On UAP and glitches in the matrix:
I sometimes joke that, if we ever build something like a time machine, we should go back in time and produce those phenomena as pranks on our ancestors, or to “ensure timeline integrity.” I was even considering writing an April Fool’s post on how creating a stable worldwide commitment around this “past pranks” policy (or, similarly, committing to go back in time to investigate those phenomena and “play pranks” only if no other explanation is found) would, by EDT, imply lower probabilities of scary competing explanations for unexplained phenomena—like aliens, supernatural beings or glitches in the matrix.
(another possible intervention is to write a letter to superintelligent descendants asking them to, if possible, go back in time to enforce that policy… I mean, you know how it goes)
(crap I just noticed I’m plagiarizing Interstellar!)
So it turns out that, though I find this whole subject weird and amusing, and don’t feel particularly willing to dedicate more than half an hour to it… the reasoning seems to be sound, and I can’t spot any relevant flaws. If I ever find myself having one of those experiences, I do prefer to think “I’m either hallucinating, or my grandkids are playing with the time machine again”
Actually, I am going to write someday a short post “time machine as existential risk”.
Technically, any time travel is possible only if timeline is branching, but it is ok in quantum multiverse. However, some changes in the past will be invariants: they will not change the future in the way that causes ground father paradox. Such invariants will be loopholes and have very high measure. UFO could be such invariants and this explains their strangeness: only strange thing are not changing future ti prevent their own existence.
On UAP and glitches in the matrix: I sometimes joke that, if we ever build something like a time machine, we should go back in time and produce those phenomena as pranks on our ancestors, or to “ensure timeline integrity.” I was even considering writing an April Fool’s post on how creating a stable worldwide commitment around this “past pranks” policy (or, similarly, committing to go back in time to investigate those phenomena and “play pranks” only if no other explanation is found) would, by EDT, imply lower probabilities of scary competing explanations for unexplained phenomena—like aliens, supernatural beings or glitches in the matrix. (another possible intervention is to write a letter to superintelligent descendants asking them to, if possible, go back in time to enforce that policy… I mean, you know how it goes)
(crap I just noticed I’m plagiarizing Interstellar!)
So it turns out that, though I find this whole subject weird and amusing, and don’t feel particularly willing to dedicate more than half an hour to it… the reasoning seems to be sound, and I can’t spot any relevant flaws. If I ever find myself having one of those experiences, I do prefer to think “I’m either hallucinating, or my grandkids are playing with the time machine again”
Actually, I am going to write someday a short post “time machine as existential risk”.
Technically, any time travel is possible only if timeline is branching, but it is ok in quantum multiverse. However, some changes in the past will be invariants: they will not change the future in the way that causes ground father paradox. Such invariants will be loopholes and have very high measure. UFO could be such invariants and this explains their strangeness: only strange thing are not changing future ti prevent their own existence.