Limited Memory Consciousness Retrogression in Branching Timelines

This article formulates a speculative model in which a transfer of selected autobiographical information from an older individual to a younger counterpart opens a new history while preserving the source history. The motivating case is a transfer from age 43 to age 16. Ordinary events do not generate additional histories in this model. A rooted tree indexes transfer events, and a directed acyclic graph represents causal dependencies across branch-specific events. Under explicit restrictions on cross-history influence, the construction excludes causal cycles and source-erasing interventions; these are conditional mathematical properties, not evidence that retrogression is physically possible. A finite-message encoder and an age-dependent reception channel distinguish transmission, integration, retention, and retrieval. A conditional mutual-information bound quantifies newly available memory under stipulated classical channel assumptions. Counterexamples show that branching alone does not entail unpredictable outcomes, developmental limitations do not establish a numerical loss rate in infancy, and a fixed lifespan ceiling in each history does not bound cumulative experience across repeated transfers. A return-age optimization illustrates a possible tradeoff without identifying a scientifically optimal age. The contribution is a transparent combination of assumptions and their limitations, rather than a new physical law or an established account of consciousness. No physical transfer mechanism, empirical confirmation, or claim of priority is offered. 中文摘要 本文提出一种思辨性概念模型:个体将可选择的有限记忆传递给较年轻的自身对应者时,才开启一条新历史,原历史不被改写。以43岁回溯至16岁为例,用根树索引分支,并以有向无环图描述跨分支因果关系。在禁止返回既有分支及反馈影响的条件下,可排除来源被抹除的因果矛盾;这只是条件性数学性质,不证明时间回溯在物理上可行。模型区分记忆传输、整合、保留与调用,并以条件互信息限制新增的可用信息。反例表明:分支本身不保证未来不可预测;婴儿记忆研究不能给出成人记忆回传后的丢失比例;各分支寿命上限固定也不能限制多次回溯的累计经历。最佳返回年龄取决于额外假设,不能据此认定16岁最优。本文旨在明确记录作者的规则组合及其边界,不将其宣称为新物理定律、意识理论或已经验证的科学发现。 Conceptual research article. Not externally peer reviewed.

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Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2026-10-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23459605
Primary Topic
Philosophy and Theoretical Science
Type
preprint
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preprint

Limited Memory Consciousness Retrogression in Branching Timelines

Shaobin Zhang
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Philosophy and Theoretical Science
preprint

Limited Memory Consciousness Retrogression in Branching Timelines

Shaobin Zhang
preprint en

Abstract

This article formulates a speculative model in which a transfer of selected autobiographical information from an older individual to a younger counterpart opens a new history while preserving the source history. The motivating case is a transfer from age 43 to age 16. Ordinary events do not generate additional histories in this model. A rooted tree indexes transfer events, and a directed acyclic graph represents causal dependencies across branch-specific events. Under explicit restrictions on cross-history influence, the construction excludes causal cycles and source-erasing interventions; these are conditional mathematical properties, not evidence that retrogression is physically possible. A finite-message encoder and an age-dependent reception channel distinguish transmission, integration, retention, and retrieval. A conditional mutual-information bound quantifies newly available memory under stipulated classical channel assumptions. Counterexamples show that branching alone does not entail unpredictable outcomes, developmental limitations do not establish a numerical loss rate in infancy, and a fixed lifespan ceiling in each history does not bound cumulative experience across repeated transfers. A return-age optimization illustrates a possible tradeoff without identifying a scientifically optimal age. The contribution is a transparent combination of assumptions and their limitations, rather than a new physical law or an established account of consciousness. No physical transfer mechanism, empirical confirmation, or claim of priority is offered. 中文摘要 本文提出一种思辨性概念模型:个体将可选择的有限记忆传递给较年轻的自身对应者时,才开启一条新历史,原历史不被改写。以43岁回溯至16岁为例,用根树索引分支,并以有向无环图描述跨分支因果关系。在禁止返回既有分支及反馈影响的条件下,可排除来源被抹除的因果矛盾;这只是条件性数学性质,不证明时间回溯在物理上可行。模型区分记忆传输、整合、保留与调用,并以条件互信息限制新增的可用信息。反例表明:分支本身不保证未来不可预测;婴儿记忆研究不能给出成人记忆回传后的丢失比例;各分支寿命上限固定也不能限制多次回溯的累计经历。最佳返回年龄取决于额外假设,不能据此认定16岁最优。本文旨在明确记录作者的规则组合及其边界,不将其宣称为新物理定律、意识理论或已经验证的科学发现。 Conceptual research article. Not externally peer reviewed.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Philosophy and Theoretical Science
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