Link to article: SCP-9749.
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[[include component:preview text=SCP-9749 is the source of free will, which is prophecy.]] [[include :scp-wiki:info:start]] **SCP-9749:** Heavy Nudger of Men **Author:** [[*user whenwerewe]] [*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/whenwerewe Here's my page!] [[include :scp-wiki:info:end]] **Item #:** SCP-9749 **Object Class:** Ticonderoga **Special Containment Procedures:** SCP-9749 cannot, and should not, be contained. **Description:** SCP-9749 is the source of free will, which is prophecy. The universe is typically deterministic: each atom gains momentum and energy in a manner directly predictable from its previous surroundings, and so in principle any one snapshot of the whole universe necessarily implies the entirety of its history. This leaves no room for “choice”, which forms the basis of the experience of free will. Prophecies are predictions about the future which are anomalously guaranteed to come true, no matter the current conditions in material reality. These prophesied events can be thought of as a form of retrocausality: the future event forces certain predecessor events to occur[[footnote]]The prophecy that a great empire will fall necessitates the existence of a great empire.[[/footnote]]. This would not, itself, be sufficient to create true choices. Critically, a prophesied event has //multiple// possible predecessors. Free will is then the process of choosing between these predecessors, which are otherwise indistinguishable by classical and mystical physics. None of this is done consciously; it is nonetheless the case that prophecy is a precondition for genuine free will to exist. Historically, prophecy was common, produced by devotees of pluripotent entities, goeticists, and osseomancers. However, contemporarily, prophecy has been in an extended decline, due to increasing economic rationalisation, the advent of industrial warfare, and the collapse of animistic and pagan beliefs globally. Broadly speaking, predictions are made using complex mathematical models and statistical methods, rather than through ritualism. With little belief in the fundamental unknowability of the world, prophecy has gone all but extinct. For a period between 1993 to 2001, no prophecies were known to be extant, and noumological methods confirm that no choices were made during this time. In 2001, the last priestess of the Sibylline Sisterhood made a final prophecy[[footnote]]//”He has knelt by his enemy’s feet, and this shall be made known to all”//; meaning unknown.[[/footnote]]. The Overseer Council, granted their free will, were able to pursue measures to foster greater occurrence of prophecy in the future, and avoid total deterministic collapse. **Remediation Measures:** Below follow a brief list of various attempts to induce the reemergence of prophecy, and their results: ||~ Date ||~ Measure ||~ Result|| || 2003 || Popularise various budding New-Age neo-pagan and Satanist movements. || [[span style="color:red"]]FAILURE[[/span]]; Although growth is observed, a majority of inductees maintain their beliefs, giving these movements a secular humanist ethos. A few minor prophecies are created, but none are long-term. || || 2014|| Induce the growth of astrological ideas, and emphasise a nonreligious class of astrology that can be used by any individual.|| [[span style="color:red"]]FAILURE[[/span]]; Astrology rapidly gains popularity, but Foundation researchers make an unfortunate discovery: astrology functions by detecting certain subaetheric EVE resonances, and is therefore not prophetic, but rather a completely legitimate science. || || 2019 || Use newly emergent social networks to promote “esoteric philosophers”, especially on shortform platforms, with the hope of spreading a mystical worldview among a smaller but more influential population, producing fewer and longer-timescale prophecies.|| [[span style="color:red"]]FAILURE[[/span]]; So-called “Esotericism” is briefly successful as a movement, and creates a small intellectual scene with disproportionate dedication. However, no prophecies are created, as its members refuse to ever make predictions. || || 2023 || Saturate the infosphere with propaganda encouraging private individuals to form emotional and material ties to their predictions of future events, in the hopes this will create a flood of minor oracles. On account of the urgency of the situation, enormous resources have been made available to this campaign, which plans to spend upwards of a billion dollars and seeks to enlist global cultural icons. ||= __[*https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/why-us-sports-betting-could-become-a-45-billion SUCCESS]__ || [[div class="footer-wikiwalk-nav"]] [[=]] << [[[SCP-9748]]] | SCP-9749 | [[[SCP-9750]]] >> [[/=]] [[/div]]