So my promised followup. In order for the world not to display absolute determinism(of the sort where you can project infinitely far ahead given sufficient computing power and knowledge of world-state), then there needs to be a point at which new information is added. Alternately, the limits on the computing power of the Source of Magic’s Precognition Engine impose a horizon on predictions. In the former case, some new information is added to the system—likely in the form of a quantum world-choice—that is sufficient to allow a prophecy to be made. In the latter case, the choice of timing is pure coincidence, which makes it very unlikely. It’s also possible that the Source simply cannot access all possible data, but only things that have explicitly been formed into conscious thoughts—not sure how accurate predictions could be without sufficient access to the physical world, but perhaps “macroscopic and consciousness” is sufficient? IDK.
In any case, “free will” is a convenient shorthand for the idea I was getting at, which people seem to have understood, but it is not strictly accurate. I think my thought process was quite fuzzy, and you’ve sharpened it significantly, for which i thank you.
It’s also possible that the Source simply cannot access all possible data, but only things that have explicitly been formed into conscious thoughts
I’d say partial Transfiguration is pretty strong evidence that the Source of Magic is paying very close attention to wizards’ conscious thoughts, whatever else its data-gathering abilities.
So my promised followup. In order for the world not to display absolute determinism(of the sort where you can project infinitely far ahead given sufficient computing power and knowledge of world-state), then there needs to be a point at which new information is added. Alternately, the limits on the computing power of the Source of Magic’s Precognition Engine impose a horizon on predictions. In the former case, some new information is added to the system—likely in the form of a quantum world-choice—that is sufficient to allow a prophecy to be made. In the latter case, the choice of timing is pure coincidence, which makes it very unlikely. It’s also possible that the Source simply cannot access all possible data, but only things that have explicitly been formed into conscious thoughts—not sure how accurate predictions could be without sufficient access to the physical world, but perhaps “macroscopic and consciousness” is sufficient? IDK.
In any case, “free will” is a convenient shorthand for the idea I was getting at, which people seem to have understood, but it is not strictly accurate. I think my thought process was quite fuzzy, and you’ve sharpened it significantly, for which i thank you.
I’d say partial Transfiguration is pretty strong evidence that the Source of Magic is paying very close attention to wizards’ conscious thoughts, whatever else its data-gathering abilities.