

Grandfather Paradox, and 23 And Me

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by Edmond, Apr 19, 2016.

  1. Edmond

    Edmond Permanon

    Mar 5, 2016
    A SciAm article exploring how the Grandfather Paradox doesn't exist in quantum mechanics, as it seems to do in our everyday deterministic world:
    Time Travel Simulation Resolves “Grandfather Paradox”

    Knowing the screwiness of quantum mechanics, and the high likelihood that things should be too screwed up for us to exist, it is always surprising to me that we have a world where we can touch things and they respond as we expect. That the laws of physics are reliable and stable. It shouldn't be this way, as far as we know. Chances are very good that things aren't this way in most of the universe and most (of the many) dimensions. We have never detected radio signals from another world, and the reason may be that we are on an oasis of certainty. How can this be? Science correspondent and physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says that there is a 50-50 chance that we are actually living in a computer simulation, being seen over by those as advanced over us as we are over chimps.

    And also a SciAm article on the company that will analyze your genome, for a small fee: (humans have 23 chromosomes)
    23andMe Is Terrifying, but Not for the Reasons the FDA Thinks

    "Sound paranoid? Consider the case of Google. (One of the founders of 23andMe, Anne Wojcicki, is presently married to Sergei Brin, the founder of Google.) When it first launched, Google billed itself as a faithful servant of the consumer, a company devoted only to building the best tool to help us satisfy our cravings for information on the web. And Google’s search engine did just that. But as we now know, the fundamental purpose of the company wasn’t to help us search, but to hoard information. Every search query entered into its computers is stored indefinitely. Joined with information gleaned from cookies that Google plants in our browsers, along with personally identifiable data that dribbles from our computer hardware and from our networks, and with the amazing volumes of information that we always seem willing to share with perfect strangers—even corporate ones—that data store has become Google’s real asset. By parceling out that information to help advertisers target you, with or without your consent, Google makes more than $10 billion every quarter."

    Told you. Remember the source; this is Scientific American we're talking about, a prestigious 150 year-old institution.

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