alternate reality
Another possible world
An alternate reality is a hypothetical world different from our own, where events unfolded otherwise or physical laws work differently.
Science fiction explores alternate realities where the Nazis won World War II or dinosaurs never went extinct.
The term also describes immersive fictional experiences: alternate reality games blur the line between fiction and real life.
More loosely, someone living in an alternate reality holds beliefs dramatically at odds with consensus: He thinks the election was stolen—he's living in an alternate reality.
- multiverseHypothetical set of universes
- parallel universeHypothetical coexisting separate reality
- mirror worldReality reflecting ours inversely
- counterfactualContrary-to-fact supposition
- butterfly effectSmall inputs, disproportionate results
utopia · lucid dreaming · simulation theory · red pill · portal · rabbit hole · through the looking glass · fantasy realm · speculative fiction · mental simulation · retcon · quantum mechanics · escapism · hallucination · false memory · sliding doors · Philip K. Dick · imagination
- Alternate Historyalternate history, alternate timeline, alternate timelines, alternate world, counterfactual
- franchisesfranchise, Star Wars, franchising, franchises, franchisor
- realmsrealm, kingdom, domain, Heaven, Hades
- unreal thingsillusion, delusion, fantasy, fiction, imaginary
- worldsearth, planet, realm, kingdom, dimension
- fantasiesdaydream, fantasy, dream, wishful thinking, illusion
alternate realityreality
What actually exists
objective reality · lived experience · waking life · the facts · physical reality