Limited Memory Consciousness Retrogression in Branching Timelines
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
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.
Author: Zhang, Shaobin
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7222892867
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