Project Plutarch :: Short Stories Science Essays

Project Plutarch The chronometer superimposed over the edge of Floyd Garcia's vision displayed the year 28, A.D. This was the farthest projection yet, by nearly a thousand years, and at this temporal distance the computers were having trouble keeping up with the uncertainty calculations. This made the scene quite nauseating as Floyd adjusted the Virtual reality 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 acting as a sort physical training for the rigors of further projection. At this temporal distance the probability calculations involved with past projection were taxing even the giant hive of supercomputers which man once thought would have help to map out the cosmos, projection forward in distance rather than backwards in time. Arguably the first project, a NASA brainchild, had experienced a lot more enthusiasm in scientific circles. The new project, being independently run by a small team 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 probable models of past events, which would glean the truth from the uncertainties of the process of history, the implications would be staggering. But legitimate scientists weren't biting. Most of them claimed it was because the idea of extrapolating past events with probability mathematics didn' t offer any accuracy, or hope of verification. Floyd had conceded this point from the start. The simulation wouldn' t provide exact details, Floyd had maintained, but was convinced that for major events of global significance with a variety of well-documented viewpoints to test the projection 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 public grounds in Jerusalem was giving him the combination of motion sickness 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.