russell@puff.cs.wisc.edu (Russell Perry) (03/31/88)
Here's a theory I thought might interest some of you. It is partly tongue
in cheek, and definately the product of a deranged mind (I take full
responsibility), but the it does make sense (that's what scares me!). It
came to me in my engineering circuits class.
This theory "explains" deja vu and precognition; it involves the concept of
imaginary time. The graph below will be used in the explanation.
i | _0' From the origin to point "0" is
m | /| * going forward in time; the vector
a | / : * from the origin to "0'" is the
g | / : * real time vector rotated into the
i | / : * imaginary part of time; the dotted
n | / : * line from "@" to "0'" is the shadow
a | / : * of the imaginary vector on real
r | / : * time (what we exist in).
y | / : *
a | / : * Deja vu occurs when we reach point
x | / : * "0" and for some reason (which this
i | / : * theory does not try to explain) we
s |/ : * are allowed to look along the path
|------------@----------------->0 of asterisks to "0'". We see its
real axis (time) real component of this event (at
point"@"), so it seems as though it
occured earlier in real time, and of course the farther that the vector is
rotated into imaginary time, the longer ago it will seem to have occured.
Precognition happens when we reach point"@" and are allowed to see along "@"
to "0'", the effect being that we see point "0", a future event, along the
curving path. The greater the rotation in this case, the farther in the
future the event will occur.
Another thing that may be "explained" by this theory is visions of a past life,
when the rotation goes beyond 90 degrees into negative real time (assuming the
origin is placed at time of birth), but I have not thought much about this (I
have not pondered the other three quadrants at all--ideas?).
Once again I state that this is partly humorous, and note that I used the term
"explained" loosely and with some reservations, but I am curious to hear what
everyone thinks about this exercise in imagination run wild. Hope to hear
from you all real soon.
--
********************************************************************************
Russ Perry Jr 5970 Scott St Omro WI 54963 russell@puff.cs.wisc.edu
"Feed my brain with your so called standards--who says that I ain't right"
"Shpx vg nyy naq shpxvat ab ertergf" Metallica (Escape; Damage Inc) :-)hdunne@amethyst.ma.arizona.edu (|-|ugh) (03/31/88)
The Russian mystical philospher P. D. Ouspensky came up with a somewhat
similar theory except that it involved three time dimensions in addition to
the three space dimensions. He claimed that this principle was known to the
ancients, and is what the star of David represents.
Hugh Dunne | UUCP: ..{cmcl2,ihnp4,seismo!noao}!arizona!amethyst!hdunne
Dept. of Math. | Phone: | ARPA: hdunne@amethyst.ma.arizona.edu
Univ. of Arizona | +1 602 621 4766 | Bitnet: hdunne@arizrvax
Tucson AZ 85721 | +1 602 621 6893 | Internet: hdunne@rvax.ccit.arizona.edunorden@bgsuvax.UUCP (Lee Norden) (04/01/88)
To understand deja vu, one has to grasp the true functioning of the mind. When you observe an event or situation, you record certain visual, oral, audio, etc. stimuli. Your mind automatically tries to store that event in memory for later reference. It does so by linking the observation to other observations already stored. The linking is on the basis of several (or many) indexes. That is, rather than storing all the detailed information related to an event, only key bits of information about the event are stored. Now, when enough of an event's keys match the keys of a previously stored event, the mind goes to the storage location pointed to by those index keys and finds an event already stored there. That is the same sensation we have when we remember (recall from memory) an event. Thus, this new event is perceived as an old event-- deja vu. It seems like I've posted this before, but I don't think it was April 1st then.