Does it surprise you that an algorithm knows you better than you know yourself?

Years ago Netflix had a comments/star system. This was eventually transitioned to the like or dislike option. Why? Because Netflix wanted to collect data about what we say we like and what we actually like. What you say you like (media added to your “list”) is a version that you’ve created of yourself. You’ve added this to your list because you want this to be part of your identity.

The truth, however, is that 90% of us add items to our list that remain there never to be viewed. Ever. This is all speculation, of course. Again, just an example.

This exists in other ways: clothing bought but never worn; food purchased that expires; exercise equipment/gym membership that never gets used; saved phone numbers that never get called. All of these things make us feel better about ourselves in one way or another. It gives the id the ego boost that we’re doing right by the world because what kind of person would you be if you didn’t have educational documentaries saved to your stream list, healthy foods in the fridge, or the phone number of Grandma Annie?

I don’t want to get too off base here. The point is what we say we like/want/need and what we actually like/want/need differ substantially. Even while alone, we turn into a different version of ourselves every few seconds. In addition, when we encounter new people, familiar people, and known people, those are all a version that both of you have created at that moment. These versions are stacked away in our memories and locked for future use.

This is the reason why criminal justice hypnotists are able to pull that information out so easily when witnesses assume they have no memory of a person or event.

In addition, what can we make of coincidences? This could be the two worlds (or infinite worlds) for each person connecting in some way. We may experience this as déjà vu in our current reality but in a different world. Imagine how many times you have visited somewhere new but everything felt so familiar. Perhaps you have been there before but not in this reality.

The butterfly effect is another consideration. Say you trip while walking in one world and that triggers foot pain in another, or closing your eyes for sleep in one world might cause the loss of eyesight in another. What if you die in the current reality which causes sleep paralysis in another. Sure, this might all seem crazy or extreme but the concept itself is supernatural and fantastical.

Could dreams or nightmares also have a connection to these experiences? This might be another way that the worlds collide. We often see “strangers” in our dreams, or what we think of as strangers. Going back to the above point about what version others see of us, these are likely people we have encountered over time that have been remembered in our subconscious.

That lady at the grocery store whom you “think” you didn’t notice is actually part of those locked away memories that don’t get revised except in our dreams. There are times when someone looks familiar but we cannot pinpoint why. It’s that familiarity again because we have likely seen this person in our current or alternate reality. Humans can’t fully trust memories in an obvious way. Consider the Mandela Effect. That answers many of these questions for us.

What version are you and what version do you want to be? Which version has control and which version is toxic?

We create these “versions” without knowing that it’s even happening. Think about everyday tasks. At the grocery store, you may see about 20-50 people that visit and interact with one. However, every person that you’ve made eye contact with (or even glimpsed at) has already locked you away in their subconscious. They may revisit this experience days from now or years later based on a trigger. That could be a smell, a color, or an event.

With so many variations, how could it be possible to identify with any of them? Which parts of the psyche do we invent and which parts are organic? Which parts are completely hallucinatory?

When we think of this in terms of alternate realities and there being hundreds or thousands or millions of universes and forms of ourselves, we think of a physical entity. However, if these variants exist in millions of thoughts, where does that leave this “knowing” or Truth?

I can’t imagine that there is a resolution to these questions. Not a logical perspective that our current minds can comprehend in the now. Or, there could be an infinite quantity of answers. At minimum, it induces reflection.

…which version of yourself is reflecting? Which version is accepting? Which version is dismissive?

What are your thoughts? Have you “felt” other versions of yourself exists?