3LSZVJA9Mon, Jan 7, 2008 It appears to me that a machine that predicts the future wouldn't be showing us a small movie of a single event (like in the movies).
If the universe is not deterministic, many (or infinite) futures are possible at the same time and they are constantly changing, not only through our actions but through the actions of others. The hypothetical machine would have to show us a visualization of a huge number of timelines that spread from the present and keep spreading at many (or infinite) points.
Also, the hypothetical machine, doesn't need to work as a snapshot of the future that gets obsolete at the very moment it was taken. For not being a completely childish and useless invention, It should work in real time, you would see the future changing as you watch its output.
Past also changes.
The machine cannot exist, and it never could, until somebody makes it, then it always could.
Time is silly.
It appears to me that a machine that predicts the future wouldn't be showing us a small movie of a single event (like in the movies).
If the universe is not deterministic, many (or infinite) futures are possible at the same time and they are constantly changing, not only through our actions but through the actions of others. The hypothetical machine would have to show us a visualization of a huge number of timelines that spread from the present and keep spreading at many (or infinite) points.
Also, the hypothetical machine, doesn't need to work as a snapshot of the future that gets obsolete at the very moment it was taken. For not being a completely childish and useless invention, It should work in real time, you would see the future changing as you watch its output.
Past also changes.
The machine cannot exist, and it never could, until somebody makes it, then it always could.
Time is silly.