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In the real world, we remember the past as a straight line. No matter how many events were possible, only one set of events brought us to where we are right now. It is the future which is hazy: we haven't been to the future, so all we have are possibilities.

In the digital world, it is the future that is a straight line. Since one state proceeds from the previous, there is only one possible outcome. It is the past that is hazy: for a given moment, there is a collection of valid previous states, and for each moment backward in time, that collection explodes, exponentially, creating a vast and diffuse cloud of realities, all of which lead to now, and its determined, linear future.

I can't help but think this leads to a Greg Eganesque story in which an automata character can have hope, dreams, plans, and even sentience only if it's moving backward in time...

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Elf Sternberg

May 2025

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