retrospec | (no subject)

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John R. Lunise
2/8 near Recolle
On the subject of horses, allow me to ask you a question: When you were a child, what was the name of the bear family who taught valuable life lessons in easily digestible books?
Chances are, you answered 'the Berenstein Bears'. And, as it happens, that is incorrect; it is the Berenstain Bears.
How can everyone misremember this? How can something so patently true turn out to be terribly false? Some people will tell you it is the 'Mandela effect', named after a shockingly large number of people believed Nelson Mandela died in prison... but simple mass misremembering is a fairly boring answer, isn't it?
Consider instead a possibility physics allows us: that infinite universes exist, that every possibility spawns a diverging universe. Consider then that these different universes must be ruled by mathematics and science, that were were able to observe them, some concrete, tangible difference must exist to distinguish them.
Consider also that the laws of physics as we know them are, in some cases, simply and utterly inoperable. The quantum scale, for example. Or a naked singularity. It is, therefore, conceivable that through some quirk of physics, some awesome miracle... we have merged or shifted into a world in which horses never existed, and chocobos always did.
Impossible, you say, and perhaps rightly so... but I have no better explanation.

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John R. Lunise I find both less distressing than the idea that we've simply shifted universes, honestly.
John R. Lunise The level of secrecy and competence it would take to make this switch and keep it secret is alarming.
John R. Lunise How do you propose to investigate?

Dante Rantanen well the first step is to figure out whatever we can about retrospec
Dante Rantanen both the network itself and the forces behind it
Dante Rantanen which is already a problem because as far as i know retrospec doesn't actually exist beyond a building with its name on it in tisse
Dante Rantanen we find out the common factor between those of us that remember horses and those who don't
Dante Rantanen (it's whether or not they have access to this network)
Dante Rantanen then find out what the common factors between all of us are
Dante Rantanen once we know that we'll be closer to figuring out why we all were "chosen" for this in the first place
Dante Rantanen which can help us figure out their endgame
Dante Rantanen simple

John R. Lunise Rather, I would suggest that your first point of order should be to in fact determine if there is a statistically significant correlation between Retrospec and this occurrence, rather than initially investigating the application.
John R. Lunise I say this because if it just a coincidence, we could be wasting a great deal of time in unfounded suspicion.
John R. Lunise (Have you, incidentally, taken statistics?)

Dante Rantanen no
Dante Rantanen this isn't a class project and i'm not interested in treating it like one
Dante Rantanen no citations no mla vs apa no footnoting
Dante Rantanen that said it's pretty easy to see the correlations if you've looked at any other posts
Dante Rantanen try dirk's post or any of the other ones around the festival
Dante Rantanen but let's look at the evidence
Dante Rantanen 1) we all mysteriously get this app installed on any piece of technology we use even if it doesn't have internet access
Dante Rantanen 1a) somehow my tablet can access this network even from airplane mode, when it shouldn't be able to connect to anything at all
Dante Rantanen 2) a couple days later horses are erased from our world entirely and anyone we talk to about it looks at you like you're crazy
Dante Rantanen 3) that same day our mysterious new app suddenly has hq set up in tisse but there are no employees to be found
Dante Rantanen 3a) the lobby's abandoned
Dante Rantanen 3b) the doors don't work and can't be unlocked no matter what you try
Dante Rantanen 3c) there's nothing behind the elevator panel so to our knowledge it doesn't even work
Dante Rantanen 3d) so it's pretty much a fake business front
Dante Rantanen and 4) the beads being thrown out from the floats are somehow stamped with retrospec's logo in spite of them not being a company with any presence save that fake building and
Dante Rantanen 4a) the beads color change like mood rings and keep reappearing on you no matter how many times you try to get rid of them
Dante Rantanen personally i'm pretty comfortable with assuming they're linked with this somehow

John R. Lunise Statistical significance exists for a reason, and that reason is patent here: you cannot conceivably poll everyone else in the world to determine if they remember horses.
John R. Lunise Instead, you can determine if the number of people you poll, on and off the network, has a statistically significant level of correlation to as much precision as you desire.
John R. Lunise You present an excellent empirical argument for your case, but only solid evidence actually makes it persuasive -- by your same logic, we should easily be persuaded on the basis of personal experience that the earth is flat.
John R. Lunise If you really want to investigate, you must do it properly and persuasively, or else you will find people rejecting your conclusions from the flaws in its methodology.

Dante Rantanen have you seen the people we're dealing with on this network
Dante Rantanen i don't think most of them would understand what "the flaws in its methodology" even meant
Dante Rantanen the people running this show didn't pick the brightest bunch of test subjects
Dante Rantanen "based on empirical evidence we can make the connection that only those members of the retrospect network are able to recall horses existing prior to february 3"
Dante Rantanen problem solved

John R. Lunise I will understand, and I am the one who proposed a competing explanation.

[Uuuuuugh. That's true and also incredibly inconvenient. He really doesn't want to do any legwork here. :|]

Dante Rantanen yeah but you're in the same boat
Dante Rantanen and i think you'll have more trouble finding statistical evidence for your theories
Dante Rantanen besides i'm not interested in being a scientist and getting this stuff peer-reviewed or shit
Dante Rantanen i just want to find out what's going on

Edited 2017-02-19 01:13 (UTC)

John R. Lunise You are correct: my theory is untestable, which thereby makes it only a theory.
John R. Lunise We can never know if it is true, we can only accept or reject it based on how it suits available evidence, and refine it as more comes to light.
John R. Lunise Your proposition, conversely, can be tested -- so if you truly want to find out what is going on, than either you must test it, or you must accept it as a belief rather than a truth.
John R. Lunise So I ask you: do you want an answer, or the answer?

Dante Rantanen i mean right now i'd be satisfied with AN answer so long as it made sense and explained what's going on
Dante Rantanen i can adapt to a different answer whenever proof comes up to prove the first answer wrong
Dante Rantanen that's probably not the answer you're looking for though

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Edited (ONE DAY. ONE DAY I'LL LEARN TO CLOSE HTML TAGS SOB) 2017-02-21 02:34 (UTC)

John R. Lunise To the contrary, that is the beginning of science.
John R. Lunise Although science involves testing your assumptions.

Dante Rantanen and right there's the problem
Dante Rantanen if you want to test it be my guest
Dante Rantanen right now i'm good with my empirical evidence
Dante Rantanen but who knows, maybe if strange things keep happening i'll change my mind

John R. Lunise Then I do advise caution in how you let your belief influence your behavior -- just in case.
John R. Lunise Or to put it another way: Don't get into trouble you can't get out of.

Dante Rantanen thanks for the warning but i'll be okay
Dante Rantanen i always am

[...aaaaaaaaand if he isn't then John just might get something in his inbox going "help?" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

[He remembers those days.]

John R. Lunise Then I wish you the best of luck.

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