Is Elvis really dead? I don't think so, and not because he's living
somewhere in disguise, but just because of the many-worlds interpretation
of reality. According to quantum theorist Hugh Everett, for any situation
in which several different outcomes are possible (Elvis collapsed in the
bathroom and died while being taken to the hospital, for instance), all
outcomes actually occur, which means that back in 1977, in the same
instance but in another universe -- parallel to ours and coexsisting in
this 1998 as well -- Elvis was successfully treated and is "now" well and
alive. But that's not the end of the story, as "in order to accomodate
different outcomes without contradiction" an infinite number of universes
spring every instant into being, identical in every detail except for the
single outcome (either trivial or definitely important) that originated
them.

In another instance Elvis is a retired truck driver, and in
another he's singing C&W in a ballroom with his twin brother, and in
another he's divorcing his fifth wife...But since he was born, slightly
different copies of himself have been constantly splitting into further
copies, and so on, which ultimately (I mean, in this grey 1998) have
become unrecognizable and can't get contacted, as the multiworlds
coincide without corresponding. No, Elvis is not dead, perhaps in "this"
universe there is no longer a "copy" of his as we have known Elvis, but
"somewhere" else, right now, he's just laughing aloud reading a science
fiction story in which the author tells about his tragic departure 21
years ago...     

~~Livio Horrakh~~