What If : the game of possibilities

     Once upon a time, there was a science fiction/fantasy magazine called "Worlds of If" (with "If" highlighted). The basis for the title is that many stories and ideas begin with the premise of "what if?" What if there was Faster-Than-Light (FTL) travel? What if we woke up one morning able to "hear" everyone's thoughts. Some of the more prestigious early science fiction authors (such as Isaac Asimov) had a general rule -- you can break currently known laws of nature and physics ONCE. More than that and it was "fantasy". You could extrapolate stories that extended current knowledge without breaking any of the currently known laws of nature and physics, of course. Such were often classified as "hard" science fiction.
     The phrase of "Worlds of If" also marked the idea of parallel time streams or universes. This is used in many stories of "alternate" histories. Wars with "what ifs" have been used in many different books and video takeoffs such as Philip K. Dick's "The Man in the High Castle" or Harry Turtledove's "The Guns of the South". These deal with changing the present by changing the past. The author is no longer living in the same time stream, or universe, as that created within the alternate history.
     Stories of time travel have the possibility to create these splits on purpose or accidentally. They usually don't end well -- pointing out that omniscience (knowing everything) is not a human characteristic. In these cases, the "current" timeline "vanishes" because it is no longer "real".
     Of course, there is a third method/history of splitting history -- and that is deliberately deciding that something that did happen -- didn't (or that something that did NOT happen -- did). As would be true in the "time travel" situation, it may be hard to determine reality of the past (and it is getting harder and harder with the increasing ability to do "deep fakes" of information) -- but events move forward with consequences.
     IF the world was flat, then a number of astronomical and celestial mechanical equations would not work as they do. IF the Holocaust never happened, then there would be descendants from those who were killed, concentration camps (able to be tracked back to points in time) would not exist, and photographs and other media evidence (which, unfortunately, WILL become easier and easier to fake) would not exist. IF there was never a landing on the moon then it would have had to have been faked. And, in 1969, the technology did not exist to fake it to the level needed -- and if such technology DID exist to be able to fake it, it would have required a much deeper and greater level of investment than that of the space program. Events have consequences -- so that they can be checked from what did, or did not occur.
     On a more general level, the same situation occurs for us in the present, recognizing that our present decisions, actions, and reactions have a large influence on what will occur in the future. A story of the future describing ONE potential sequence of events and future history is still science fiction (or fantasy) -- but it is also possible to fragment future history and describe multiple paths that time may follow.
     Away from science fiction or shifted perceptions, most of us have probably indulged in some "what if" scenarios. What if I had majored in Art rather than Computer Science? What if I had gone to the Senior Prom instead of sitting at home watching TV? What if I had accepted that Rhodes scholarship? It doesn't matter what the "what if?" is -- it is still a shift. And that shift would have changed the present. So, look around and see what exists -- your current family, friends, achievements, expectations. IF that "what if" had occurred, your current situation would be changed. Maybe some items are more "resilient" -- the change in the past would not affect the present -- but some changes "ripple" more. If you like much of what is in the present, and possible for the future, then accept and forgive any "mistakes" of the past. They brought you here.