Living Exponentially

I was just reading about Terence McKenna's Time Wave Zero theory last week. While it's hard to explain (a good intro video is here), McKenna developed a mathematical formula that theoretically calculates the ebb and flow of "novelty" in the universe. Using the mysterious King Wen sequence of the ancient I Ching as a starting point, McKenna derived his mathematical formula around the concept that there is teleological (a purpose-driven) attractor at the end of time and that as time draws nearer and nearer to this end, the interconnectedness of places/beings/events become more and more interrelated.

McKenna himself states that the theory is so bizarre that it's difficult to believe. And it is bizarre. For one, it's hard to get your mind around novelty theory. The Time Wave Zero graph, as plotted by McKenna and his computer software designed specifically for computing TWZ, the graph is fractal in nature. Additionally, it grinds against so many of the modern theories of time and the physics of our universe. We've learned that time and the universe will continue expanding at least until some distant point in the future when it won't matter to us anyway.

I'm skeptical, mostly because the end of the time wave zero sequence coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012, the notorious "doomsday" date we've all heard so much about. This alone makes me skeptical. In some ways it's interesting, and I think McKenna argued that this was evidence that the ancient Mayans, the ancient Chinese, and all the other cultures that predicted a 2012 end of time had a knowledge of the universe that we currently lack. For me, it seems a bit "opportunistic" that the end of Time Wave Zero theory lands on 2012, with what appears to me a bit of tweaking by McKenna.

But . . . I'm intrigued. As an artifact of Time Wave Zero, it is proposed that there are historical resonances that are repeated as time spirals closer and tighter to the end. Imagine time as a spiral. Long ago, the spiral was big and loose. It took a long time to go around the circle once. So, one turn around the outside of the spiral takes X number of years. The next time around the spiral, the circle required to reach the beginning point is smaller, and the historical events coincide with events from the first time around, everything takes less time. It's more condensed. According to McKenna, 1942 kicked off a 67 year period in which the previous 4,000 years or so are being lived out in a very concentrated manner. And next we will embark on a time period up until 2012, that the whole spiral of history will be condensed again until at the end all novel events of all history will be played out simultaneously in absolute chaos. Which, according to theory, will occur on or around my birthday in 2012. (That's right, my birthday is December 21)

Huh? It's so hard to believe. Plus, McKenna's reputation is a little questionable. I like listening to the guy talk. He's obviously brilliant, and he strikes me as an excellent thinker. But, he was known to explore the mind-opening properties of hallucinogenics from around the world, especially South American herbal varieties. Much of his early thought on Time Wave Zero, came while under the influence of psychotropic drugs. For me, that makes his claims unreliable. But there's something about the frenetic forward movement of our global population that makes Time Wave zero ring true.

But it's still fascinating. I can't let it go.

I saw this video this morning on YouTube, discussing the "exponential times" in which we currently live. It seems that everything around us is advancing exponentially. Does this support McKenna's theory of Time Wave Zero? I don't know. The skeptic in me says, "No." I think we just live in extraordinary times. Times in which technology and information are being created and advanced at rates never seen before in human history.

These theories are a lot of fun to ponder, but I don't think we'll have any way to know until it's over. And then it won't matter. So enjoy today, I guess.