I was thinking of this myself, but only humans can be sent back in time using a time-turner. And since said humans probably also has to be magical I would guess another requirement is that they have to be scared off by the ‘Do not mess with time’ message (i.e. anyone getting that message and still trying to send a ‘0’ back in time would not be able to use the time-turner in the first place). So no ‘creating’ a human with this factoring algorithm instead of (or in addition to) a personality programmed into their brain-structure.
Harry can even do that experiment easily with our current technology, he just needs a printer and a scanner. He can even go somewhere else when he goes back in time to stop magic from messing with the computer.
The only way I can see this fail is if the time-turner either refuses to work when he tries to do this (per whatever requirements it puts on its users) or just kills him outright (given the threatening nature of ‘Do not mess with time’). So he should probably enlist someone else to take the message for him.
Either way, it would be nice to see Harry thinking of this experiment in HPMOR.
Of course, Harry doesn’t know why his experiment failed. In fact, the Do Not Mess With Time probably scared him out of trying to exploit the time travel mechanics.
That’s kinda impressive, actually—Eliezer found a way to avoid exploits that could break the system that follows naturally within the system. I doubt he’ll ruin all his hard work by having Harry figure it out, but you never know.
Ah yes, I had totally forgotten about that. It is a much better explanation than what I thought of.
It should still be possible to build a completely mechanical way of doing this. I don’t think Harry’s realized that, though.
I was thinking of this myself, but only humans can be sent back in time using a time-turner. And since said humans probably also has to be magical I would guess another requirement is that they have to be scared off by the ‘Do not mess with time’ message (i.e. anyone getting that message and still trying to send a ‘0’ back in time would not be able to use the time-turner in the first place). So no ‘creating’ a human with this factoring algorithm instead of (or in addition to) a personality programmed into their brain-structure.
I was thinking of a human taking back the message without reading it.
That is a very nice solution indeed.
Harry can even do that experiment easily with our current technology, he just needs a printer and a scanner. He can even go somewhere else when he goes back in time to stop magic from messing with the computer.
The only way I can see this fail is if the time-turner either refuses to work when he tries to do this (per whatever requirements it puts on its users) or just kills him outright (given the threatening nature of ‘Do not mess with time’). So he should probably enlist someone else to take the message for him.
Either way, it would be nice to see Harry thinking of this experiment in HPMOR.
Of course, Harry doesn’t know why his experiment failed. In fact, the Do Not Mess With Time probably scared him out of trying to exploit the time travel mechanics.
That’s kinda impressive, actually—Eliezer found a way to avoid exploits that could break the system that follows naturally within the system. I doubt he’ll ruin all his hard work by having Harry figure it out, but you never know.