Wednesday 12 December 2018

Imperfect Prolepsis

Poul Anderson's Time Patrollers know that World War II happened or will happen but cannot prevent it. Julian May's Atoning Unifex knows that the Metapsychic Rebellion will happen but cannot prevent it. However, the Patrollers, led by the Danellians based a million years hence, know the long term consequences and outcomes of WWII whereas Unifex lacks equivalent knowledge about the Rebellion because the leader of the defeated Rebellion will flee into Pliocene Exile and, five million years later, has become Unifex.

Thus, we see a definite limit to Unifex's knowledge. However, all knowledge is limited. We do not know the limits of the Danellians' knowledge.

Apparently, Godel somehow proved that omniscience is impossible. Here is my attempt at a proof:

if everything were known, then nothing would be unknown;

if nothing were unknown, then nothing would be future;

if nothing were future, then everything would be either past or present;

if everything were either past or present, then, at the next moment, everything would be past;

if everything were past, then everyone would be dead;

if everyone were dead, then nothing would be known;

therefore, if everything were known, then nothing would be known.

Reductio ad absurdum

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I was puzzled by what you said about Atoning Unifex. Surely Marc Remillard, the leader of the Metapsychic Rebellion, knew of the events of that revolt as he fled into the Pliocene Era and would remember them as the eons passed and he became Atoning Unifex? So I'm not sure what exactly were the limits to his knowledge prior to the end of the Galactic Milieu books.

Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
Mark left immediately at the end of the Rebellion. He did not know whether its consequences included the dissolution of the Milieu. Unifex says this.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Oh, dang! That's what I get for depending on my memory alone on this point. I had completely how Marc/Atoning Unifex was not sure of the consequences of the Rebellion.

Sean