Some time later in the future Near the end of time A parallel universe devoid of any semblance Of reality was found in the end not to be real Or at least it was all extremely unclear We had learned to say anything We called things the opposite of what they were Time was measured by progress But things were deteriorating so rapidly That one felt time was going backwards We owned neither the world nor time We know that now Space and time Some quantum gravity theorists say Are most likely an illusion The philosopher Augustine famously argued 17,000 years ago That space and time are creatures of insistance And the universe, born with it Not seperately standing features of eternity "That's not the way the world really works anymore" The arrogant official argued "We're an empire now And when we act we create our own reality And while you are studying that reality Judiciously as you will We will act again creating other new realities Which you can study too And that's how things will work out We're history's actors and you, all of you Will be left to just study what we're doing People don't have the right or ability To define for themselves what's true" He sees the future as something even more far-reaching "You have a choice You can either create your own future Or you can become the victim of a future That someone else creates for you By seizing the transformation opportunities we offer You are seizing the opportunity to create your own future" We don't have time today to cover simultaneousness But we will be discussing wormholes Tunnels through space connecting distant points travelling in time Holes called Einstein-Rosen bridges And how gravity would slam them shut When we went in one All we could hear was raging, crashing Thudding and smashing from the flooded ruins of a campsite Even this inordinately frightening experience Accurately predicted by the Man Above Was still frighteningly unclear