Re: Time Machines, FTL, and P=NP

Crown-Horned Snorkack <chornedsnorkack@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> If you can get yourself in the time-travel loop (and why not?) then you
>> can do things like brute-force keyless entry locks. Have the machine
>> generate a number, you try it, you tell the machine if it worked, and
if
>> it didn't it sends the result back in time to try again. To the user
this
>> will look like the machine just magically comes up with the right
number.
>>
> Apply it this way: go burgling, and report your time machine the code
> not as soon as the key opens, but after you have escaped and not been
> caught at all.
> 
> Of course, this runs into the problems if the guards are smart enough
> to seize your time machine when catching you, and tell the time
> machine that you were not caught...

Right, I was trying to steer clear of that. I had thought of an even more 
dangerous variant: have the machine generate routes to work (or any other 
destination) along which you drive at top speed. When you arrive, you 
report back and it knows how long it took. If you don't report back within

a reasonable amount of time, it assumes you died or got arrested and tries

something else. But if the machine were to malfunction in a timeline where

you died, that would be somewhat unfortunate.

>> Apply this to the stock market... have the machine generate a stock
symbol
>> as the market opens. You buy, then sell at the end of the day and tell
the
>> machine how much money you now have. It runs through them all and
settles
>> on the one which gives the greatest return. To the user, it looks like
the
>> machine just magically generates an awesome stock pick every day.
>>
>> Having some more fun, imagine picking up women in a bar. Give the
machine
>> a list of women, and a database of pick-up lines. It feeds you one, and
>> you report back how well it worked. This will look like the machine
>> automatically points you to a woman and gives you a pick-up line which
>> will sweep her off her feet.
>>
> This one is a harder task.
> 
> The answer not yes/no (like testing a key) nor a number which can be
> compared with stored largest number. The answer is your subjective
> impression.

I see no reason why this couldn't work anyway.

For the simplest solution, just rate your experience on a scale from 1 to 
10. The machine picks the one with the highest score, based on your own 
subjective decision.

You can go even better, though. After each try, make a recording of 
yourself describing the experience. The machine keeps track of the 
recording you rate as being the best. Each time, you compare your 
experience with the "best" recording, and tell it which one you prefer.

You could even video the whole thing. Your dates may not all appreciate 
this, but what the heck, you have a magic machine which will help you find

the perfect woman who *will* let you do it.

Let anyone think I'm a fantisizing womanizer, you can apply this to almost

any field of human endeavour. In the glider community there's a lot of 
talk about thermal detectors. Well here's a perfect thermal detector: 
every time you wonder which direction to go, push a button and follow the 
magic box and you're guaranteed to have the best possible flight. Any 
pilot should know that this is a much more important application than 
easily picking up women....

-- 
Michael Ash
Rogue Amoeba Software