Strange story ideas.
In the real world, we remember the past as a straight line. No matter how many events were possible, only one set of events brought us to where we are right now. It is the future which is hazy: we haven't been to the future, so all we have are possibilities.
In the digital world, it is the future that is a straight line. Since one state proceeds from the previous, there is only one possible outcome. It is the past that is hazy: for a given moment, there is a collection of valid previous states, and for each moment backward in time, that collection explodes, exponentially, creating a vast and diffuse cloud of realities, all of which lead to now, and its determined, linear future.
I can't help but think this leads to a Greg Eganesque story in which an automata character can have hope, dreams, plans, and even sentience only if it's moving backward in time...
In the digital world, it is the future that is a straight line. Since one state proceeds from the previous, there is only one possible outcome. It is the past that is hazy: for a given moment, there is a collection of valid previous states, and for each moment backward in time, that collection explodes, exponentially, creating a vast and diffuse cloud of realities, all of which lead to now, and its determined, linear future.
I can't help but think this leads to a Greg Eganesque story in which an automata character can have hope, dreams, plans, and even sentience only if it's moving backward in time...