Worlds of Difference

In my previous response, A Parallel World is a Dialectic, I established that in fiction, parallel worlds work to create a discourse between two systems (two "worlds.") The truth is that whether fictional or not, the parallel world is about relational difference. Each world that is established is defined by and understood through its relation to the system or systems it is set in opposition against. These systems may only differ in one way, but that is enough for massive discrepancies between them.

The lead characters in H.G. Wells' The New Accelerator establish and explore a parallel world, even though that world exists in the same physical space as the world they've left behind. By creating and imbibing an elixir that pushes them into an existence "many thousand times" faster than the norm, the two see the world in a new light. In the set up and conclusion of the story, the Wells describes some ways in which the world would be changed by this invention: students, politicians, doctors, lawyers, writers; they'd all be able to retreat to this place where time is less meaningful, where they'd be able to work in leisure instead of in haste.

Wells makes no serious inquiries into how this world would change, though. Surely the economy would be uprooted. Would new classes be established between those who had access to this elixir and those who had to go about their lives with only 24 hours in a day? Would "insider" trading be the act of existing in fast-time so that you could react to changes more quickly? What would this mean for war, for crime, for assassination?

Why doesn't Wells discuss these heavy handed issues? Because, like many good writers, he finds a simply metaphor that works more effectively than any proselytizing could. When under the effect of the New Accelerator, the lead characters go about a routine amounting to written slapstick - they move around objects stuck in slow speed, laugh at those stuck in awkward poses, and listen to odd, distorted music. (I wonder what Wells would think of Justin Bieber slowed down by 800%.)

But one gag has serious weight: the clothes that these men wear begin to burn as they move around at high speeds. Their linen trousers, perfectly acceptable for daily living, are a risk and a limitation the world of Acceleration. What works, in fact, what is fashionable in one world is fatal in another. Neither the narrator nor the inventor of the New Accelerator had seen it coming, and how could they?

Wells notes that there would need to be a counter-potion to the New Accelerator. One that slows us back down after speeding up - or even just allows us to breeze through agitating events (presumably long flights and boring phone calls) with ease. What would this new economy of speed bring? What would the dangers there be? How could we ever know?

The rule of the parallel world, fictional or not, is that there will be unforeseen complications when we cross from one to the other - or when we exist in both simultaneously. The same technology that lets us kill time at work by talking to people thousands of miles away also allows a sudden move towards civilian reporting in 140 characters. The same tool that let me locate all of the links in this piece may also be a post-legislation panopticon.

And in what other world could I deliver these messages? Here I have autosave, and backspace, and tabbed browsing. I can be tangential without seeming unfocused, distracted, spacey. Even after all that, I can't help myself but to think: This world seems safe.