I have no idea how it happened." The second driver experienced those same seconds in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, the witness on the sidewalk heard the screech of the first car's tires and looked towards the intersection in time to see the cars collide. Experiencing normal time, the witness testifies that it was approximately 3-5 seconds between the time the tires screeched and the collision occurred. .
You may think the witness on the sidewalk correctly measured time. I propose that if time is defined as an occasion or by the manner in which it is measured, then all three participants correctly perceived time. The witness remained in linear time while the drivers experienced metaphysical time as wrinkles or bubbles in the fabric of time. It is this type of metaphysical time Goethe utilizes in Faust.
Now, imagine the driver of the second car paused after the light turned green to adjust the seat belt, change the radio station, or adjust the rearview mirror. Just as the driver begins to release the brakes, the first cars careens into the intersection and the accident is avoided. The driver of the second car remained in linear time in this scenario. However, a different decision caused time, defined as an occasion, to change and an alternative reality to the first scenario now exists. It is this version of metaphysical time Borges explores in "The Garden of Forking Paths." This concept is easier for most people to grasp. We will start here.
In "The Garden of Forking Paths", Borges sends a German spy, Dr. Yu Tsun, during World War II on a race against time to deliver a message to Berlin. The beginning of the story is fairly easy to follow. Captain Richard Madden, an Irishman who serves England by routing out spies, kills Dr. Tsun's contact. Dr. Tsun knows where England is hiding a cache of weapons and must find a way of transmitting this information to Berlin on his own. He looks up a name and address in the telephone directory and races to catch a train before Madden catches him.
