17 Math Trouble and Dance Troupes (1/2)
”You can't make a set of rules with infinity in it.As long as there is no infinity, the universe can be simulated.”
- Doc-Danger
”From a computational standpoint, emergent complexity takes no more hardware than white noise.”
- Megacles
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3 Weeks Later
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I wake up at Candy's.I'm alone, she's out.I rustle up some breakfast.All the food is healthy, which is annoying, but it suffices to sustain life.She's offered to change my preferences in food.No thanks.
I go to her lab.It's used mostly for hypnosis, and looks like a recording studio had a baby with a bordello.I fire up her hypnoclone and overlap my lab from home.I study God Machine.I don't know if it's working.
Doc-Danger got it into space by ”using math”.Which could mean anything from home rocketry to blackmail.We've tested it with impossible questions and really hard questions.It excels at the hard questions, giving solutions instantly.It has failed to answer any impossible questions.The satellites could be too close together.It's ability to solve problems is proportional to how random a number it can generate, which is proportional to how far apart the two satellites are.It's possible that moving the satellites farther apart will allow it to answer impossible questions.It's also possible that answering impossible questions is impossible.
The satellites drifted another kilometer apart last night.I upload a suite of test questions and watch it beaver away.I like watching it work, cause i'm a colossal geek, but after 5 minutes even I get twitchy.I turn on Mr. President.
He's supposed to be meeting his economists about the jobs crisis.He's sitting in a bar.The Darkness is with him.There is a handful of security, bar staff, and drinkers present.They are going about their business quietly.It's clear Mr. President came here for some peace.
He drinks for a while, then begins to speak.
”I'm going to give the country a goal.We're drifting.I've been promising an easier life, but people need hard work.They need purpose.We're giving tax breaks to people we're losing to debt, depression, and diabetes.People need help, and they need something to do.So, fuck it, let's help each other.But, like, in an organized way.” says Mr. President.
”Communism?” asks the Darkness.
”No.A mission statement.Everybody can do whatever they want.Including work on the mission.” says Mr. President.
”What's the mission?” asks the Darkness.
”A future where everyone is powerful.Like Superman powerful.” says Mr. President.”We'll use that goal as a lodestone, and let the people science the shit out of it.”
”Sounds like nobody's getting paid?That's convenient.” says the Darkness.
”In an age of abundance, ownership is meaningless.Money less so.Pretending it isn't happening won't stop it.May as well go with it.” says Mr. President.
They drink for a bit.
”You're unusually quiet.” says Mr. President.”Hit me with the heavy stuff.”
”Arrgg.” says the Darkness.”Nothing you are saying is wrong.But…Goals don't create focus, they just change it.You'll probably get what you want, but you will pay for it.In ways you may not expect.”
”I hear that.” says Doc-Danger.
I jump.I'm shocked - Doc-Danger's here!Virtually here, but still.He has full access to my feed, one of two people who can tune in at any time.But, he has always adhered to a rigid schedule - Monday to Thursday.Never Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.He's so unexpected, it's disorientating.I actually check the date, even though I know it's Saturday.
”So, we're probably living in a hologram.” He's drunk.
”Cool.”I say, and crack a beer.
”All the information of a 3D hologram is contained in a 2D image.Using string theory you can describe the entire universe in 2 dimensions.It's increasingly likely that the universe is made only of only 2 dimensional information, and that mass, energy, and time are only useful delusions.”
”Yes, I'm familiar with the Holographic Principle.”I'm drinking fast, catching up.
”I thought if I could get to this information, I could change reality.But, now… I don't.”
He's not happy.His math is troubling him.