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Timeless Control — LessWrong

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In Thou Art Physics, I pointed out that since you are within physics, anything you control is necessarily controlled by physics. Today we will talk about a different aspect of the confusion, the words "determined" and "control". The "Block Universe" is the classical term for the universe considered from outside Time. Even without timeless physics, Special Relativity outlaws any global space of simultaneity, which is widely believed to suggest the Block Universe—spacetime as one vast 4D block. When you take a perspective outside time, you have to be careful not to let your old, timeful intuitions run wild in the absence of their subject matter. In the Block Universe, the future is not determined before you make your choice. "Before" is a timeful word. Once you descend so far as to start talking about time, then, of course, the future comes "after" the past, not "before" it. If we're going to take a timeless perspective, then the past and the future have not always been there. The B

x Timeless Control — LessWrong Adding Up to Normality Timeless Decision Theory Timeless Physics Causality Counterfactuals Physics Personal Blog 47 Timeless Control by Eliezer Yudkowsky 7th Jun 2008 10 min read 69 47 Followup to : Timeless Physics , Timeless Causality , Thou Art Physics People hear about many-worlds , which is deterministic, or about timeless physics , and ask: If the future is determined by physics, how can anyone control it? In Thou Art Physics , I pointed out that since you are within physics, anything you control is necessarily controlled by physics. Today we will talk abou

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