Re: No parallel universe

sometimes a person creates something that is X, but unbeknownst to the creator the creation actually does Z. Such is the case with Source Code.

Re: No parallel universe

I took the ending as stating each time Stevens traveled through SourceCode into the past he created a new reality. The beginning of the movie kinda relates to this as the second time he went through he mentioned that it was different. There is one reality where the girlfriend just experienced the person she met getting killed by a commuter train and another where she dies by getting shot. The inventor states that theoretically if he was creating alternate realities the inventor of that particular reality would have never received it. So in a sense I took the ending as Steven's theorizing that he can create a better reality and save the people and Chicago. The inventor rejects the idea simply stating that according to his knowledge that would not be possible. In the end, whatever Steven's did in the past doesn't effect them in the future. It would be like going back in time and stopping 9/11. In my reality it still happened. But for the person travelling back in time and living those years over again, they experience a reality where 9/11 didn't happen.

One TV show where this happened a lot was in Stargate and they handled this theory in very much the same way. It makes a lot of sense. More than if reality changes around you like in Frequency.

Re: No parallel universe

I so enjoy the debates on this parallel universe after wieving this Movie for the first time yesterday.
Im so glad, that I did, great Movie for us with emotions.
And as some say, once you started to know what this might turn. impossible to not look, I was so attached and feelt so emotionly in volved. like I was in love for the first time or something.
But also very sad, Since I closed the door for a parallel universe in my own thoughts very soon. Guess, when I understanded what did lay in that human container at the office.

So those last seconds at the end Before Life support was shut down,
Was also the last kiss ever, in the mind of this poor guy that this government used for this source code Project.

I cant figure it out, what I am supposed to belive. What that part was, after that last kiss and time stopped. But thats up to one Another. For free, to belive what you want to.

Thats scares me, Since I am so scared of Death.
So no happy ending in this Movie, No parallel universe.

Re: No parallel universe

It wasn't Captain Colter Steven's last kiss. Time stopped for an infinitely small amount of time while his universe switched over from the last 8 minutes in the mind of a dying man to the universe creation of Captain Colter Stevens and the other people in his current parallel universe. The movie couldn't indicate infinitely small but that was their best effort...

It was a happy ending. Captain Stephens kept on living in the new parallel universe where he was the creator of his own life. If he wanted to, he could even go visit his real father or even visit Goodwin...Of course he was still in Sean's body but that wasn't so bad.

There could even be a sequel for another movie..That would work really well!

Re: No parallel universe Your do not understand quantum reality

If I recall correctly, the movie specifically mentions the source code is written for and run of a quantum computer. Quantum mechanics call for ALL possibilities, resulting in the "Schrödinger's cat" paradox; i.e., the cat can be "dead" or "alive," depending upon the observer. Calculus tells us there is an INFINITE number of possibilities between "0" and "1" and quantum theory hypothesizes that "time" is an illusion, in that "reality" is recreated every instant and that there is NO "past" or "future," only the "eternal now". Interestingly, this belief is also part of Buddhism, the Jewish Khaballah and Gnosticism, Gnostic Christianity in particular.

Colter "ascended"; i.e., he consciousness shifted into another reality; and, since time is an illusion, he COULD send a message to Goodwin ANY time in her perception.

"Source Code" is a masterpiece.

Re: No parallel universe Your do not understand quantum reality

I think you had all better watch predestination and continue the thread in that site😄

Re: No parallel universe Your do not understand quantum reality

You probably won't believe this but your perception of math and science is far from reality. From the imprecise language on numbers to plainly incorrect explanations of quantum mechanics and time, seems like you're one of those New Age aficionados who take this movie way too seriously. (Hint: General relativity, a thus far completely separate set of theory of the universe, deals with relative time, not quantum mechanics, which deal with the subatomic world.)

Re: No parallel universe Your do not understand quantum reality

I largely agree with your line of thinking. Reality does not exist until there is an observer. Since they sent Colter back into Sean's mind in a different reality it became real (at least to him). I can forgive a lot of things in the film since everything is highly theoretical anyways. My biggest problem with the logic is how Colter sends Goodwin an email which she receives before the day starts. Regardless of everything else, his time is still relative to his reality. Therefore he could only send her an email after he got off the train. Since the train would not have blown up the mission would have never started and it's really just a timing thing. Another moral dilemma I have is he is hijacking someone else's body. Where did Sean's mind go? Perhaps if this reality never existed and was created only because he was observing it, it doesn't really matter...

Re: No parallel universe Your do not understand quantum reality


if source code is just a computer program, not real, how could the soldier see things that the guy who died didn't ever see, like the bomb?! the 8 minutes thing doesn't justify it, but the quantum mechanics part allow any thing including time travel through parallel universes, even creating new universes at the moment. quantum mechanics didn't make sense to einshtein, it can't make sense to anyone. it's magick.

i mostly will not be able to answer your reply, since marissa mayer hacked my email, no notification


I still wonder this question. If the source code was created using everyone's memory of the last 8 minutes of their lives, how could things they don't know or understand be in there? No one knew where the bomb was except the bomber, and he wasn't killed so his memories would not be included. And wouldn't there be gaps in there Similar to the bomb theory? Let's say the wallet of the bomb was left on board, but no one opened it as an example. How would they know what was inside it so when our hero opens it it's accurate ? Or even better, when he leaves the train station, how would he know the white van is there if no one on board knew it was there? The source code world was created using memories of the people who died. So how could the source code be accurate on things no one on board had knowledge of? Unless it really was more than a computer program?

Re: No parallel universe Your do not understand quantum reality

If an AI computer program were running things, it would start at the same point with the same data each time. Every variable introduced would begin to change the outcome and the changes would become exponential. The program would adapt and make decisions based on what has already happened. This is how the new reality would be created. Accuracy is subjective and relative.

Re: No parallel universe

It doesn't create the parallel universes, they already exist. They just send him to them each time. It's obviously not based on real science. They use the dead guy's memories to send Jake Gyllenhaal to an alternate reality that lines up. So he could change a different reality, but not the one he "actually" exists in. The one he was born in and lived his life goes one way, but he can change the alternate universes.

Post deleted

This message has been deleted.

Re: No parallel universe

if source code is just a computer program, not real, how could the soldier see things that the guy who died didn't ever see, like the bomb?! the 8 minutes thing doesn't justify it, but the quantum mechanics part allow any thing including time travel through parallel universes, even creating new universes at the moment. quantum mechanics didn't make sense to einshtein, it can't make sense to anyone. it's magick.

i mostly will not be able to answer your reply, since marissa mayer hacked my email, no notification

Re: No parallel universe

The Source Code program doesn't create an alternate universe. It transports to an alternate universe.

Re: No parallel universe

Exactly. They aren't "re-playing" the past. They are directly accessing an alternate universe (more maybe a different one in each attempt). Dr. Rutledge tells Stevens that's he's experimenting the past for two reasons: A) It is the past in their universe. B) The fact that he could actually save those people in alternative universe would distract him from the mission.

When he dies while being "connected" to the man on the train brain, he gets stuck in that universe. You can tell it's "reality" and not some sort of after-life thing because when they are standing in front of the reflective sculpture his reflection is not him but the original man on the train.

Re: No parallel universe

it seems more like a simulation than universe. but our universe, one that we live in could possibly be a simulation too so that shouldnt be a problem. but that director guy was talking about quantum stuff interacting with computer program so maybe that makes program become universe in some way. idn, in any case non of this is real(talking about movie)
Top