Will the Real Roberta Sparrow Please Stand Up?

The Philosophy of Time Travel in the life of Philip K Dick and in the movie Sphere

 “Phil wasn’t nuts. Phil was a vortex victim. Schizophrenia is not a psychological disorder peculiar to human beings. Schizophrenia is not a disease at all but rather a localized traveling discontinuity of the space time matrix itself. It is like a traveling whirl-wind of radical understanding that haunts time. It haunts time in the same way that Alfred North Whitehead said that the color dove grey "haunts time like a ghost."”
-Terence McKenna in I understand Philip K Dick (source #1)


The Philosophy of Time Travel is a fictional novel created to accompany the movie Donnie Darko, allegedly written by the character Roberta Sparrow, the book written to detail her experience with 4D reality.  The Philosophy of Time Travel outlines the fundamental nature of fourth dimensional realities called “Tangent Universes.”  If PKD was a vortex victim, perhaps all his novels, as well as his massive Exegesis, are his own “Philosophy of Time Travel.”  Is Philip K Dick the real Roberta Sparrow?


Michael Crichton’s Sphere movie/book is also about a group of individuals who, like the Darko family, discover an Artifact from the future.  This group of military and assembled specialists explore the Artifact with "great interest and curiosity." 

According to The Philosophy of Time Travel, “The Fourth Dimension of Time is a stable construct, though it is not impenetrable. Incidents when the fabric of the Fourth Dimension becomes corrupted are incredibly rare. If a Tangent Universe occurs, it will be highly unstable, sustaining itself for no longer than several weeks. Eventually it will collapse upon itself, forming a black hole within the Primary Universe capable of destroying all existence.  Artifacts provide the first sign that a Tangent Universe has occurred. If an Artifact occurs, the Living will retrieve it with great interest and curiosity... …Water and Metal are the key elements of Time Travel. Water is the barrier element for the construction of Time Portals used as gateways between universes at the Tangent Vortex. Metal is the transitional element for the construction of Artifact Vessels”

 In Donnie Darko, the Artifact is a plane; the engine which falls into his bedroom.  In Sphere the Artifact is the spaceship, which is both from the future and under the ocean, two important points.  The dimensional Gateway,(my term) a tesseract, is different than the Artifact, and functions as the actual wormhole or time travel device.  The gateway in Donnie Darko is the vortex, seen at the end of the movie.  There seems to be a direct physical connection between the Gateway and the Artifact.  In Donnie Darko, the plane/artifact enters the vortex, in Sphere, the Sphere/tesseract enters the Spaceship/artifact. 

“The Living Receiver is chosen to guide the Artifact into position for its journey back to the Primary Universe. No one knows how or why a receiver will be chosen. The Living Receiver is often blessed with Fourth Dimensional Powers. These include increased strength, telekinesis, mind control, and the ability to conjure fire and water. The Living Receiver is often tormented by terrifying dreams, visions and auditory hallucinations during his time within the Tangent Universe. Those surrounding the Living Receiver, known as the Manipulated, will fear him and try to destroy him.” -Philosophy of Time Travel (POTT)

PKD as living Receiver:  The Artifact in Philip K Dick’s own personal experience was the Icthus pendant.  The sight of the Icthus initiated a chain of events culminating in his famous “pink beam” visions.  At the time, PKD believed he was two people, one living as a persecuted Christian in early Rome, another simultaneously living his modern 1974 reality.  This superimposed reality allowed Dick to glean images of this other reality, and even allegedly, "speak ancient languages he had no knowledge of before."  Perhaps this is in some way related to Neitzche's eternal recurrence concept?

In Sphere, Dr. Norman Goodman is the Living Receiver; it is his task to guide the Artifact back to the future.  Norman has to fight the Manipulated around him in order to send the Artifact back before the undersea laboratory is destroyed by their actions.  Fletcher, Edmunds, Ted, and Barnes (the crew members who die) are the Manipulated Dead of Sphere.  The crew of Sphere receive contact through mysterious text in a computer monitor which they believe is from an alien(Jerry) inside the sphere.  The connection between "Jerry," in Sphere mirrors the interdimensional contact produced by the character "Frank" in Donnie Darko. 

The Manipulated Living are puppets of God: the actions of the Manipulated are controlled by the efforts of the tangent universe to right itself.  Their only goal is to make the Living Receiver realize the tangency of the universe.  It is the goal of the Manipulated Dead to teach the Receiver how to use his Power. 

“If a person dies within the Tangent Universe, they are able to contact the Living Receiver through the Fourth Dimensional Construct. The Fourth Dimensional Construct is made of Water. The Manipulated Dead will manipulate the Living Receiver using the Fourth Dimensional Construct (see Appendix A and B). The Manipulated Dead will often set an Ensurance Trap for the Living Receiver to ensure that the Artifact is returned safely to the Primary Universe.” -(POTT)

The urgency of the underwater habitat, and a planted bomb, limit the period of time which Norman has to fix the tangent universe.  The “monsters from the id” are the negative, lurking aspect of 4D tangency.  In PKD’s Total Recall, and in Donnie Darko, the main characters live out a positive projection of their own egotistical goals.  Sphere is not quite as pleasant, perhaps because Normans own inability to realize his Power allows the monsters to grow.  Norman finally sees the unreality of his situation and is able to escape the tangent delusion by forcing the escape-sub to surface.  Neither Power-in-itself, nor Realization-of-Maya/illusion (in itself) are sufficient to close the 4D reality tangent.  I believe Donnie “passed the test.” This is the very same test which is offered to Norman.  Norman failed, and stayed in our three dimensional reality.  Donnie is off to explore greater planes of consciousness. 

Don't settle for pale memories

or fake implants.            

Experience space travel

the old-fashioned way...

on a real, live holiday

you can afford.

-Total Recall

Sources

I understand Philip K Dick by Terence McKenna:  http://www.sirbacon.org/dick.htm

The Philosophy of Time Travel, By Roberta Sparrow: giama.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/the-philosophy-of-time-travel.pdf