Science of Minority Report

[Broohah]

I know Minority Report wasn't an alternate history movie, but it did have alternate history implications. Anyway, I've come up with a scientific explanation as to how the precognitive abilities displayed in that film could have worked. Maybe somebody could use this for an RPG or something.

In the laws of physics, there are four known fundamental forces. The four forces are: the electromagnetic force, the weak nuclear force, the strong nuclear force, and gravity. The strong nuclear force holds together positively charged protons and neutral neutrons in the nuclei of atoms. The weak nuclear force controls the radioactive decay of atoms. The other two forces can operate on larger scales. Electromagnetism attracts negatively charged electrons and positively charged protons to each other, creating atoms and molecules and so all matter. Gravity governs all matter, drawing it together, creating the structure of every star system and the universe.

There also exist a fifth force, a quantum potential force field that pervades all space. This force acts on us at all times. It acts on every particle in every atom in our bodies. And on every particle in every atom in everything else in the universe. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the universe together.

The odd effects of quantum mechanics arise because each particle is accompanied and governed by a wave in this quantum potential field. This quantum potential wave is part of a physical force field, like a gravitational field, that affects the course of particles.

This force does not decrease with distance, unlike other forces. A single quantum potential wave controls the two entangled particles, no matter how far apart they go. Measuring a property, such as the spin of one particle, instantaneously alters the shape of the wave, affecting the other particle under its control. So the quantum potential force violates both locality and independence. The quantum potential field conveys any change instantaneously over all of space because it carries information about the whole universe.

Simply put, the quantum potential field is a continuous field throughout the universe that acts instantaneously throughout the universe. It is not created by or concentrated around matter, unlike other forces. Although the quantum potential force guides particles, it is not generated by them.

Because the quantum potential force permeates all space and is not affected by distance, it in essence entangles or interconnects all particles. The universe is not a collection of objects, but a web of vibrating interconnected patterns governed by this quantum potential force. Unlike the other forces, the quantum potential has no known physical source and the quantum potential force violates locality.

Just as space and time are interconnected as part of a space-time continuum, everything is connected as part of a single continuum. The entire universe is one single, complex entity. The whole universe is enfolded in everything and each thing is enfolded in the whole; and it is the quantum potential force that controls and connects all things.

As human consciousness is one piece of the unified universe, precogs can subconsciously "see" through the seemingly chaotic physical universe to the true order and nature enfolded in the universe. On a subconscious level, they observe this order and are a part of it. They are connected to all things and are unconsciously aware of the position and velocity of every particle in the universe at any given moment, enabling their subconscious mind to accurately predict their probable interactions. In layman's terms, because the precogs have information about literally everything in the universe their subconscious can logically deduce actions that are extraordinarily likely to happen. This means a precog's subconscious can determine the future history of the world for years to come. The mind can store this much information because the emergent property of human consciousness is more than the sum of neuroelectrical activity, the subconscious mind works on a quantum level as well that extends beyond the mere organic.

The reason the precogs see murder and not rapes, or assaults, or suicides is because there is nothing more destructive to the metaphysical fabric that binds us than the untimely murder of one human being by another. This is an instinctive knowledge within the human psyche. It is so strong that murders that will occur within a precog's near environment (i.e. in the same city) will be picked up by their conscious mind and manifested in the form of dreams.

Although the Heisenberg uncertainty principle accerts that it is impossible to look at a sub-atomic particle and know both where it is and where it's going at the same time with exactly 100 percent accuracy, the precogs still calculate probabilities to a 99.999 percent level of certainty. The 0.001 probability is actualized by the Precrime Officers and if they don't prevent the murder the 99.999 probability will for certain be actualized.