Interstellar - Thoughts on time, space, and magic
POSSIBLE SPOILERS, MAYBE
I’ve always been a fan of sci-fi films, or at least the ones I can either lose myself in or hypothesise about. Star Wars and the like are the former, Interstellar and such are the latter.
In school, I was reasonably interested in science, and especially physics. This was due to the fact that sci-fi tv programmes such as Star Trek and Stargate had taught me that reality was a creation of our own understanding of the universe and the physics involved, and that in the words of Doctor Jackson, quoting Arthur C. Clark, “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
This stands true in two parts for Interstellar. As a science fiction film set in the not-so-distant future, where mankind has outgrown our planet through over population and exploitation of limited resources, which includes food in this case, humanity must look to look the stars for answers and the hope of survival, or die in the dirt.
The first part, and the part that I enjoy the most, is the science and understanding part. Having a rudimentary understanding of physics, quantum mechanics, and relativity, there are decent portions of the ‘science’ of the film that I do understand, the parts I have to ponder on, and the parts that are a bit of a mystery. The parts I (mostly) get are the time and gravity aspects. The perception of time is affected by gravity. The stronger the gravity, the slower time passes (in layman’s terms). This is a constant theme throughout the film. The physics side.
Then there is the ‘magic’ side. The concept that a race has evolved and advanced far enough that the concept of three dimensions (our current understanding of the space that we inhabit in the universe) is obsolete and outdated can start to bend the mind a bit. It’s like magic. In theory, time can be considered another dimension. Our current understanding of our surroundings can be simplified into a cube. It has three planes – height, width, and depth. We exist within this ‘space’ cube, but only at that exact instant.
Conceptualising a fourth dimension, in this case time, is difficult. It’s a bit like putting said cube on a string that can move the cube forwards or backwards. If this string is time, it makes it possible to go forward and backward in time, as long as you can move the ‘cube’ along the string. The string only moves along one plane, yet is separate to the other three. According to our current understanding, time is constant, and can’t be altered. Anything you do has already been done by a previous you. But that brings another theory into play. What comes first? If you find a note to yourself from the future telling you that in one year, you are going to write a note to your past self and send it back in time, has it already happened? Is it set? Or are you the chicken that came before the egg? Will you be the first to write the note and send it back?
This is where Interstellar loses some people. Personally, I really enjoy these concepts and conundrums, mainly because there is no true answer – only what we think. The idea of debating whether time is fixed or fluid, set or manipulatable, is entirely academic. We only have theory to go off, there is no proof as to whether it is or isn’t. This is what I like, but is also what loses some people. It makes you think, and if you didn’t go to the cinema for such an experience, or you wanted some light hearted space-action, you are in the wrong film.
