The Black Swan Branch

Beta

Music=

1. Loud Music= Michelle Branch

"A Visi-Sonor- and of a make to distill joy out of a dead man's heart."- The Mule 

(in Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Empire)

UFOtext=
Xanthia listened to the scientist-
"Everyone knows about the jump from classical computers to quantum computers. The classical computer types in only one bit of information per keystroke- either a 1 or 0 for a spin up or down. The quantum computer types in much more information per keystroke- for example, it types into a quantum spin state where one knows only the probabilty that the spin points up or down. As a result the quantum computers vastly outperform the classical computers. Today I want to talk about an even more powerful kind of computer- complex quantum net computers that might someday answer any answerable question asked of it! For example, we all know that here on the Foundation none of us knows anything to speak of about psychohistory. A few crackpots work on psychohistory and they entertain us with their drivel- but we all know that they ultimately don't have a clue! However, this new generation of quantum net computers might actually discover and develop the science of psychohistory- if we just ask it to in the right way!" And the young man made a face at his amused audience.

Xanthia stirred in his seat-
It was vital that the First Foundation remain in the dark about psychohistory. Who could say whether or not the new computers could discover psychohistory? The most brilliant psychohistorian alive- Aristarchus of Samos- repeatedly stressed the possibility of disruptive technological change that nobody could anticipate. He proved every branch on a realistic psychohistory probabilty tree carries the invisible and mysterious black swan branch- that branch which covers the possibility that something else might happen- something that nobody thought about. A simple example of the black swan branch involved a coin toss- one branch for a head, one branch for a tail and then the black swan branch- like when the coin bounces around on the table and then finally comes to rest- balanced perfectly on its edge- neither head nor tail!
"Hi- my name is Beta."
Xanthia turned in his seat to see a young student with a shiny silver pendant.

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