Where did the Interstellar wormhole come from?


Was the wormhole's appearance good fortune or was it put there on purpose? The answer may be somewhat complicated...


Interstellar is a very interesting movie. It does a good job visualizing some theoretical physics, and keeps really deep science talk mostly interesting. However, there is a major plot hole that seems to be lost in all the craziness going on in the movie.

*SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't watched the movie yet, there will be spoilers from here on out. Also, if you haven't watched the movie yet, why are you here?*

It all comes down to one question: Where did the wormhole come from?

Here is a very simple breakdown of the story:

Earth is failing. A mysterious wormhole appeared near Saturn. The wormhole leads to a few potentially habitable planets. A group of astronauts goes through the wormhole to try and find a new habitable planet. They find a few planets that won't work. Cooper falls into a black hole. Cooper communicates a gravitational equation to his daughter on Earth. The rest of the crew apparently find the New Earth (not shown in this order in the movie). Cooper is picked up by New Earthlings (will refer to them as fifth-dimension humans or 5D humans).

Most of this is easy enough to enjoy with a little suspension of reality. The ONLY points of contention I have involve how the wormhole came into existence.

Breaking it down

Ok, so check out the sketch:

Earth, where the movie starts, is blue.
New Earth, where Brand ends up, is green.
The wormhole they used to travel interstellar...ly is red.
It's all labeled, why am I explaining this...

So, I don't believe it is actually said, but it is heavily implied that it was 5D humans who created the wormhole to save humanity. Some of this is left up to the imagination, but follow the orange numbers:

1) Earth is trying to find a new, habitable planet. They found a wormhole that mysteriously opened up. They did not have the technology to create wormholes, but they did have the technology to travel through them.

2) Enter wormhole and shake hands with Cooper

3) Too much water

4) Too much ice

5) Cooper falls into a black hole while saving the rest of the crew. This is where he finds the tesseract (the "room" where he is able to interact with his daughter). Again, I don't think it's actually talked about, but this is akin to the 5th dimension (Neil DeGrasse Tyson has a video that explains this concept). This allowed him to communicate with his daughter, past and present, back on Earth.

6) The rest of the crew reach New Earth and start a colony (you see this at the end of the movie)

7) This is the implied part: humans figure out the 5th dimension. This allows them to create the tesseract, wormholes, and new, crazy colonies. If you look back at the diagram, though, there is no direct path from step 1 to step 6. Step 6 is necessary for step 7, and step 7 is necessary for every step past 1. How can you get to step 2 without already completing step 7?

Now let's take some liberties...

These are things that are hinted at, assumed, or shown in the movie:

1) Humans created the wormhole
2) Humans found a new, habitable planet
3) Humans gained the ability to access the 5th dimension

Human timeline

Humans on the original Earth had no way to create a wormhole. After the group successfully found a New Earth by traveling through the wormhole, they started a colony. Those humans on New Earth eventually figured out the gravitational equation and how to access the 5th dimension. The 5D humans created the wormhole for the original Earth and the tesseract in the black hole for Cooper to use.

Cooper's timeline

Cooper got messages (along with his daughter) to find NASA and go on the mission. During the mission, he fell into the black hole/tesseract. Using this tesseract, he interacted with his past and present daughter to get him to go on the mission in the first place, and translate the gravitational equation respectively.

EVERYTHING that Cooper did that is important to the plot came AFTER he entered the wormhole. So, let's assume that once Cooper enters the wormhole, ANYTHING is possible in this movie. That just means the only thing left to prove is how the wormhole came into existence.

Wormhole or plothole?

Humans needed the wormhole in order to survive. If the wormhole did not exist, it is assumed humanity would die. Humanity used the wormhole to find New Earth. On New Earth, humans became 5D humans. 5D humans created the wormhole. Can you see the problem?

Without the wormhole, humanity dies, and they do not become 5D humans. They can ONLY become 5D humans by entering the wormhole, and the wormhole cannot exist without 5D humans.

Murphy is irrelevant

Some people might say, "well, humans figured out 5D because Cooper gave Murphy the gravity equation." But all of that happened AFTER Cooper entered the wormhole. This means that it does not explain how the wormhole came to exist. The plot hole remains.

The ability to access "all time" is irrelevant

Some people might say, "when humans accessed the 5th dimension, all time became accessible, so the constraints of 'timelines' don't matter at that point." However, without the wormhole, humanity doesn't find a new planet, and they go extinct before they are able to find the 5th dimension. The plot hole remains.

Maybe it wasn't 5D humans

To Interstellar's credit, it is only ever hinted at that humanity created the wormhole. Cooper assumes it was humanity saving itself, but it is neither confirmed nor denied by the end of the movie.

If it was 5D humans, that gave Cooper the gravity formula, don't you think they could have included the location of New Earth as well? I mean, the crew almost died multiple times on different planets. Why not just tell them what planet is the correct one? It's not even a new concept (like the formula for gravity was). We already understand the 3 dimensions and can measure by lightyears. And if they can already get a large ship and group of people to Saturn, they are much more advance than we are currently, so I think they could have understood the concept of directions. Although, a man was piloting the ship. They probably had directions, he just never asked.

If 5D humans created the wormhole, why did they have to make it so far away from Earth (it was out by Saturn)? The only explanation was that the existence of the wormhole would have negatively impacted the original Earth if it was placed too close. But if it was humanity saving humanity, why not make the gateway to New Earth more accessible?

Because it is not explicitly explained in the movie, we can make an assumption that maybe it wasn't 5D humans who created the wormhole. If the wormhole did NOT come from 5D humans, then the entire movie makes sense, and the only plot hole remaining is: where did the wormhole come from?

Think you have better answers? Let me know. After all, these are merely theories.

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