*UPDATE: PLEASE IGNORE THIS POST. IT WAS THE INITIAL VERSION THAT I DISCARDED BEFORE WRITING THE NEXT POST*
(Sidenote: I once wrote a blog entry called "Life is a Program" (must've been more than 2 years ago now...), and I just hope this entry does not expose the same idea. I'll figure it out as I write this now.)
I guess a good way to describe the idea is something everyone relates to: Consciousness. You're conscious, right? I assume so. I know I am, or at least it sure as heck feels like it. And as Descartes said (or at least as the popular version goes): "I think, therefore I am [conscious]". Isn't that right? I think it's right. So:
S1: I am conscious.
On the other hand, there's Physics. To start with, let's assume that classical, newtonian mechanics is true, from the tiniest to the vastest level - universally correct and valid, perfect - a system that comprises matter, energy, forces, and in which every given action determines precise reactions, where each state determines the next as commonly perceived through time. If this were true, the future of the universe could be exactly and precisely determined at every moment in the future, and nothing that were made at any point in time could "change" what would happen in the future. The entire universe, past and future, would already be perfectly determined. Change would be an illusion. Decision would be meaningless.
S2: If Classical Mechanics is true, then the future cannot be changed.
The conclusion of this last statement contradicts Doc Brown, however. That alone seriously impairs its credibility, and makes me consider about other options. Removing the assumption of the perfection of newtonian mechanics, I now summon the relatively recent theory of quantum mechanics. Now, I'm not too knowledgeable about quantum stuff, but I'm guessing that if you're reading this blog, you're not too keen on reading something too formal anyway.
So quantum mechanics is largely based, as I understand it, on the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, which states that certain pairs of physical properties, like position and momentum, cannot both be known to arbitrary precision.[1] It is not that the experimental equipment is not precise enough - the two quantities in question just are not defined at the same time by the Universe.[2] When I try to completely understand that, I go like "WHAT? ", as many others have too.
says, as I understand,
Following this assumption, we
Of course, now quantum mechanics has come and said
Now, I'm not too knowledgeable about quantum stuff, but for now, let's assume that
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