Fate and Fiction.

This week I have been mostly thinking about the future.... and the past. And on thinking of these things I was also forced to consider thoughts about concepts of the present, fate, determinism, immutability and causality.*

In this particular blog I would like to answer some of the bigger questions out there about the universe and time. Does fate exist?... if so, can you change the future or is it as unchangeable as the past. Is time itself a human constructed concept? and does it even exist?

I was gonna give my genius spin on the subject of fate, choice and alternative realities anyway, but this week I saw the wonderful new movie by Zowie Bowie (Duncan Jones to you), Source Code. Without spoiling too much, it has Donnie Darko continually going back to 8 minutes before a train explodes. And he changes things.... He doesn't however change anything in his reality, but it's implied that every time something different happens to the original time-line, the consequences are played out in an alternative reality. I'm sure we all know how this works already; It's explained often enough in science fiction.

But is it only science fiction? Or are alternative realities actually as real as this one?

I think so. It is after all, the only way to explain away the riddle of fate and choice (which is what this blog was meant to be about in the first place).

Let's look at the alternative: A universe where multiple/infinite realities don't exist; where our reality is the only version, and there is only one sequence of history.

In such a universe, two more choices exist:

1. The future doesn't exist and is therefore changeable. The only possible version of events in our non-deterministic universe are dictated by the choices we all make. This would be the perfect scenario for the way time works, were it not for the fact that in theory, time travel backwards is possible, and in fact time travel forward is also possible. This is because time runs at different relative speeds for an object travelling at speed compared to the relative space it travels through. So in a universe where you can go forward and back in time (and potentially change things to what was going to/supposed to happen), it's possible to create a paradox. (What if Marty had actually been a bit sick, and continued to date his mum?! He'd never exist to threaten his own existence)
2. The future already exist and is therefore unchangeable. Again even if time-travel was impossible, it implies that the future is set, and nothing... nothing we do can ever change it. Personally I don't like this idea. It means that fate exists and that we're not in charge of our own destiny. Again in this version of events, if you had prior knowledge to what was going to happen, this would create a paradox.

The only way an impossible paradox is avoided is if the changes made to any time-line create an alternative reality.

But then there's the argument that if we occupy one of these infinite number of realities, and we're just one universe that happened in a specific way, then that implies that again we're fatefully destined to live out that specific version of history. Well I don't buy into this. If we are living in one of an infinite number of realities where the future already exists and only one version of events can happen, then I'm certain that the one version of events that we occupy fluctuates every time a conscious decision (or unconscious action) is made by any life-form on the planet. For every choice that is made, our universe becomes a new version of itself. Yes, we are living within a single reality amongst an infinite sea of realities. But we decide which one we're living in.

The future is not set.

*I don't know the meaning of at least one of these words.

Your Own... Personal... Robot...

(Someone to hoover your stairs. Someone who cares)

In the future we will all have our own personal robots. Fact.

It may not happen in the next 20 years, the next 100 years or even the next 1000 years, but if it can happen then it will. Eventually robots will be part of our society. This we know to be true, cos we've seen it in so many films. Ok, these are science fiction, and many of these films will often have one or all of these robotic slaves going on a human killing spree, or at all-out war with humanity. But we've got years of human/robot harmony before all that happens.
(Remember: given a long enough time period, if it can happen, it will).

In the mean time, while we're waiting for the inevitable revolution/war/Armageddon/global genocide/enslavement of humanity by our robot overlords, a question has occurred to me: If society was capable of creating enough intelligent machines to do every job that man can do, then how would that work?...

Surely we'd all be out of a job?

Well this is exactly what people thought back in the last century when factories were becoming more and more automated. Not as much man power was required and many people were out of work.

But there's always other jobs right? If every person was replaced by a robot tomorrow then you'd think that'd be terrible.... but no.

Perhaps in the short term it might be a problem on a small scale, but if a company didn't need to pay a work force then that'd be a good thing. And here's why... Here's how the future society would work (in the few years of Human/Robot bliss, before the nightmarish apocalyptic world becomes a reality) if you put me in charge:

For every robot doing a human's job in government, the government will give free food to someone. They can afford to do this cos they won't be paying an individual, and because the robot works in a farm/factory that supplies the food.

If you expand this idea, then what you have is a semi-communistic society when everyone gets a minimum wage/minimum free food hand outs. And no-one has to work if they don't want to. There will still be free enterprise, so you can still get rich if you want outside of the system, but get this: No one pays tax. Why?... Well it's the future. What does the government need money for? Your bins are collected by robots. Your power is renewable energy, everything is free as it's run and maintained by robots, who don't need paying. There will never be roadworks again. Everything that needed doing is now future-proofed, so that if ever there was an issue with something, it can be fixed, instantly, by robots. Everyone will get free hand-out/credits... unless you're actually working yourself. But the money you earn is not taxed. There is the great incentive to work, but if you want to live a life of leisure, you can. Most people won't need to retire, as they're not working, and there will be no more pension adverts on TV. Your funeral is even free, (unless of course you actually want a freelance human priest to conduct the service). Robots can do everything.

This is all the more easily integrated globally if the whole world is as one and at peace.

Have I missed anything out? Who pays for the robots?... initially the government. But once a few robots are made, these are put to good use in robot-making factories. And before you know it, you'll have 6.5 billion automated, soulless, (potential) killing machines on the planet, ready to do a bit of hard graft for humankind, so that I can put my feet up, watch some TV and perhaps spend some more of my infinite free time painting, without worrying about where my next semi-communistic, government-issue, robot-prepared ready meal is coming from. Is that too much to ask?

 

The Hoverboard

I came up with a (very) rough plan for this a few years ago, and recently a friend of mine (Hello Liz! *waves*) reminded me of this genius idea.

While the means of hover/propulsion have changed in my head several times and this is still very much a work in progress, I figured it was time to state on these pages how a Hoverboard might actually work. ... after all, it's 2011 already that gives us less than 4 years to come up with the goods.

I assume that hover-boards work using the same technology that let cars fly (again, only 4 years to go... come on people!) But I'm sure a flying skateboard is easier to design than a flying Delorean.

So what lifts it off the ground? ...First I thought how about jets of air? … This would basically make it a mini hovercraft but without the skirt. (which really wouldn't make it very effective or stable.)

Ok...Plan 2. How about magnetism? On the base of the board are powerful electro-magnets. This makes more sense to me. It would require there to be a similar magnetic force on/under the ground to that the board is repelled from the earth. The power of the boards electro-magnets can be turned on or off instantly, and perhaps there are sensors on the top of the board so that it knows how heavy the user is (like electronic scales), and therefore adjusts the power of the magnets accordingly... Or maybe even simpler, there are detectors on the underside of the board that tell it how far it is from the ground when it's switched on (these can be lasers or an infra-red beam reflected back to the board) so that the power is automatically adjusted to keep the board a set distance from the ground, regardless of it's user. The magnets would have to be directioned at all angles including up, otherwise the board would instantly flip over as soon as you turn it on.

I've probably not thought of everything, but I'm pretty sure that it would definitely work. The only problem being that it requires polarised magnets under the floor everywhere that you want to hoverboard.... That and the small probability that the invention will turn out to be a death trap.... but hey, let's deal with one problem at a time.

Does anyone think the idea's developed enough yet to sell to Mattel?

Deloreans & Brundle-Pods

Some science fiction concepts are impossible... I used to believe Time Travel to be one of these things.  ...I think it's impossible to travel back in time at least. It's been proven perfectly possible to travel forward in time at a relatively different speed though.

The other day I was being quite lazy and was wishing for the invention of teleportation. Then I tried to think of how it would be possible. I think it is in theory. Scientist believe that wormholes exist in the universe but have yet to find any. A wormhole is a hole in space-time that would allow you to go from one place in the universe to another. If that's possible then surely it'd be possible to invent something to manipulate the edge of these wormholes, to change their size or to subtly alter their location... Then if that were possible then the technology wouldn't be too far away to create wormholes in the first place. This is how a teleporter would work.

Now I'm thinking that if you can create a wormhole in space-time then you could choose to manipulate it so that time is different at one end of the hole. Thus it actually is possible to travel back in time. However it would still be impossible to travel back to a time before the wormhole manipulator is invented. This explains the lack of any future tourists here now.

The Space Lift & Lunar Aqua Park!

Here's a couple of genius ideas I had at the same time. They're a good example of ideas that might sit at either end of the actual genius spectrum.

A Lift Into Space!

Possibly not to scale.

In 2002 I came up with a genius idea of an easier way to get people into space. A lift, that would climb up a really strong cable to a geo-stationary satellite. Then once they're up there, they people can get into their spaceships that are conveniently parked in orbit. Thus saving on all that oh-so-expensive rocket fuel. Oh how my colleagues laughed.
But then, around 2 years later I read in the Metro that this was exactly what scientists were working on. Had NASA stolen my idea?  ....well no. A quick shufty on wikipedia tells me that the idea had been around for over 100 years.
Great minds, eh? This has to be my first proven genius idea. (and it surely is a genius idea - NASA's spent millions on the research already).

The 22-year-old me was so smart. I remember that day, I was on a roll. Later that afternoon I also came up with...


The Lunar Aqua-Park!

I also told my colleagues about this one. Genius it is... and before I explain it to you, please bear in mind that this can be done, but only in the far distant future... and by a company/person with extreme wealth and little consideration for the future of life on our planet.
The concept is a simple one: A water park on the moon. Can you imagine it?  ...You'd have loads of water slides, shoots and swimming pools. All housed in some giant geodesic domes. It'd be like CentreParks in space. But of course, the difference being there is much less gravity on the moon. It'd be awesome.

Now here's the genius bit. ('What Jon? Was that not the genius bit already.... the general concept?' .... Well yeah, but it gets better.) One of the attractions in this park is a ride that tunnels through the ground right through to the centre of the moon  ...and there would be a giant cavern carved out, and about 4 swimming pools worth of water dumped in there.  The water would all float like a liquid sphere in the centre of the moon and people would dive in from all angles. I call it The Lunaquasphere™. How cool would that be in the centre?... swimming about with every direction being up. And also, because there's less gravity, you could dive in from much higher and not hurt yourself. Brilliant eh?  ... Nothing can go wrong. Although, like I say, I've not really looked into the earthly repercussions of having a big hole into the centre of the Moon. If the Moon lost some of it's mass, it may actually affect the Earth's tidal patterns, seasons, the Moon's orbit round the Earth, and possibly even the Earth's orbit around the sun. It would certainly jeopardise the future of life on Earth...  Still, imagine all the fun you could have in a Lunaquasphere™.