People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it’s more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey- wimey… stuff. –Doctor Who, Blink
Taking the idea that time is a ‘big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey- wimey stuff”, what the heck is the deal with these ‘fixed points’ in time? Doctor Who uses several examples of fixed points, from a person’s life being spared due to their importance (Captain Adelaide Brooke, The Waters of Mars), to major historical events (Pompeii, The Fires of Pompeii), and even people (Captain Jack Harkness, The Parting of Ways, Utopia). These fixed points are always going to happen, so how does that mesh with this swirling, always-moving ball of time?
Well, without those fixed points, there wouldn’t be the wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff. They’re kind of the gravity centers that trap all that time-dust—much like the formation of a star. A fixed point obviously directly effects events surrounding it, in an ever expanding ripple. So that explains how they exist, but now, how about why? Especially if fixed points can be made from any given moment.
A good visual is to think of a connect-the-dots picture: every fixed point is linked to another in some grand cosmic picture. Every way it’s viewed, only a small portion of the puzzle is seen. And even if one could find and recognize the links between specific fixed points, no single person (human, of course (; ) could know every fixed point to come. And some points might not even be connected chronologically, meaning events from the beginning of time could be linked to future fixed points that no one is aware of. Heck, by this logic, how can one even assume to know every fixed point? What if they miss one, assume something is insignificant?
A fixed point in time, plotted in 3D, with all of time swirling and whirling around it…it’s a beautiful image. So, too, is the idea that there is a big picture, even if there is no way we can ever fully see it.
- vilnolin
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