Back from the Future

Okay, so I got back from Seattle yesterday. It was okay. I got to see my two young cousins, Anton and Polly (interesting), hang out with my apprentice, eat bbq, and see an old friend from high school (albeit briefly). It was an otherwise uneventful trip. In the end, I left for the 'Kane, and then went over to Jeff's place for his birthday. We went to the Mongolian Grill, then returned and watched some anime, specifically a film entitled The Place that Was Promised When We Were Young. The basic plot is about three kids who plan to build an airplane to fly to a tower that looms just over the horizon. Quantum physics, comas, and plot twists occur, and the whole thing turns out to be a rewarding experience. While there is definitely a sci-fi undertone to the proceedings, the focus lies squarely on the relationships between the three main characters as they grow older. There's nothing wrong with science fiction (it is one of my favorite genres, after all), but the film should be enjoyable even for those people who don't care for science fiction. There's also some interesting stuff in there about possible worlds and dreams of the universe (philosophers take note!). This actually brings me to a thought that has been ruminating in my mind for some time.

If we think for a bit about what it means for a possible world to exist, it seems that certain dreams are in fact windows into possible worlds (namely, those dreams that are composed solely of logically possible components). The question then becomes: did those possible worlds always exist, or were they brought into existence by the act of dreaming them? If the latter, do those possible worlds cease to exist after a person has woken up? Note that I am assuming hard-core David Lewis-style Possible Worlds Realism here. Just some thoughts to ponder.