Most recent edit on 2008-06-11 15:04:23 by GregEhmka

Additions:
Master Game Articles

---

Oldest known version of this page was edited on 2008-06-11 15:02:43 by GregEhmka []
Let us say that you are walking into a magic restaurant. Here past and future merge together. Just to make it simple let’s say that the restaurant only serves beef, chicken or pizza.

So you are walking in the door alone and you are thinking “Will I have beef, chicken or pizza?” As you walk in the door you look over and see yourself walking OUT the door and realize that the future is there with you about an hour and a half later in the form of you walking out of the restaurant AFTER having had dinner.

So you as you pass yourself, you now going in and you an hour and a half later going out, you decide to ask your future self, “Hey did I eat the beef, chicken or pizza? Your future self says “Well, You didn’t order yet.” And you say “Well, yes but you are done with eating and so you must know What I/we ate?

Your future self smiles and says well if you didn’t order yet then how can I know?

So you are a little perplexed but just nod and walk in.

Then as you walk up to a table and start to sit down you look over and there is your future self just getting up to leave. You think how can that be? He just left but then you realize that as you move forward in time he moves backward and you wonder “will we meet at the time that I decide to order from the menu?”

He says to you “The meal was great!” And you take the chance “Good , was it the beef, chicken or pizza?” He says well you didn’t order yet. And you say but you just ate!


He also asks you, …or rather says to you… “Nice surprise meeting you at the front door. And you say but that hasn’t happened for you yet, how do you know? And he says well YOU just had the talk so of course I know.

He then says good by and walks away toward the front door. And you look over and see him walking out the front door and see yourself walking IN the front door and then they have the conversation that you had at the front door.

Wondering just how strange this will get you pick up the menu.
There it is as expected, beef, chicken or pizza.

You look across the table and there you are with an empty pizza dish in front of you. And you think, did I eat the pizza ? But I haven’t ordered yet?

You risk another question to your future self, although at this point your future self is less then an hour in the future, maybe only half an hour. You ask him “how was dinner?” And he says “the pizza was great!” And you say but I didn’t order yet.

Just then the server asks for your order and you say pizza please. And you future self says …see you just ordered the pizza.

“But, wait.” you say. You had the empty pizza dish BEFORE I ordered. And he says , “Well how could that happen? I would only have a pizza dish if you ordered pizza.”

And then you look to the right and there you are just sitting down to dinner talking to yourself just getting up and the two of you are having the conversation that we just wrote down.

The pizza arrives and you pick up a slice and look at your future self who just finished eating that same slice.

You ask you future self (now maybe only 10 minutes ahead of you) how was the slice of pizza? He says “great but I don’t know if I can eat the other five slices …I’m getting full already.

That shocks you and you say “but look over there ..there is an empty pizza dish in front of you. And he says well yea but look right in front of YOU. There are six slices of pizza. One in your hand and five on the plate! Will you eat all of them?

You think well I don’t really know. You say to him “But you ate all of them.”
And says “huh? I still have five slices left on my plate.

So now you think back to when you originally walked in the front door when you asked will I have the beef, chicken or pizza? And you see that the question has become “How may slices will I eat?

Just now, I have six and he has five.

So you take a few bites of pizza and look over and your future self now has just a few bites left on the slice. So with that, you see that you ate a few bites and he has left a few bites and then you realize that you are both eating the SAME BITE!

He looks at you and says “How’s the pizza?”
And you say “Well, well the cheeze, sauce and pepperoni are good but the crust is a little heavier then I like it.
He says “Yes, I ate the cheese and pepperoni and sauce first and I’m getting ready to eat this piece of crust.

You look down and see that the piece of crust in your hand while you much on the cheese, sauced and pepperoni…

You think, well the crust is not so great I wonder if I will eat it but that reminds you to look over and see if you ate it and he still has that piece of crust uneaten.

You ask him, will I eat this piece of crust?
He says “I don’t know.”

As you put the piece of crust in your mouth you see that he is swallowing it. But, you think, I could spit it out. And you see that he too still has the crust in his mouth.

Did I eat or spit? You wonder. He can’t provide any new information since he still has it in his mouth also. So you start to taste the piece of crust.

Do I like it enough to swallow it or not enough and to spit it out?

So as you taste it, You wonder does it taste good or not good?

Tasty? Or not tasty?

And you think, “Well, do I like it?” If it is tasty then I like it and if it isn’t tasty then I don’t like it.

Just then you hear someone at another table say, “Wow, the crust is really good on this pizza!” And you think, well, he likes it. Do I like it?

So you have the bite in your mouth asking “will I swallow it or not?” and you look over and future self DOES NOT have it in his mouth but did he swallow it or is it hidden in his napkin?

Just then you swallow, maybe more from nervousness, and the bite is gone. You are asking will I take another bite and then cheese first or crust first? You look over at future self again and they are both missing. So you ask did you eat the cheese first or the crust first.?

He says to you. “Well, what do you want/”

I say cheese and the crust appears on his plate. But both the cheese and crust are still on mine. I have cheese and crust, he has only crust. Where did his cheese go? Did I eat it? Or did it fall on the floor?
I ask him where is the cheese?
And he says “Yes.”

I put my fork into the cheese and as I raise it to my mouth I almost drop it! He has no cheese, did I eat it or drop it?

I get so nervous that I drop the fork and cheese on the floor. The server kindly immediately hands me a fresh fork and scoops up the fallen one and is gone.



Future self (now a matter of seconds in the future) says to me, “Well, yes, the cheese went first. On to the crust?” And smiles.

And now, of course, the crust is gone from his plate but still on mine. Did I drop that too? Or eat it?

I reach for the glass of water to take a drink but then I look and his glass is still full. So I don’t take a drink. Now I’m really confused. Did I not take the drink because I didn’t want it anymore or did I not take the drink to conform with his still full glass?

I start to shake a little. Cheese, crust, water, what do I want?
He just smiles. and says “What would you like next?”

So I look at him. There he is a few seconds in time ahead of me. And then I look through his eyes for a few seconds and see me a few seconds behind in time.

Am I he or am I me? I think, “well, both I guess.”

I look over again and he is gone! Did I leave the restaurant already? And go out the front door and talk with myself? I decide to go to the bar and have a shot of tequila to calm down.

At the bar I look over and there is future self talking with a very nice looking girl. She looks at me, smiles and says “hi greg, my name is marilyn.”
I think , how did she know my name/ But of course it is obvious. Future self just told her. But if future just told her then he has become past self!

So we have a wonderful talk and she invites me to her place and also offers to drive. Her car is out back and so we leave together though the back door.

Future self is now in the back seat, I’m in front and she is driving. I ask him very quietly, what about the conversation at the front door of the restaurant? He says what about it?
I say “Did it happen?
He says do mean “Did it happen? Is it happening? Or will it happen?

Well, I say, “I guess they are all possible and could be true.
He says “Yes.”

So I again look at him looking at me and her.
I reach over to put my arm around her and notice we are in the back seat with a chauffeur driving and future self is in the front seat next to him. Or is that me, past self in the front seat after she asked the valet to drive home and got in the back seat…?

Marilyn has the suggestion, “Hey, let’s stop by the casino on the way to my place and play a little roulette.” The valet says that he gets paid by the hour so fine for him. We all agree and drive to the casino.

The valet is playing slots and I seem to be back in past self and am sitting with Marilyn at the roulette table, Future self is standing next to me.
I ask him, “Hey red or black?
He says “Well, cheese or crust?” And I start to feel funny again.

I try to see if he is holding more chips then me so at least I can feel good about having won but he has his hands in his pockets. And I think , well, yeah that’s what I do all of the time.

So past self asks will I have won? Future asks “Did we win?” Now I’m starting to think that the roulette wheel even looks like a pizza.

I also start to think “Are we BOTH going to make love with Marilyn at the same time?”

So I check in a little with Marilyn and ask her, Marilyn is there one greg here or two.. or more??
She says well, if you mean your future and your past self , sure, he, or they, are standing next to mine.

I’m relieved. At least there are enough partners to go around.

So will red win or black? Future self smiles and says yes, what do you want?

I’m astonished and think If I say I want red to win then will red win? Future self starts laughing. I ask him did we win? He asks me did we win?

I say “But you’re in the future and I’m in the past!”
And he says. Well, which is which and are you going to make a bet?

Do I GUESS whether red or black wins or do I SAY whether red or black wins?

He says how will you find out without betting?
I say “Do we know already?”
He says “Are you a winner or a loser?”
“Do you mean in the past or in the future?”
He says. “Yes.”.

Then he also says, “If you call yourself a winner or a loser to which are you referring? To the bet you are going to make, ahem if you will get on with it, or to the bet you last made?

And don’t forget, there are both of us , at least, and so are we winners or are we losers?
I say “We are winners!”
He says “Good, what number came up?”
I say “Well I didn’t bet yet.”
He says “Yes, I know….(and almost yawns).”

He goes on “Well you said we are winners and so I asked you what number came up and you say that you didn’t bet yet. So did we win last time.?

I can’t remember since it has been a while since I was in a casino, so I say “Well, no I’m saying we are winners and I haven’t bet yet.”

He says “Ok.”

I place a bet on red and another on odd. They both win.
I ask, “Did we make that happen or guess that it happened?
He says, “We are winners just as you said!”

He also then asks, “If I may ask you a question, what is it that makes this whole notion of cause and effect so important?
I have to admit that I do not know.
He says, “Well if I am here and you are there and then sometimes you are here and I am there isn’t that enough?”

I ask “Well, can we win that way?”
And he says “there you go again wanting to cause and effect.”
“But isn’t that how it works?”

“Are you causing me?” “…to effect you?”
“Well, no.”

Am I effecting you?

I have to admit that he isn’t exactly effecting me. But I don’t know what he is doing.

He says, “Well if I am not causing or effecting you and you are not causing or effecting me then how are we eating the same pizza together? and hugging Marilyn together and making the same play at roulette together?

“I don’t know.”

Are we the same person?
“Now that’s a good question?”
“If we were two different people then don’t you think we would be effecting each other?
Again I have to admit he is right.
“And if we are the same person except that I am here a few seconds ahead of you and you are there a few seconds behind me except when we switch…and we already agreed that we are NOT effecting each other….

I interrupt him and say, “Ok then you are saying that there are two of us, at least, we are doing everything together and we are not effecting each other.”
“Right, very good.”

I look over at Marilyn. She has a huge pile of chips and is smiling and betting and winning and having fun. Then I look at Marilyn’s future self and she is doing the exact same thing except her pile of chips is even bigger. Then I notice that they are just smiling at each other and playing and having lots of fun and aren’t really talking at all.

“How does THAT work?” I muse.
“There you go again.” He says.
“Uh, right.”

Then I notice that he and I are holding exactly the same amount of chips. and I notice that I am not smiling. Then I look over and he is holding MORE chips then me and I smile.

Then I stop smiling and his chips look like mine again. “Do smiles cause chips?”
This time I notice that I am causing and effecting again before he can say anything. He notices that I noticed and smiles and I smile.

“Are you ready to make another bet?”

“What is Marilyn doing that seems to work so well?”
“She’s seeing the future self that she WANTS to see?”
“And what am I doing?”
“You are seeing the future self that you EXPECT to see. Or worse….”
“Worse?”
“You are really only imagining that you see your future self.”
“Which isn’t really seeing at all.”
“Right, unfortunately. ..but let’s rather say …..not yet.”