It’s always Friday somewhere in the universe
Joe Kitchen
Naledi
ISBN: 9781991256157
This reader impression was written and sent to LitNet on the writer's own initiative.
“I do not like it [quantum mechanics], and I am sorry I ever had anything to do with it.” – Albert Einstein
And so I happen to run into my old friend in a lounge at Oliver Tambo Airport. While we waited for our flights to the Cape, we quickly caught up with family news. And with our greeting on the way out, André pulled a book from his backpack.
“It’s my latest book. Let me know what you think of it,” he said.
He wrote something on the inside cover and handed the book to me before disappearing around the corner: “To my pastor ….”
Synchronicity at its best!
Coincidentally, at this very time, I was involved in an “existential crisis” over ontological questions that I believed I had clarified for myself years ago! Things like the existence of God.
André’s/Koos’s/Joe’s guidance (Photo: Izak de Vries)
André once had a close friend who was a pastor. But along the way, he lost the faith. This left André without a spiritual support network acceptable to critical-thinking intelligentsia. And then he met me. But then I suffered the same fate! André supported me through this crisis by sending me his book The secret diary of God (Koos Kombuis, Zebra Press, 1999).
And here, almost a quarter century later, he does it again! The question of my current intellectual (and spiritual) journey: are we living in a matrix-style simulated universe?
Have you ever thought that the world we live in might not be real?
The suggestion that we are all computer-generated characters occupying a world as real as the one players explore on their PlayStation consoles has been around for a while. As far back as 1999, Morpheus entered “The Matrix” to break out of a simulated reality created by advanced (AI!) machines.
However, the theory today is far from science fiction! The findings of numerous new studies increasingly indicate that our planet is one giant virtual world, and we all live in it as characters. The new field of science known as information physics believes that our physical reality consists of quantum codes – bits of information, encoded not unlike the DNA in the cells of living organisms. The studies point to a bizarre and interesting possibility that we do not live in an objective reality and that the entire universe is just a super advanced virtual reality simulation running on a cosmic computer. The theory is popular among many notable figures, including Elon Musk. The Tesla-founding genius with an estimated IQ of 155 told a conference that in his opinion, the odds of us living in “base reality” – in other words, the real universe as opposed to a simulated one – are “one in billions”.
It is not far-fetched to assume that an advanced civilisation (or perhaps we ourselves in the future) will reach the technological level where they can simulate our world, or the entire universe, where it is indistinguishable from reality. In principle, anything can be simulated with a computer with sufficient power. Scientists argue that such a complicated simulation for advanced civilizations would be quite easy for those who want to explore their histories or entertain their children.
It’s always Friday somewhere in the universe (Naledi, 2023) is the latest satirical/science fiction book (published in English) from the pen of the ever-innovative author André le Roux de Toit / Koos Kombuis – and now reborn, or rebranded, for English readers as “Joe Kitchen”.
The book grabbed me from the start as dealing with exactly the theme I’m currently struggling with, and drew me into the world of one Kola K, the main character. The story took me on a journey to old, beloved memories from my youth, the likes of Robinson Crusoe, Rip van Wyk and Walter Battiss’s “Fook Island”. It also strikes a bridge to modern legends like MasterChef and The menu! I don’t know why, but the book also reminded me of literary works by the other Andrés from our literary treasury, namely P Brink and Le Roux (coincidentally Joe Kitchen’s second birth name).
In his genius way, and always with a satirical and humorous tongue in the cheek, the reader is not only confronted with – but also brought up to date with – the latest science and questions about the reality in which we live. What is certain is that Death, exactly as in a P Brink drama – and with erotic tension – is going to be kissed – and screwed!
So, what shall we call this book? Let me count the ways: it’s not just science fiction. It is also partly pure science. And it is a literary work of art that functions – and can be analysed – on several levels. It may be any and all of the above for you as the reader. But I know now what it was for me. For me, it was a psychological thriller! Exactly like his discovery of quantum mechanics was to Albert Einstein when he said: “I do not like it, and I am sorry I ever had anything to do with it.”
What have I taken from the book?
We will definitely have to think about God again (after Nietzsche killed him)! If our universe is a simulation, there must definitely be a computer programmer behind it! (Although in a completely different guise than we used to think – as in the context of this book, where God gets a startling new face!) And just like Mark Twain said: “The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”
I’m glad I had André’s/Koos’s/Joe’s guidance to help me through a spiritual crisis yet again!
There are some things in life that we have the freedom not to have to believe. Even if they are facts! Sometimes we just have to believe in the things that make us happy – even if it’s only for our own spiritual survival.
