Paradigm Shift, The Meek and about 5-6 others I can’t remember the titles of off the top of my head (some paused, some outright dead) would make my list
Oh great, a freestanding Class-3 Gate. A-Sig is going to bring about Case Nightmare Green at this rate, isn’t it. (Wave if you got the reference! Please! Don’t let me be the only Laundry fan reading this…)
Uh, I think a world where Case Nightmare Green had already happened probably wouldn’t exist any longer unless certain Laundry employees were very, very lucky. And they’ve just lost a major asset.
I’ve always wanted a whatnot that could get dead composers to finish their unfinished works, e.g. Mozart and his Requiem (and C Minor Mass for that matter), but this is even better. Is Mr Green, in line with his Genre Savvy comments, avoiding showing his face to the Fourth Wall in the first panel?
What I never get about these things is how they assume there are many possible futures, but not equally many possible pasts.
There are millions of possible lottery numbers you could have picked that didn’t win, and nobody remembers them, so there should be accordingly many possible pasts to chose from that led to the current present.
If there are an infinite number of futures, doesn’t that imply that there are an infinite number of pasts? If cause and effect are operative, infinite pasts must have existed to have caused those infinite futures.
Not necessarily, every moment that happens spawns an infinite number of futures, but from the individual’s perspective there is only one path that leads to his present. Look at what happened to Jonah. He always started at the exact same point, with the exact same starting parameters, but led to a seemingly infinite number of outcomes resulting from just a few minute changes along the way. See also: A Sound of Thunder.
Even Jonah remembers all the alternate paths that lead to his deaths. But more significantly, it’s entirely reasonable that timelines could merge, most likely by the rule that “a difference that makes no difference is no difference”. Consider the common case of multiple witnesses to an incident reporting it quite differently. Who’s to say they aren’t all right? But the process of their argument (or a procedure such as a trial) provides an “official story”, and their varying memories have no effect on the actual present situation.
There can still be multiple possible pasts, just not ones that lead to the present. If every moment can lead to many possible futures, but only one actually occurs, then for every moment in the past there must be roads-not-taken. The third panel seems to imply that the Second Gate continues to show those paths even when they’re no longer futures that could possibly happen.
In a cellular automaton such as Conway’s “Game of Life”, there are in fact multiple possible pasts for a given “present” state. Consider four Life universes, for instance: one where all cells are dead, one where one cell is alive, one where many cells are alive but no cells have more than one living neighbor, and one where all cells are alive. One generation into the future, all four will be identical to the first. So even in a “void” universe, the simplest possible configuration, there’s no telling what the universe’s state was even a single time-step ago.
The interesting thing is, there are some patterns with no possible pasts, patterns that cannot be generated by any possible predecessor. Such a pattern is called a Garden of Eden.
Actually, ST: Voyager wasn’t that bad, once they got rid of those damn Kazon, although the Vidiians could easily have been left on the cutting room floor. And the way the producers severely nerfed the Borg? Ugh, don’t get me started…
Okay, let’s split the difference: a world where ST:VOY actually lived up to its promise.
Pasts and futures are — not nearly as simple as we’re accustomed to thinking. They aren’t even shared by everyone who is in them. I had breakfast this morning with a person who arrived at that table by traversing a different past than I traversed to get there. Odds are that the rest of you did also (well those who ate breakfast with someone else anyway), but most of us lack the perspective to notice when it happens. And after breakfast, we got up and wandered separately into two different continuums of probability — our presents also diverge when we are experientially separate — in faith that, this evening, some threads of probability will allow our realities to temporarily reconverge with some versions of each other mostly derivative of the experience of shared realities we had in the morning.
Perspective is a real bitch. Have you ever looked up, startled and alarmed to realize you’re less than a hundred million miles from a STAR?! I mean, holy crap!
Wait, Mr. Green and Mr. Bravo? Does everyone in Anasigma use code names?
Also, I have to agree with Green here. One of the primary purposes of lackeys is as a blank sounding board. The last thing you need while organizing your ideas is someone butting in with their own.
I am curious: if the lackey had mentioned seeing a second season of Firefly instead, would it have been interpreted as a sign of good taste? Or a distressing amount of independent thought?
Ooh, can it make good odd-numbered Star Trek films?
…..actually, I’d probably use this to catch up on an infinite number of hiatus’d-forever webcomics. AND rule the world, on the side maybe.
A world where Antics, MS Paint Adventures, and Achewood are all back from hiatus would be one I’d use an interdimensional portal to get to.
Last I saw of Cheyenne Wright’s Arcane Times, Alan Arcane was being shown season two of Firefly…
The colorist for Girl Genius?
The same!
A world where Avalon and RPG World had proper endings!
Paradigm Shift, The Meek and about 5-6 others I can’t remember the titles of off the top of my head (some paused, some outright dead) would make my list
Let’s add No Rest For The Wicked, Keychain of Creation, and Wayward Sons to that list of comics I really wish were still updating.
I feel the same way about Pawn, nyao… it was just starting to get to the good part…
The Meek may be returning by the end of next year. Hopefully Interstellar Tea House will be back by then too.
Am I the only one who fondly remembers Acid Reflux?
You mean that somewhere, there’s an alternate universe where MegaTokyo actually updates on a regular schedule, nyao? >O.O<
A world where Narbonic is still running alongside Skin Horse? I’ll go!
At least we can take Goblins off the list. Lackadaisy updated yesterday, too.
Holy beep! really?
Thanks! I hadn’t checked in a while!
Oh great, a freestanding Class-3 Gate. A-Sig is going to bring about Case Nightmare Green at this rate, isn’t it. (Wave if you got the reference! Please! Don’t let me be the only Laundry fan reading this…)
I think Skin Horse works in a universe where Nightmare Green already happened.
Uh, I think a world where Case Nightmare Green had already happened probably wouldn’t exist any longer unless certain Laundry employees were very, very lucky. And they’ve just lost a major asset.
With the number of additional sentients running around in the Skin Horse universe, CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN is certainly being accelerated already…
Could be…certainly Jonas and Nera have found some very disturbing things during their “road trip.”
I’ve always wanted a whatnot that could get dead composers to finish their unfinished works, e.g. Mozart and his Requiem (and C Minor Mass for that matter), but this is even better. Is Mr Green, in line with his Genre Savvy comments, avoiding showing his face to the Fourth Wall in the first panel?
What I never get about these things is how they assume there are many possible futures, but not equally many possible pasts.
There are millions of possible lottery numbers you could have picked that didn’t win, and nobody remembers them, so there should be accordingly many possible pasts to chose from that led to the current present.
If there are an infinite number of futures, doesn’t that imply that there are an infinite number of pasts? If cause and effect are operative, infinite pasts must have existed to have caused those infinite futures.
Not necessarily, every moment that happens spawns an infinite number of futures, but from the individual’s perspective there is only one path that leads to his present. Look at what happened to Jonah. He always started at the exact same point, with the exact same starting parameters, but led to a seemingly infinite number of outcomes resulting from just a few minute changes along the way. See also: A Sound of Thunder.
The number of ‘possible’ futures (and/or pasts) is not necessarily infinite (although it may be very very large).
Even Jonah remembers all the alternate paths that lead to his deaths. But more significantly, it’s entirely reasonable that timelines could merge, most likely by the rule that “a difference that makes no difference is no difference”. Consider the common case of multiple witnesses to an incident reporting it quite differently. Who’s to say they aren’t all right? But the process of their argument (or a procedure such as a trial) provides an “official story”, and their varying memories have no effect on the actual present situation.
There can still be multiple possible pasts, just not ones that lead to the present. If every moment can lead to many possible futures, but only one actually occurs, then for every moment in the past there must be roads-not-taken. The third panel seems to imply that the Second Gate continues to show those paths even when they’re no longer futures that could possibly happen.
In a cellular automaton such as Conway’s “Game of Life”, there are in fact multiple possible pasts for a given “present” state. Consider four Life universes, for instance: one where all cells are dead, one where one cell is alive, one where many cells are alive but no cells have more than one living neighbor, and one where all cells are alive. One generation into the future, all four will be identical to the first. So even in a “void” universe, the simplest possible configuration, there’s no telling what the universe’s state was even a single time-step ago.
The interesting thing is, there are some patterns with no possible pasts, patterns that cannot be generated by any possible predecessor. Such a pattern is called a Garden of Eden.
Thank you. That is very interesting, and the kind of response I was hoping to get.
As a lackey, you _really_ don’t want to come up with any _inventive_ stuff for any miracle technology lying around the office.
Because doing that could result in extirpation… or worse, promotion.
Correction. You don’t want to come up with any inventive stuff out loud.
Among *true* Mad Scientists, that is no protection…
Let me through. I want to see the lost first season of the original “Quatermass”.
I’d go to a world where Star Trek: Voyager never existed.
Actually, ST: Voyager wasn’t that bad, once they got rid of those damn Kazon, although the Vidiians could easily have been left on the cutting room floor. And the way the producers severely nerfed the Borg? Ugh, don’t get me started…
Okay, let’s split the difference: a world where ST:VOY actually lived up to its promise.
You mean one where they actually remembered the premise, and where half the episodes couldn’t easily have happened to the Enterprise in TNG?
I wouldn’t mind seeing a sixth season of “Daria”…
Alien Fire, Replacement God, Eye of Mongombo, Lust of the Nazi Weasel Women, Stig’s Inferno….
Why, the Second Gate can even pierce the fourth wall!
And above all, Beatrix. It’s past time to acknowledge that it’s dead.
Pasts and futures are — not nearly as simple as we’re accustomed to thinking. They aren’t even shared by everyone who is in them. I had breakfast this morning with a person who arrived at that table by traversing a different past than I traversed to get there. Odds are that the rest of you did also (well those who ate breakfast with someone else anyway), but most of us lack the perspective to notice when it happens. And after breakfast, we got up and wandered separately into two different continuums of probability — our presents also diverge when we are experientially separate — in faith that, this evening, some threads of probability will allow our realities to temporarily reconverge with some versions of each other mostly derivative of the experience of shared realities we had in the morning.
Perspective is a real bitch. Have you ever looked up, startled and alarmed to realize you’re less than a hundred million miles from a STAR?! I mean, holy crap!
This strip is a tribute to my friend who was on the writing staff of “Dads.”
Cool, a world where New Coke died a well deserved death and ‘The Simpsons’ had a second season! Wait – what are YOU guys all talking about…
Wait, Mr. Green and Mr. Bravo? Does everyone in Anasigma use code names?
Also, I have to agree with Green here. One of the primary purposes of lackeys is as a blank sounding board. The last thing you need while organizing your ideas is someone butting in with their own.
You don’t need a codename to be in the shadow government, but having one is half the fun of working there.
I am curious: if the lackey had mentioned seeing a second season of Firefly instead, would it have been interpreted as a sign of good taste? Or a distressing amount of independent thought?
At least I’d have gotten the reference. I had to look up “Dads”
Clearly wasted on this guy. Any competent person would start by looking for a third season of Fawlty Towers.
I’d love to watch 17 more seasons of “Dark Matter”.
How about all the Discworld books Pterry never got to write? Sad now… 🙁
Wait. “Mr. Bravo”?
You mean it’s not a code name, his actual given name is Echo Bravo?
…Wonder if he has a brother named Johnny.