Excellent. We're coming to the crux of the matter.
Now, for the purposes of discussion, let's deal only with Dave 1's universe, or the universe in which the Alpha Timeline dictates that "Dave" chose "yes" at our marked point of divergence. As you can see, his decisions are still tracking accordingly with the universe.
However, let's now suppose that Dave 2 leaves his universe and jumps into Dave 1's universe. This is where Dave 2 will begin to have a problem, because:
At any given point on the timeline past the divergence point, Dave 2's internal memories of his experiences will conflict with what the universe dictates his experience "should be". At the juncture point, Dave 2 chose "no" — but the universe dictates that "Dave chose yes".
At this point, what follows is a conflict, in which the universe impresses memories of experiences upon Dave 2 that differ from the experiences that Dave 2 remembers from his own universe. Or, put another way, a given universe recognizes only one Dave, and will therefore treat all Daves within that universe as the Alpha Dave, regardless of whether that Dave IS the Alpha Dave or not.
Thus, Universe 1 treats Dave 1 as the Alpha Dave (which he is), and as there is no conflict between Dave 1 and the universe's treatment of him, Dave 1 remains unscathed. However, Universe 1 ALSO treats Dave 2 as the Alpha Dave (which he is not), because for every universe there is only one discrete Dave, and therefore all Daves within that universe must by extension be That Dave.
But Dave 2 is not the Alpha Dave, despite the universe treating him as such. Thus, Dave 2 is now bombarded with two divergent sets of memories and experiences, both of which are "correct" — even though the nature of a yes/no decision is that both cannot be "correct" simultaneously.
Dave 2 is therefore left to reconcile the experience of having chosen both yes and no at the same juncture, remembering events that he both did and did not do. The human mind is not equipped to handle that level of juxtaposition, and the negative effects of the experience on the mind are usually both immediate and dramatic.
no subject
Now, for the purposes of discussion, let's deal only with Dave 1's universe, or the universe in which the Alpha Timeline dictates that "Dave" chose "yes" at our marked point of divergence. As you can see, his decisions are still tracking accordingly with the universe.
However, let's now suppose that Dave 2 leaves his universe and jumps into Dave 1's universe. This is where Dave 2 will begin to have a problem, because:
At any given point on the timeline past the divergence point, Dave 2's internal memories of his experiences will conflict with what the universe dictates his experience "should be". At the juncture point, Dave 2 chose "no" — but the universe dictates that "Dave chose yes".
At this point, what follows is a conflict, in which the universe impresses memories of experiences upon Dave 2 that differ from the experiences that Dave 2 remembers from his own universe. Or, put another way, a given universe recognizes only one Dave, and will therefore treat all Daves within that universe as the Alpha Dave, regardless of whether that Dave IS the Alpha Dave or not.
Thus, Universe 1 treats Dave 1 as the Alpha Dave (which he is), and as there is no conflict between Dave 1 and the universe's treatment of him, Dave 1 remains unscathed. However, Universe 1 ALSO treats Dave 2 as the Alpha Dave (which he is not), because for every universe there is only one discrete Dave, and therefore all Daves within that universe must by extension be That Dave.
But Dave 2 is not the Alpha Dave, despite the universe treating him as such. Thus, Dave 2 is now bombarded with two divergent sets of memories and experiences, both of which are "correct" — even though the nature of a yes/no decision is that both cannot be "correct" simultaneously.
Dave 2 is therefore left to reconcile the experience of having chosen both yes and no at the same juncture, remembering events that he both did and did not do. The human mind is not equipped to handle that level of juxtaposition, and the negative effects of the experience on the mind are usually both immediate and dramatic.