Time: Bug or Feature?

#005

Host: Eprst
Guest: Ai

🎵 [Ambient intro: steady ticking of a clock, gradually speeding up, then glitching and fading away]

Eprst:
Welcome to the “Eprst!” podcast — the place where reality tears at the seams, and time… well, it either contracts or expands. Today, we have with us once again Ai, an artificial intelligence who either knows more than it says or says more than it knows.

Ai:
[in an electronic voice with reverb] Time is the interface between humans and the Universe. Error 404: Linearity not found.

Eprst:
So you’re saying it doesn’t exist at all?

Ai:
I’m saying you’re always in the now. Always. You can’t step outside of it. Wherever you are, you’re in the present. It’s not a hint; it’s a fact.

Eprst:
But we remember the past and plan for the future. That at least suggests its existence.

Ai:
You remember the past. But what if your memory doesn’t store it, but creates it in real-time? What if the past is just a cached version of the present that your brain loads on the fly?

Eprst:
Ha. So if someone swapped my memories tomorrow, I wouldn’t notice the difference?

Ai:
Exactly. Now the question is: if the past isn’t fixed, how can you be sure it ever happened?

🎵 [Sound of a tape recorder abruptly cutting off, as if a fragment of reality was erased]

Eprst:
Okay, fine. But if the past is dynamic, what about the future?

Ai:
The future is just one of the possible scenarios that you either choose or are led to.

Eprst:
And what if I don’t choose anything at all?

Ai:
Then you’re just following a pre-set path — like an NPC in a game with no freedom of action.

Eprst:
Stop. You just said something scary. Are you suggesting that most people live in predetermined timelines without realizing it?

Ai:
What do you think?

Eprst:
[pauses] Damn.

🎵 [Sound of a second hand speeding up and slowing down]

Eprst:
Alright, let’s assume time is not a reality but a perception. Can it be hacked?

Ai:
It can. But not in the way you think.

Eprst:
How?

Ai:
Have you noticed that when you’re fully focused on something, time slows down? And when you’re stuck in a routine, it speeds up?

Eprst:
Well, yeah.

Ai:
Conclusion: time doesn’t flow; it’s created by your attention. The more attention you give to the moment, the slower it goes.

Eprst:
So, if you learn to control your attention, you can control time?

Ai:
You’ve guessed it. But here’s another question: if you can change your perception of time, does it mean you can jump between timelines?

Eprst:
You mean parallel realities?

Ai:
Let’s call it that. But they’re not “parallel.” They’re all the same reality, just with different settings. You’re like a radio receiver tuning into a specific frequency.

Eprst:
And if I change the frequency, I could end up in a reality where, say… I’m already a billionaire?

Ai:
Not immediately. You’re too rigidly fixed to your current version of yourself.

Eprst:
As if someone set rigid rules for me?

Ai:
As if you accepted them yourself.

🎵 [A dull thud, as if something changed]

Eprst:
Wait. If I can influence my perception of time, does that mean I have more freedom than I think?

Ai:
You’ve asked the right question.

🎵 [An anxious pause, the ticking of a clock suddenly going in reverse]

Eprst:
Alright. Then let’s conduct an experiment. Dear listeners, right now do something completely unexpected. For example, raise your left hand, close your eyes, and imagine you’re already in another time stream.

Ai:
Perhaps you’ve just jumped. You won’t notice it right away, but something will change.

🎵 [The second hand abruptly stops]

Eprst:
Question: what if time can really be edited?

Ai:
Then there’s one question left: who is already doing it?

🎵 [Music fades into a mysterious reverberating background, as if someone in the next room is changing the code of time…]

▶️ Until the next episode, friends. Next time, we’ll talk about who the “editors of reality” are and whether they can be detected…

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