James sent me an equation that purportedly unlocks the secret of the universe. He wanted to know if I could tell him if this, indeed, were true.

His question caused me to question my own suppositions on the topic of the universe’s mysteries.

1. There is no grand revelation. Poof.
2. Imaginary numbers are the grand revelation.

Think about it. If imaginary numbers (non-existent numbers) make real equations (with real numbers) work, then that means that what is unreal makes what is real possible. So it takes what does not exist to make what does exist, exist.

In other words, if there were no imagination, then reality would not exist.

So…here come the questions:

• Does this mean that we don’t exist?
• Or does it mean that we do exist, but only because of imagination, which, in essense, means we do not exist.
• Is this the grand revelation of the universe? The universe will be sucked into a black hole anyway, right? And black holes don’t exist either because what is a hole made of but nothing?

So the answer with imaginary numbers is the same as without them: The revelation is nothing. Poof.

Which brings us back to #1 above.

See why I prefer words?