Chris, that possibility has been mooted several times, but no-one has ever made it work in detail, in a way that truly eliminates the mystery. For example, one might hope to show that the probability amplitude framework derives somehow from ordinary conditional probability in a temporally bidirectional framework (simultaneously conditioning upon events in the past and in the future, perhaps). But this has not been done. For a while I thought John Cramer’s transactional interpretation might have achieved this, but if you look at his technical work, he’s still employing the same sum-over-histories framework complete with complex numbers; the only difference is that he uses the time-symmetric action of Feynman and Wheeler to derive the amplitudes.
A lesser-known example is Mark Hadley, who wants to derive quantum mechanics from classical general relativity by way of microscopic closed timelike curves. He has an argument that this produces the qualitative features of quantum mechanics (such as incompatible observables) and that this in turn will necessitate the specific dynamical form of the theory. Certainly, if you imagine CTCs showing up at a constant rate per unit space-time volume, there would be scope for De Beauregard’s zigzag causality to be taking place. But I think something’s missing from Hadley’s derivation, though I’d have to revisit it to be sure.
Chris, that possibility has been mooted several times, but no-one has ever made it work in detail, in a way that truly eliminates the mystery. For example, one might hope to show that the probability amplitude framework derives somehow from ordinary conditional probability in a temporally bidirectional framework (simultaneously conditioning upon events in the past and in the future, perhaps). But this has not been done. For a while I thought John Cramer’s transactional interpretation might have achieved this, but if you look at his technical work, he’s still employing the same sum-over-histories framework complete with complex numbers; the only difference is that he uses the time-symmetric action of Feynman and Wheeler to derive the amplitudes.
A lesser-known example is Mark Hadley, who wants to derive quantum mechanics from classical general relativity by way of microscopic closed timelike curves. He has an argument that this produces the qualitative features of quantum mechanics (such as incompatible observables) and that this in turn will necessitate the specific dynamical form of the theory. Certainly, if you imagine CTCs showing up at a constant rate per unit space-time volume, there would be scope for De Beauregard’s zigzag causality to be taking place. But I think something’s missing from Hadley’s derivation, though I’d have to revisit it to be sure.