Project Plutarch :: Short Stories Science Essays

Project PlutarchThe chronometer superimposed over the edge of Floyd Garcias vision displayed the family 28, A.D. This was the farthest projection yet, by nearly a thousand years, and at this temporal come forthstrip the computers were having trouble keeping up with the uncertainty calculations. This do the scene quite nauseating as Floyd adjusted the Virtual humans goggles and wiped the sweat from the place where the cushioned rim was held firmly against his cheeks by the tight elastic headband. Maybe the queasiness also had something to do with anticipation. In any case he was glad he had logged over a thousand hours on the terminal, the jerkiness of the nearer destinations in time playing as a sort physical training for the rigors of further projection. At this temporal distance the probability calculations involved with past projection were levy even the giant hive of supercomputers which man once thought would fork over help to map out the cosmos, projection forward i n distance rather than backwards in time. Arguably the first project, a NASA brainchild, had see a lot more than enthusiasm in scientific circles. The untested project, being independently run by a small group of four up and coming visionaries and funded by the University of San Juan, received a more cynical welcome. True, if mankind could use mathematical computer algorithms to construct presumptive models of past events, which would glean the truth from the uncertainties of the process of history, the implications would be staggering. But logical scientists werent biting. Most of them claimed it was because the idea of extrapolating past events with probability mathematics didn t tolerate any accuracy, or hope of verification. Floyd had conceded this point from the start. The fashion model wouldn t append exact details, Floyd had maintained, but was convinced that for major events of global significance with a variety of surface-documented viewpoints to test the pr ojection against, the simulation would be good enough. Floyd reached out with his meat arms and legs to make sure he was still well balanced and firmly strapped into his chair. The scene that now presented itself in front of the popular grounds in Jerusalem was giving him the combination of motion affection and vertigo that he had jokingly coined to be past shock. Of course, it had nothing to do with the past really but rather the way in which the simulation was forced to operate.