Kitty Wittgenstein and the Sinister Society of Southpaws (5.1)

CHAPTER FIVE

In which love proves fleeting, darts cause trouble and the inevitability or otherwise of the future is contemplated

5.1 Inevitability

(note: to go to the beginning of the story, go here, to see all Chapter Five posts, go here and to see all Sinister Society of Southpaws posts, go here)


Orlando and I left for LA as soon as possible. I’d been given a glimpse of the future and I didn’t like it one bit. Ongoing genetic research to wipe out lefthanders. A left-handed counterattack led by some all-seeing puppeteer wielding battle-suited warriors. My body blown into billions of tiny pieces.

None of it was to my liking.

I didn’t know if I could change the future or not. But I was determined to try. I knew the society of southpaws already existed in the present. They may have had primitive battle suits that hindered more than helped them, but they did exist.

Now I just had to see if the ‘Good Stuff’ people existed yet. Or whether their research began somewhere between now and two years hence.

Because if they hadn’t started, maybe I could stop them.

This was all getting a little Terminator-esque for my liking. With me in the role of the Terminator. I hadn’t liked the idea of a female Terminator in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. I sure didn’t like it now.

“Penny for your thoughts?” said Orlando.

“Just wishing I was less like a Terminator,” I said.

“Of course,” he said. “Penny well spent.” He sat back and put his earphones back in.

I smiled and tried to copy him. Despite the soothing sounds of the Eddie Vedder String Quartet washing over me, my brain continued to whir along.

On the positive side, the fact I’d had a couple of days’ worth of future memories shot back to overwrite a couple of days’ worth of present memories did raise some interesting philosophical questions.

For example, free will and whether or not it exists. That was a puzzle that had kept philosophers busy throughout the centuries. Naturally, I’d dabbled in it myself. Ultimately, a Newtonian deterministic universe implied that there was no such thing as free will. In theory, a sophisticated enough computer could model one’s brain perfectly, right down to neuron and synapse level, and accurately predict every single move one made. Under such a scenario, could any of us be considered capable of free will?

Of course, we think we have free will. But is that only because we’re not sophisticated enough to understand the mechanics of our brain and the basis of our reactions?

In a clockwork universe, everything is pre-ordained. We can look back and, in theory, see how everything can be explained as the inevitable, physical result of prior events. And we can, again in theory, project forward to see the inevitable future.

In such a universe, my memories of the future would do me no good. The events of the future would still unfold as I remembered. Despite knowing better, I would still follow Bruce’s advice and walk straight into the room with the bomb.

And I would still be blown to pieces and die.

In a Newtonian universe, there was no escape from my inevitable demise.

So, thank Bohr we lived in a quantum universe.

(to be continued)