Tim Harford, the "Undercover Economist" (although personally I'm not sure publishing two best-selling books and having an FT column under your name is really being that undercover) has just posted an entry on his blog about the "Time Machiner". This is a fascinating little web application that lets you send e-mails now for delivery in the future, on any date up to 2030.
This is similar to Royal Mail's technology, which allows the delivery of today's mail in the distant future, but can't guarantee any particular day, month of year.
People often ask what effect it would have if you could receive communications from the future, but what uses could receiving a message from the past have? As Tim Harford asks (in a turn of phrase suggesting he's been spending too much time in the States) "what economically-interesting applications can y’all suggest?" Indeed, and what about scientifically-interesting applications in general?
Well I can think of a perfect use of this technology - the Prediction TesterTM. Every day, economists and other scientists make predictions about the future, covering everything from world population to GDP to climate change. The trouble is that when predictions are made that look decades into the future, it's very unlikely that the original prediction will ever be tested, since nobody will remember that it was made. This system overcomes that problem.
For example, I could closely watch Harford's blog for any rogue predictions he happens to make, and when I see them I could forward them in an e-mail to myself to be delivered when the prediction is supposed to have come to pass. When my future self gets the e-mail he can check it against the facts, and then send a quick "holomail" (or whatever we have then) to the not-so-undercover Economist, either congratulating him for putting Nostrodamus himself to shame, or berating his useless predictions.
So when you see someone make a prediction in the press that's due to come to pass in the next 22 years, head along to the TimeMachiner and send it to your future self. With this technology we could enter a brave new world of accountability! Or not.
And Harford, I'll be watching you.
http://layscience.net/trackback/114
www.futureme.org? same idea. they have been holding future emails since 2002 and some have been made public and compiled into a book you can check out. I think it came to be before Time Machiner too.
I didn't know about that, looks like a pretty cool site :) It's a shame they don't post some of the old letters online though
Martin is the editor of layscience.net.
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