Did you know that basically everything in the universe is deterministic? It's true. Aside from quantum fluctuations and the possibility of free will, everything in the universe follows a strict set of laws that can be predicted. This means that for example if we know the initial position of a set of particles and what forces act upon them, we can perfectly predict what will happen to them. These predictions work forwards and backwards in time, meaning that we can know what happened in the past to lead to the current conditions.

Isn't that amazing? Isn't it a bit scary? I do believe in free will. I'm exercising it right now. But if the only truly unknown variables are personal choice and minute changes to the quantum states of the fabric of reality, then life becomes a gigantic Rube Goldberg machine. Think about it. Any set of conditions you can imagine can be achieved by properly setting it up. First, find a desired outcome, then work backwards to achieve it. What needs to happen for the desired outcome to become reality? How does that happen? What actions can you take in the present that will meaningfully affect the future?

It also means that the universe doesn't forget. Every action, every minute change in the state of things is forever recorded by the universe. Nothing is truly lost. If we knew the current positions and conditions of all the particles in the universe, we could discover and recreate any condition, any situation. For example, we could recreate the process of writing every book that was lost in the burning of the Library of Alexandria.

Unfortunately, to know the whole universe would require more data that can fit in the universe. Too bad, we can't really know everything there is to know. But we can get close. Every action ripples infinitely across time and space. Every breath you take changes the universe in a very small, but theoretically detectable way. The good news is, nothing is lost, not ever, not really. And the bad news is that nothing is lost, not ever, not really. So if you are still for some reason reading this, live a life that is worthy of recording in the fabric of reality for eternity.

This message is sponsored by the letter M.