A Little Story from Kajoetangan
Tauhid Nur Azhar
That Friday afternoon, the heavy rain welcomed us to Malang. I and Pak Khemal, who had just gotten off from a GoCar, ran quickly, dodging the wide puddles covered by the canopies of old shops and fancy stores along the heritage Kajoetangan pedestrian.
After looking at several coffee shops with unique and attractive designs, we decided to warm ourselves up at Padma Coffee Shop. Initially, that was the plan, but in reality, I, feeling faint due to not having eaten since Whoosh Padalarang station this morning, was drawn to window shopping at some of the stores along the street.
As a result, I couldn’t resist entering one of the eateries that offered hybrid or fusion cuisine, a blend of oriental spices with local flavors. Eventually, Pak Khemal and I entered a Javanese noodle shop. It all started when we were captivated by the live cooking attraction of the Jowo bakmi chefs skillfully cooking on a charcoal-heated wok. This attraction, besides making us amazed, also stirred up a hunger that made us feel incredibly hungry.
We entered the shop, ordered, and waited while exchanging stories and discussing plans for the next day’s activities. Soon, the rain became even heavier. The Kajoetangan area became more lively, making the guests feel as if they were taking shelter in a cozy atmosphere.
At that moment, a couple stood in front of the shop, looking at a car trying to take cover. It seemed that their child, who had just finished school, would follow them to have a meal at the noodle shop. But at that moment, there was no umbrella available.
Suddenly, I remembered that in my 40-liter green backpack, there was a free umbrella, a gift from the Directorate General of Taxes, which I brought to Malang at the last minute because of my wife’s insistence. She kept forcing me to bring the umbrella, saying, “It might come in handy.” And indeed, it was her intuition, but the black umbrella with the large golden DJP letters was the one that came to mind, bringing a sense of happiness to the small family’s faces, who were initially worried about the child getting wet in the rain.
Parallel to the story above, Pak Khemal and I were also surprised when, at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, specifically at the boarding gate of Garuda Syariah, also known as Garuda Hijau or Citilink, goodie bags were provided. These bags contained light snacks such as bread, a box of Beng-Beng chocolate, and a bottle of mineral water. Seeing the bottle, suddenly the lyrics and melody of a song that seemed to be trending on TikTok and Instagram stories came to mind, “Because of a bottle of drink… Pak Khemal walks with a limp…”
Interestingly, the bread from the low-cost airline, which I kept in my green backpack, made me start to avoid consuming too many carbohydrates to keep my body from feeling heavy, right?
It turns out, oh it turns out, there is “Love Behind a Loaf of Bread,” just like the phenomenal film by Mas Sang Panggung, which was his first work in the Nusantara cinema. Why? Because after enjoying a stay at a 5-star hotel that made some of its walls need to take 7-star medicine when paying the bill, I headed to the highlands of Bromo to enjoy the sunrise.
After performing the Subuh prayer at the BSI Penanjakan Mosque, I, who was shivering from the 11°C cold, was warmed by a glimpse of a dry, wrinkled old man with a cane. Suddenly, I remembered the Citilink bread I had tucked behind the SpongeBob-patterned collar in my bag. I offered the bread to the old man, who eagerly accepted it.
Seeing him so happy, I felt a warmth that suddenly spread through my heart, melting the cold and stiffness of that morning. It turned out that after I looked more closely, Pak Khemal was placing a cup of hot Kapal Api coffee without sugar near my chest, which looked cold. That’s where the warmth came from.
Indeed, the two events above have made me ponder more about the effects of causality or the relationship between cause and effect, which we have studied through the approach of physics, especially related to mechanical laws that strongly suggest a deterministic relationship in various phenomena.
But what about the concept of an invisible network that seems to link every event in a chain connected to each other? Yes, just like the umbrella incident in Kajoetangan. The heritage area, which must have many stories, as many historic sites as there are in the old Chinese village that has stood since the 13th century during the Singhasari era.
The village with the Namsin House, an old ruko building used as a shop and inn, the Jengki House with its Indonesian-European hybrid architecture, the 1870 House, the oldest surviving house in Kajoetangan which is now a museum, then the Cerobong House with its tall chimney, and the Ningrat House, a small Javanese-style house, as well as the Krempyeng Market, a traditional market selling various goods and food. And of course, there is the underground tunnel that connects the Kajoetangan area with the Stasiun Kota Baru Malang area.
I, who had just returned from Bromo, had a discussion with Pak Khemal in the hotel dining room, which had specially served Rawon fried rice along with its famous side dishes. We were engrossed in discussing various phenomena of the universe. Including the issue of causality, which had become my experiential learning material yesterday. So many whys came out and seemed to jump from my mind to the plate filled with pieces of beef and tender meat. I thought it was bean sprouts or something, but it turned out to be the crystallization of my doubts, which fell perfectly on the plate filled with delicious food that is now being enjoyed.
My thoughts were filled with a sense of hunger, accompanied by a series of questions. Is there a mechanism that connects one event to another in this universe? Between one material entity and another? One energy flow with another? One electromagnetic field consisting of vector fields; electric and magnetic, with another electromagnetic field? Or in a social context, the connection between humans and other humans in matters of love, culture, or managing needs together. Is there a mechanism? Is it the concept of memes proposed by Richard Dawkins in his book “The Selfish Gene,” defined as a unit of cultural transmission and imitation that spreads from one person to another?
In modern physics, the notion of causality and associative networking at the elementary level focuses on how every particle, force, and phenomenon interact within the structure of the universe. Theoretical physicists refer to it as causality within a quantum network, a model that emphasizes that causal connections in the universe are no longer merely linear but occur in a complex network, influencing the entire physical system in various ways.
Causality has long been a fundamental principle of physics, from Newton’s theory of cause and effect to Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which formulates space and time as two intertwined entities in a spacetime matrix. However, with the development of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, there has been a realization that effects and interactions between particles at the subatomic level do not always conform to classical causality.
Quantum physicist John Bell, through Bell’s Theorem, showed that quantum-entangled particles can interact instantaneously, regardless of distance, raising questions about the limits of causality itself. According to Bell, the universe is not just a chain of cause and effect but also a non-local network intrinsically interconnected.
Meanwhile, in the realm of particle physics, associative networking at the elementary level is seen as playing a role in understanding the interconnections between particles and force fields. Physicists like David Bohm view this phenomenon as evidence of an implicit order in the universe, a hidden pattern that governs interactions at the particle level. “Particles are not separate entities,” Bohm asserted, “they are part of a dynamic, ever-changing, interconnected web.”
This associative networking is evident in particle-particle interactions at the fundamental level, such as quarks and leptons. In the Standard Model of particle physics, force fields (such as the electromagnetic and strong forces) form complex patterns, reinforcing the idea that each particle interaction is part of a larger network, where classical causality is often difficult to apply.
Some recent theories, such as the causal set theory developed by Rafael Sorkin, offer a radical approach to understanding causality at the fundamental level. Sorkin argues that space and time may not be continuous but are structured as discrete points in a causal graph. According to him, “each point in the causal network can be viewed as a fundamental event interconnected in the form of a graph.”
A study by Carlo Rovelli, a quantum physicist and loop quantum gravity expert, also states that spacetime itself may be a result of associations at the micro level. He suggests that quantum causality is not absolute but contextual, where interactions between entities in the universe form new patterns of association that then influence the structure of spacetime itself.
The above models of physical causality open the possibility of viewing the universe as a network with hidden causal connections. One implication is the possibility of the existence of parallel universes connected through this associative network. Theoretical physicist Lee Smolin believes that “causal connections may create branches in spacetime, forming a kind of ‘multiverse’ where one event can directly connect to different realities.”
Moreover, this approach brings hope for understanding quantum gravity and reconciling quantum mechanics with general relativity. By viewing gravity as part of an associative network involving every particle in the universe, scientists hope to formulate a Grand Unified Theory that has long been sought.
Research on associative networking and quantum causality indicates that theoretical physics continues to push the boundaries of classical limits. Scientists are now able to understand the universe as a complex network, where every particle and event is connected in a pattern that is not fully visible but has a profound influence on the overall structure of the universe. Then, what if this collection of particles is organized into a unit or entity or even Dawkins’ meme and becomes part of a biological and social system construction?
Can the effects of this physical causality serve as a basis for interconnection and interdependence in the realm of time as a medium of interaction, beyond the method of communication shrouded in cognitive aspects related to description, transliteration, and narration? Is there a mechanism similar to other methods that interconnect these elementary units or bio-social entities in a causal network that is interconnected?
To find the answers, please give me some time, and also allow me to ask questions and discuss further with the dry, wrinkled old man in front of the BSI Penanjakan Mosque. Who knows, he might have the answers we are looking for.
