Death Stranding In-Depth Analysis Part 1: Philosophy, Metaphysics and Quantum Mechanics
“Once, there was an explosion, a bang that gave rise to life as we know it. And then came the next explosion, an explosion that will be our last.”
Warning: This is a long article and contains spoilers of the game Death Stranding.
Chapters:
01. An Ode to Death and Loneliness
02. Altruism and the Reciprocity Principle
03. Stick versus Rope
04. The Mask to hide who we are
05. Chirality — a Non-Mirror
06. Transcendence of Worlds
07. The Creation of the Cosmos
08. Spacetime and its Dimensions
09. Cosmology and the Cycle of Rebirth
10. The Standard Model of Physics
11. String Theory — The Theory of Everything
12. Wholeness of Reality and Eternal Return
An Ode to Death and Loneliness
Veils of grey tint an apocalyptic world, dying birds fall from the sky, sparse shelter in often hostile surroundings. A fractured society and wastelands where modern civilization once flourished. Spacetime and gravity, distorted. Worlds have collapsed into each other; the spiritual realms of the world of the dead into the world of the living. “Beached Things” (BTs), ghosts from “the other side”, got stranded in our dimension and react violently whenever their core of antimatter comes in contact with the matter of living beings. The result, a destructive annihilation reaction called “Voidout”. “Chiralium” contaminated rain known as “Timefall”, changes the flow of time and floods the world with black oceans and soil. A rainbow, upside down. Humanity, the former apex species on this planet, is now on the verge of extinction. Remaining survivors are spread across the American continent, isolated and cut off from each other. A feeling of lingering loneliness and isolation persists. No one trusts anyone. The only source of connection are “Porters”, who provide vital deliveries in a broken, disconnected world.
Sam is one of them, a freelance courier and reserved man who suffers from Aphenphosmphobia, a fear of touch and emotional intimacy. He’s a “repatriate”, someone who always comes back to life whenever death catches up. The logistics company “Bridges”, under the command of the American president, aims to reunite the continent by connecting everyone to the “Chiral Network”, a type of advanced internet and communication network that allows transfer of information via shortcuts in spacetime. Sam, reluctant at first, was tied into this mission and is starts to build bridge after bridge, slowly connecting a disconnected world.
Many unusual encounters await us in the game; often those who border between life and death. Like Heartman, a scientist whose heart stops every 21 minutes for 180 seconds, in which he explores the afterlife in search for his dead family. Or Deadman, who was born in an artificial womb with missing or dysfunctional organs, leaving half of his body filled with transplants. Målingen and Lockne, twins who are said to be one soul separated in two bodies. Or Higgs, who has accepted death and human extinction as unavoidable, even beautiful, and so sees life and survival as meaningless.
While we travel through the wastelands of Death Stranding, one can’t shake off the feeling of loneliness. An atmosphere that is quiet but heavy. The only sounds we hear are those we ourselves make; our footsteps, our breathing, the equipped cargo. Barely any sounds of nature, animals or birds, at the very most we hear water when we’re close to a river. No noise from cities or streets, as those don’t really exist anymore and human built structures only appear sporadically. When we discover such remnants, they’re often destroyed, broken, long abandoned. Whatever functional structures and roads we see are those we will build ourselves during our journey. In most cases distances have to be overcome by walking, which can make the game appear slow, sometimes tedious.
This slowness and lack of life and stimuli is something we’re not used to. In our reality, we’re constantly surrounded by sensory input and have access to almost everything all the time. This is not the case in Death Stranding. When we see humans, we don’t see their real versions, just holographic projections. And so we feel stranded in a strange world that makes us feel very disconnected. Yet our job is to deliver essential sources to those last survivors, to expand their chance of surviving a little longer, in a dying world where extinction is inevitable.
But exactly this is what makes us wonder:
Of what use is this? Why keep going in a world where everything dies? Why build something, when everything corrodes? Why care, when nobody else cares? What does any of it matter? Apathy and meaninglessness, as far as the eye can see. As the character Amelie once says: “I had no idea I was alive until you told me. Living is no different from being dead if you’re all alone.”
“We’re in an era of individualism. Everyone is fractured. Even on the internet. It’s all connected, all around the world, but everyone is fighting each other. Right now, communication is too direct, that’s the root of it. We’re not thinking about others.” — Hideo Kojima
Altruism and the Reciprocity Principle
But even with this nagging sense of isolation, we can leave behind signs of life. When we encounter difficult terrain, we attach ropes to climb a ledge. We leave ladders to overcome an abyss. We build bridges to cross rivers or unbreachable ground. We can set up signs with messages to warn about dangerous territory, or leave cheerful messages that things will get easier after a rocky road. We can build store boxes and leave useful items in facilities that other players can use, and they can do the same for us.
Although we never encounter another player in-game, the structures we built and items we leave in the world of Death Stranding also appear in the games of other players and can be seen and used by them. And when they use them, they can send their thank you via “like”. That’s all we gain from it. A simple “thank you”. No bonus, no reward. And one day, maybe they do the same for us. This is called the reciprocity principle, a basic law in social psychology. We give back what we receive from others. Offer a helping hand to someone in need, and they will offer a helping hand when you need one.
“The story is about connections, what you call ‘strands’ in psychology — how people are connected.” — Hideo Kojima
Death Stranding does an excellent job in implementing this idea. And so, although we never see any other player in the game, we feel less lonely, and instead experience a sense of connection to strangers whose face we don’t even know. In a world, in which everything seems pointless and hostile, we find a reason to keep going. This is how humans find meaning in a meaningless existence.
Stick versus Rope
“The rope, along with the stick, are two of mankind’s oldest tools. The stick to keep the bad away, the rope used to bring the good toward us. They were our first friends, of our own invention. Wherever there were the people, there were the rope and the stick.” — from Kobe Abe’s ‘Nawa’
Like in the real world, Death Stranding tells a story about a disconnected world. We’re divided on so many levels and humanity is split into black and white thinking, a constant “You vs. Me” attitude. Instead of accepting and embracing our differences, we force our worldviews onto others, resulting in hate, discrimination and war. To reach our goals, we often use destructive tools against opponents — a “stick”.
This is also common in many games; battling an enemy, defeating an army, destroying what others have built, conquering cities or enemy territory. In Death Stranding, we step away from this and instead prioritize a “rope” — a tool to connect us to the good and unify divided parties. Wherever we go in the game, our primary goal is to avoid destruction and instead build connections.
“Most of your tools in action games are sticks,” Kojima continues. “You punch or you shoot or you kick. The communication is always through these ‘sticks.’ In Death Stranding, I want people to be connected not through sticks, but through what would be the equivalent of ropes… But of course you will be able to use the sticks too.”
What stands out in Death Stranding is the lack of lethal weapons and battles. When we encounter human enemies, our first approach is never to kill, but to numb or immobilize them. By using lethal weapons that kill other humans, we risk the corpse to necrotize that leads to a voidout, which would destroy a wide range of the area that we, and others, have helped building, and further will kill more humans. The deceased soul will also not be able to enter the afterlife and return as a stranded ghost — a BT.
When we encounter BTs, we bypass dangerous areas or we can slowly sneak up and cut their umbilical cords to calmly send them to the afterlife. Of course, sometimes fights are unavoidable and we also need to use the “stick” to fight BTs.
The idealistic stance of “do no harm”, and to overcome chasms to build collectives, ties into the thinking that we’re fundamentally all one. We’re not meant to be fight each other or to build walls that divide us. “Good” and “evil” are man made concepts, often reinforced by a individuals to divide collectives and gain power. Power that is rarely used for the good, but to feed their greed and divide us even more. Politicians and religious institutions are masterful puppeteers in plucking these strings.
These attitudes lead to worldwide disconnection and stagnation in human advancement. How can we move forward as a species, when we fight ourselves and destroy the ground we live on? Why do we fight over differences that are fundamentally the same, just looked at from different vantage points?
Humanity puts itself on a pedestal of being the most developed and intelligent species that has ever populated this planet. We praise ourselves for our ability to develop complex language and relationships, to create art and meaningful experiences not seen in any other species. Our ego thinks only we and those who agree with us are in the right, and so we reject everyone who doesn’t share our opinions and points of views. We can leave earth and travel to the moon, and yet can’t overcome simple interpersonal differences. Because we fear accepting others as they are, or sharing our resources, our knowledge, our rewards, will leave us with less than them.
Death Stranding tells us that we’re all in the same boat. We all struggle with similar issues and the solution is not to build walls that divide us, but to be a community which together creates a tomorrow that stands despite the bad things that happen.
“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
The Mask to hide who we are
In a disconnected world, being seen for who we really are can feel threatening and vulnerable. We fear being judged or excluded and sometimes have to disguise our identity to protect ourselves. Not only do we hide behind physical walls, but also behind psychological walls — our social masks. A persona. But this “psychological wall” is what leads to further disconnection. In a world where everyone wears a mask, how can we ever truly know each other?
“The Japanese say you have three faces. The first face, you show to the world. The second face, you show to your close friends and your family. The third face, you never show anyone.”
In Death Stranding masks appear multiple times with many characters. Right from the start we encounter a man who calls himself “Higgs”. He wears a golden skull mask and for a long time we don’t know who he is and what his role is. Right at the moment when he seems to show his face, he reveals a second mask beyond his first one.
Higgs not only wears literal masks to disguise his identity, his name is also only a pseudonym, as we learn in a sidequest. But he’s not the only one who hides his identity. “Amelie” is actually only a name used by the “Extinction Entity” to disguise herself as being her own daughter, the former president of America — “Bridget Strand”, another name she used to hide her identity.
And another character with this theme is “Die-Hardman”, whose real name is John Blake McClane, a soldier formerly assigned to Cliff Unger. He was a security officer of “Bridget” and “Amelie”. Together they aimed to reunite America and he only decided to put down his mask once he became the new president of the UCA.
All of these characters chose to hide their true faces and have been blocked from forming real connections. Higgs has put on one mask over another, and although he is tied to multiple fractions, he’s not truly “connected” to any. “Amelie” urges Sam all the time to “make them whole again”, but is stuck in isolation, her masks — metaphorical chains — her inability to leave the beach — metaphysical chains. Die-Hardman has worn a mask for years and when he finally takes it off, he opens himself up to the truth, to accept his past and moves forward to the future, forming new connections.
Many times we see in Death Stranding these ideas of multidimensional concepts, of disguise and duality. Characters wear multiple names and faces, timelines appear mixed up, worlds appear mirrored, characters are confronted with usually two choices. Like Higgs, who made Fragile choose between saving herself or South Knot City; Fragile who made Higgs choose between suicide and eternal damnation; Amelie who told Sam to choose between saving humanity or to save himself. Two names, two faces, two choices — repeating themes.
Chirality — a Non-Mirror
Into themes of duality and polarity there’s another concept that ties into this: chirality. Originally, chirality describes a geometric property which states that an object can’t be superimposed over its mirror image, and therefore two seemingly “mirrored” images exist that are not a mirror image at all. The term stems from the ancient Greek word for “hand”, as our hands, although they look the same but mirrored, are actually not the same.
The concept of chirality appears in Death Stranding in the form of a type of matter called “Chiralium”. It seems to have originated from “the other side” and has time-altering properties. This is interesting, because the world of Death Stranding itself seems “mirrored” and plays with the idea of higher dimensions and multiverses. A merging that led to a break of reality and spacetime; dimensions entangled into each other in ways classic physical laws would forbid. Time runs in both directions and none, worlds the same, seemingly mirrored, but not quite. It’s like the tree of life, with all its realms, has crashed into itself.
Transcendence of Worlds
In many mythologies and religions when a deceased person can’t enter the afterlife, their soul gets stuck in a foreign realm, roaming as a lost entity or curse; a ghost. In Death stranding, these “ghosts” are BTs. When we defeat BTs, their “bodies” fall apart and black tar-like substance “crystallizes” into golden chiral crystals. The color Gold is associated (especially in Egyptian mythology — a big theme in Death Stranding) with immortality, the gods and timelessness, which is why pharaohs were buried in golden sarcophagi and golden funerary masks — a sign for their soul’s immortality. And so it’s no surprise that chiral crystals in Death Stranding — the matter that comes from another dimension, a parallel universe, a chiral world — have time-altering properties and look like “hands”. Somehow like the remains from the immortal soul of living beings, the stranded “ghosts” of deceased people.
Interestingly, in ancient Egypt there exists a symbol for the soul — called Ka — also known as “Ka hands”.
High exposure to Chiralium can have various effects on people, mostly negative. Those with DOOMS, like Sam, Fragile or Higgs, have an “allergic reaction” that shows up as “tears”.
In a metaphorical sense, we can think of Chiralium and their golden hand-like crystals, as remains of the deceased. Hands that reach towards us and remind us the deceased are still there and have never truly left. We’re still connected. The immortal soul that still exists once the body is gone; a connection between the living and the dead, between past and future.
With the concepts of “Chirality”, or places like the Beach or the Seam, we see a “mirror”; a “parallel”, an “overlap” of borders, of times, of worlds. In cosmology there exist theories of cyclic universes or multiverses that entertain ideas of the co-existence of worlds and timelines. When time runs backwards at the “edge” of the past, and forward at the “edge” of the future, what happens to time in the present? It doesn’t exist. This is why the “present” is infinite and timeless. This is the Beach. This is the concept of multiverses and time travel in Death Stranding.
Since in a cyclic universe every new cycle is slightly different than the previous one, or in a parallel universe, every universe is slightly different from its parallel, there’s never an exact “mirror image”, but a renewed cycle or world that can’t be superimposed over the old one — chirality in a cosmic sense.
Even in characters and their stories we can interpret the concept of chirality or parallels. “Amelie” appears in multiple versions of herself, young ones, aged ones, wearing different colors. We see a lot of connections, even parallels between her and Sam. They’re closely tied to each other.
And going back to the theme of the mask or persona, we could interpret different versions of the same character as different parallel versions of themselves — just in the context of time.
Sam and Higgs have a lot in common, yet are very different. Cliff appears to have a lot in common with Fragile, Sam and Målingen/Lockne, even Higgs. Somehow as if all of them were one and the same, or connected via different times or dimensions.
In Death Stranding, worlds and time have collapsed into each other. The world of the dead is intertwined with the world of the living. Between these realms “the Beach” exists — an intermediate haven, a manifestation of human consciousness and a conception of death. Everyone who dies (and has a soul), has a Beach and arrives here before their soul can enter the afterlife. On the Beach no flow of time exists. This is why those “stranded” there won’t age and are stuck for all eternity. What connects to the Beach is “the Seam”, some kind of deep primeval ocean, filled with soulless bodies tied onto strings that connect them to the world of the living — if their soul can find their way back.
“The Beach” can also be seen as a metaphor for an overlap of time and a border between past and future, old and new, annihilation and creation. Who arrives at the Beach, stands in front of the gates of the underworld. Who enters the Seam, goes back to life. Who “strands” at the Beach, strands in infinite nothingness.
The Creation of the Cosmos
Loneliness is a core theme in Death Stranding, but so is connection. We tie knots and strands, build bridges and connect the world. One person seems insignificant, and a single knot might not seem like much, but a knot that connects two ropes quickly becomes an overarching web. A web can function as a safety net, as support, as a connection between spaces or worlds. A single string connects from A to B, but a web of strings connects multiple points in space or time.
The Extinction Entity “Amelie” tells us in the game, she’s stuck at the Beach, because she “is” the Beach. When she talks to Sam, she states that “to understand, one needs perspective and time”, both concepts she doesn’t have. She calls herself “not a line, but a single dot” and further, that “time has no meaning” for her.
When we think of this in a scientific sense and consider theories of cosmic creation, science collectively agrees on the idea of a Big Bang — a rapid explosion in which the universe unfolded from a singularity and keeps expanding ever since.
But what came before the Big Bang?
Spacetime and its Dimensions
In mathematics and physics a dimension is the amount of coordinates in which a single point can move. Our reality exists in three-dimensional space (3D), or more accurately, 3+1 as in three spatial dimensions and one time-dimension. Everything within this 3D space can move into three directions: the x-axis, the y-axis and the z-axis (and a time-axis). We could think of it as being able to move forward/backward, left/right and up/down. All our movements happen in these three directions.
A two-dimensional space (2D) would mean a point (or object) can move along the x-axis and y-axis; left/right and up/down. We see this in 2D games (think Super Mario). Therefore, in a one-dimensional space (1D) all that can exist is a line, as any point can only move along one axis — the x-axis; left/right. In that sense, we can see dimensions as “perspectives” — an expanding number of coordinates from which we can look at things. Where there are zero dimensions (0D), there’s no axis, no direction, so a point cannot move at all, we cannot look at things from different angles as there are none; perspective is lacking. This is also called a singularity.
What was right before the Big Bang is considered a singularity. All the information, all the particles and basic requirements for our known universe to be able to exist, had to exist before this inflation. It’s theorized that all this information was present in this infinite small point, a place where everything existed, but nothing existed at all, not even time, since time only begins once a singularity becomes multi-dimensional.
In that sense, it sounds like the “Extinction Entity” in Death Stranding is a “singularity“ and might represent the single point right before the Big Bang happened, from which everything began — the origin of the cosmos?
Cosmology and the Cycle of Rebirth
Many religious traditions tell similar tales of the creation of the cosmos. Common in creation myths is the idea of a primordial ocean or chaos as the beginning of everything. Somewhere, where nothing and everything exists simultaneously, similar to the hypothesis of what was before the Big Bang. A possible singularity until one big explosion set off the expansion of the universe, creating space, matter and time.
In Death Stranding we repeatedly see elements of the Egyptian afterlife and death cult, but it’s not only Egyptians that see existence as divided into different realms. Multiple worlds coexist and are intertwined: a celestial world (heaven), the world of the living, and an underworld. In Norse mythology this cosmic tree is called Yggdrasil, in Hinduism it’s the Kalpavriksha, in Christian beliefs we find it symbolic in the Garden of Eden. The tree of life is a fundamental concept in many philosophies. It represents the universal cosmos that connects all forms of creation; a symbol of eternity.
In Buddhism the cycle of existence is called Samsara. There exist six realms with six sages, one in each realm.
These connection of realms, or worlds, is also connected to the concept of rebirth. The soul, as the immortal part of humans, is able to travel between worlds, while our mortal bodies are bound to their realm. In many religions, when we die, our soul transcends towards a possible heaven or underworld and can be reborn. In Death Stranding, we see this cycle of rebirth most and for all with Sam, whose soul “wakes up” in the Seam every time he dies. Once he finds back to his body, he gets reborn. The Extinction Entity has the power the resurrect those who die, which is how Sam became a repatriate. But we see many characters that appear connected to this idea and so seem timelines. In the concept of a cycle of rebirth, we never really “die”, or at least, our soul doesn’t. We are reborn indefinitely into different worlds and different lives.
The Extinction Entity “Amelie” also wears a so-called Quipu, a necklace she got from a young Sam. A Quipu is a necklace in South American cultures, made of strings and knots and in Quechuan means “knot”. Inca people used them to keep track of data, calendrical information and calculating mathematics.
When Sam gifts Amelie this Quipu, she considers “adding a knot” every time she sees Sam. This could imply that many of the knots in her Quipu are the amount of times Sam has died and got reborn. Maybe as a reference of many lives, many timelines, many dimensions and many multiverses, in that sense. During the game Higgs occasionally “steals” the Quipu and when we look closely, we can even see that Higgs himself carries multiple Quipus on his uniforms. Why and where are they from?
The Standard Model of Physics
When “Higgs” introduced himself, he called himself “the particle of God that permeates all existence”. A lot of his appearance reminds us of the Egyptian death cult. He wears a golden skull mask, dark eyeliner and a striped cape resembling a “Nemes”—the headdress of pharaohs. Higgs has shaved his eyebrows, a tradition of Egyptian priests that undergo purity rituals, or of those who mourn the death of a cat. As cats were seen as sacred and associated with gods, this can be interpreted as “mourning a dead God”.
Written on his forehead is an equation for the electromagnetic tensor or the Higgs field, which describes how particles and forces interact in the electromagnetic field of spacetime. It ties into the Higgs mechanism and quantum field theory.
The Higgs boson — also called “The God Particle” — is a particle in the Standard Model of physics that gives particles their mass and so creates a field of forces (the Higgs field) that induces particle interaction and the formation of matter, atoms and all structure.
The Higgs field can be thought of as a web that unfolded with the Big Bang and ever since permeates the whole universe. Without this field, the universe would be filled with free floating particles and it wouldn’t exist in its known form.
In the Standard Model, elementary particles are divided into two categories: fermions and bosons. Fermions can be seen as building blocks of matter, while bosons are the force carriers that prompt creation of matter. Fermions have spins of +½ or -½ and bosons have a spin of 1, aside from the Higgs boson, which has a charge and spin of 0.
(Vector) Bosons are also called “messenger particles”, as they give rise to forces between other particles. Considering Higgs’ role in the game, he very well could resemble a “messenger”.
But the Higgs boson is slightly different from vector bosons, which is why it falls under the term “scalar boson”. In mathematics and physics, vectors are quantities that can’t be expressed by a single number and describe a direction or movement. As “force carrier” vector bosons tell us how fermions “move” into a direction that leads to binding and the creation of matter.
Scalars are real numbers or quantities that are unaffected by change of a vector space basis. They don’t have a direction. If a direction is required for the description of the quantity, a vector is used, if several directions are required, a tensor is used. This is why, when we think of these physical concepts and Death Stranding and their characters, the Extinction Entity could not be a vector and has to be at least a scalar. The scalar theory is further the field-theory generalization of a particle moving in a potential. When this potential is what’s called “the Mexican hat”, the resulting field is a Higgs field.
Like Higgs himself, the Higgs particle is very unstable. Below some extremely high temperature, the Higgs field causes spontaneous symmetry breaking, which triggers the Higgs mechanism and causes the bosons it interacts with to have mass (see illustration above). This (likely) describes the systematic of the Big Bang, where the temperature rapidly cooled down, so the Higgs field “unfolded” (from symmetric before the Big Bang to asymmetric where the inflation started) and “created” the universe, hence “the particle of God that permeates everything”.
In that sense, we could argue, whenever we see Higgs summon BTs, that’s him giving “particles” their “mass” — ergo; inducing interaction and creating existence.
But when Higgs resembles the Higgs field, a principle that explains a “cosmic web”, with all its interconnections in the known universe, and the Extinction Entity resembles “a single dot with no concept of time”, aka the pre-existence of the cosmos, could this imply that many characters in Death Stranding resemble fragments or concepts of a cosmic existence? The “building blocks” of the universe?
Sam, as the one who connects the world might resemble another force, particle or concept. He further carries six “Q-pids”, small wearable devices used to integrate terminal locations into the Chiral Network. They contain very high amounts of Chiralium — the mysterious time-altering matter.
On each Q-pid is a physics equation engraved and once a Q-pid is connected to the Chiral Network, it seems we connect the “world” to something more than just cities, computer or beaches — but higher dimensions. How else could we transfer information through time?
The six Q-pid equations are:
- Reaction-diffusion equation, explain how chemical reactions combined with diffusion lead to transformation and spreading in space.
- Dirac equation, to predicted the existence of antimatter in quantum mechanics.
- Higgs field equation, the mechanism that gives particles their mass (in simplified form).
- Einstein field equation, to describe spacetime and gravitation.
- Quantum entanglement, the quantum state of two particles that can’t be described independently of each other.
- Schwartzschild radius, the radius to which an object has to be compressed in order to turn it into a black hole.
By completing the Chiral Network two more equations appear; the Schrödinger equation and another equation related to Lagrangian density. We now have fully “connected” the six Q-pids to a grand framework, that also connects all human Beaches with the one Beach of the “Extinction Entity”. Maybe we can see this as having connected our dimension to more dimensions, an expansion of realities or universes; hence multiverses. The Chiral Network as a system that doesn’t obey the laws of general relativity, but “transfers” information via a sub-atomic, quantum level.
This idea lies at the core of quantum physics and the basic unit of quantum information in quantum computing is called: Qupid.
While in classic computing the unit can be in a binary state of either 0 or 1, a Qupid can be in multiple states and 0 and 1 at the same time. The name “Q-pid” could therefore be a reference to the quantum unit “Qupid”, indicating the complete “Chiral Network” is something like a massive quantum computer, which again could indicate the idea of the universe being described not only by gravity and three dimensions, but higher dimensions on a quantum level.
String Theory — The Theory of Everything
One of the biggest challenges in physics is to solve this exact problem:
How to explain quantum gravity?
The two big frameworks physics relies on — general relativity, the theory which describes gravity and spacetime on an observable macro level — and quantum mechanics, the theory which describes physical phenomena on a subatomic micro level — are incompatible with each other.
Scientists searched for the missing piece that connects these two frameworks for centuries, and one attempt to solve it is string theory. In string theory, particles are not “single points” or “spheres”, but one-dimensional “strings”. In contrast to general relativity, where our universe and spacetime is defined by a 3+1 dimensional space, string theory works with higher 10 or 11 dimensions; a way of warping and transforming “spacetime” that’s difficult to imagine for our human brains.
The macro level based on general relativity:
Classic atomic model with its particles (electrons, protons, neutrons), and three-dimensional reality where gravity curves spacetime.
The micro level based on quantum mechanics:
Strings as a possible smallest unit of particles, so called quanta, and complex geometries of hidden higher dimensions within our known three spatial dimensions of spacetime, called Calabi-Yau manifolds.
For (super)string theory to work, there have to be added 6 extra dimensions to our four dimensional (3+1) reality, resulting in a total of at least 10 dimensions.
Different string theories have emerged over years and in an attempt to unify these models, another theory that connects all was invented. The approach to describe the universe and physical reality from its largest scale to its smallest — a theory of everything: The M-Theory.
The M-theory is a hypothetical theory that combines all six consistent string theories into one whole framework. Although still highly speculative, it would solve many questions and problems that neither string theories nor general relativity alone could solve.
Summary:
Let’s quickly look at the information we now have in the context of Death Stranding:
- Worlds have collapsed, a possible “warping” of dimensions
- The flow of time can change, as seen with Chiralium, the Beach, the Seam
- Different timelines overlap or seem interconnected or broken
- “Time-Travel” with the Chiral Network and cycle of rebirth
- Particle Physics describes the structure and interactions of particles
- Electromagnetic forces build bridges between particles
- The Higgs field is a “web” that permeates all spacetime
- Quantum computing uses Qupids, units that can be in multiple states at the same time
- 6 Q-pids with physics equation tied to quantum mechanics
- 6 figures (5 + 1 if we count in Sam as the sixth)
- 6 extra dimensions in the String Theory
- 6 String Theories that create the M-Theory
- 6 Realms of Existence and 6 sages in Buddhism cosmology
So, are all these little fragments of information a reference to the search of solving humanities biggest question? What is our reality and how is it constructed? How can we overcome time? Is the number 6 in Death Stranding related to the ideas of quantum mechanics? Could the 5+1 figures represent the 6 sages in Buddhism? Did we find the bridge that connects isolated puzzle pieces? A theory of everything that explains quantum gravity?
Whenever we hear that we need to “make something whole again”—to connect the Chiral Network that allows us to overcome the barriers of spacetime that connects beaches; worlds, dimensions, realities; when we surpass the concept of time or unify opposites and dualities — we vs. them, light vs. shadow, matter vs. antimatter, past vs. future — all of this could imply that what we finally “made whole” was a model of how the universe works. How we, as humans connect. Our fragmented existences and realities, unified into one whole. With the completion of these tasks, with connections of all these elements, we have built the bridge between classical physics and quantum mechanics, between individual fragments of consciousness into one whole reality.
Wholeness of Reality and Eternal Return
Whenever we die, we get reborn. When the sun sets, the night rises, and when the night leaves, the day comes back. The death of a star results in the birth of new stars and so the rise of the cosmos was created by the destruction of a previous one. Everything from life to matter and the smallest particle has always existed and will keep existing in all eternity, repeating this cycle forever.
Almost all religions and mythologies have similar ideas of a cosmic creation and the human concept of “soul”; a sense of immortality so to speak. Our body dies, but our soul persists. This means that our consciousness has existed ever since, in the same way as the universe itself, and so each individual soul or consciousness is fundamentally connected to one whole cosmic reality. An idea that is not only popular in spiritual beliefs, but also technological philosophies — think of ideas of a “super intelligence” where we could combine all our minds, all our consciousness, into “one whole”. In that sense the internet itself could be seen as one, and as some tech gurus like to ideate, a possible super computer where all the information of anyone’s individual mind combines into one gigantic consciousness.
This cyclic approach to everything and the idea of a collecive consciousness or reality — the existence of the cosmos, death and rebirth, destruction and creation—means that nothing ever is really lost. The dead are never really gone and every ending is a new beginning. With the creation of the cosmos the existence of duality began. Life and death, order and chaos, matter and antimatter. Neither of it exists in itself and all seemingly separated polarities are inseparable tied to each other. There can’t be light without shadow, nor feeling happy without knowing grief. Life has no meaning without death, and death can’t exist if there wouldn’t be a life that can end.
The idea of an ultimate utopia where everything is forever peaceful and perfect will never be. There will always be a pull and push dynamic, as these contrasts and interactions is what keeps the wheel spinning. Similar to the second law of thermodynamics, that says natural processes are irreversible and that disorder will always increase in isolated systems. And so, as order springs from chaos, creation happens in the eye of destruction. Trying to annihilate an opposing force leads to annihilation of both forces. No side can win. For one side being able to exist, the other side has to exist too.
Energy always fluctuates and once movement would stop, time would stop, exchange of energy would stop and so existence would stop. This would be our dimension zero. The state before the Big Bang. The point of non-existence.
But we don’t exist in zero dimensions, we exist in multiple dimensions. And so, the message of Death Stranding is that everything is connected. From the smallest particle (or string), to our relationships, the world and its state, as well as time. To understand, we need to connect the dots. We need time and perspective.
Trying to get rid of opposites and fighting each other to divide us is pointless. No side will ever reach the finishing line. We don’t need seperation and borders, we need connections. To achieve collective improvement means not to get rid of differences, but to embrace them and to tie strands between opposing forces. To unify them. A bridge that connects cliffs. A knot that connects ropes. Life is fragile and on a cosmic scale we might appear insignificant. But together we can overcome differences, distances and maybe even time. We’re all one whole and connected to each other. Via strands. Via time. Vie perspectives.
“Man’s general way of thinking of the totality, i.e. his general world view, is crucial for overall order of the human mind itself. If he thinks of the totality as constituted of independent fragments, then that is how his mind will tend to operate, but if he can include everything coherently and harmoniously in an overall whole that is undivided, unbroken, and without a border (for every border is a division or break) then his mind will tend to move in a similar way, and from this will flow an orderly action within the whole.” — David Bohm, theoretical physicist
