Techspert

Myriad Reality

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It depends on how you define free will. If it's the ability to make decisions that look like they change things, then yes, they all do. If it's the ability to make decisions that literally change things, then no, they don't, but in that case, you might be able to say that nobody has free will.

@Balance

But they can't choose. It's paved for them.

Myriad Reality

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So you have Source dimensions, and then you have Path dimensions. Source dimensions are the main version of a dimension, which is free to go any way it wants. A Path dimension is a locked version fo that dimension which will only ever go in one direction and will never deviate from that. There is a Path for every non-minor path that the Source could follow.

@whizzball1

So they don't even have free will?

Myriad Reality

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Those would manifest as Path Dimensions, and the subsystem clears out possibilities that are too similar. But then again, that doesn't necessarily make it so that there aren't infinite possibilities... So maybe Existence is infinite, at least when it comes to Paths?

@whizzball1

What's a Path?

Myriad Reality

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What do you mean?

@whizzball1

To make an infinite number? Can't you just change one small detail and have infinite possibilities?

Myriad Reality

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I never said that. I was saying that even if every possible situation were played out, we wouldn't have infinite dimensions.

@whizzball1

Can't one small thing always be changed?

Myriad Reality

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Not quite. There are many, many versions of us, but those are from Path universes, and technically should not be able to get out. Evil David is an exception, but that's another story. When we from Source universes escape as Tier Fours, our choices no longer have any bearing on what Paths exist, or something like that. There aren't any Path Existences floating around--that would be weird.

@Balance

But you said that every possible situation is played out.

Myriad Reality

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For an infinite Existence, you need to have infinite possibilities. The underlying mechanics make sure that copies don't happen--or something like that, but I know there are no identical dimensions. Therefore, since there's finite possibilities of dimensions under our current laws, there have to be only finite dimensions.

@Balance

Does that mean we're not the first ones to talk about this, or even the only us?

Myriad Reality

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They say that it's not. I think it's because Existence is almost entirely bound by the same laws, so it's possible to exhaust all uses of those laws in all possible combinations. If Existence was unbound by that, then it would absolutely be infinite.

@Balance

Why does that affect the size?

Myriad Reality

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Existence is a big place. There's just so much to explore. Even my sister, who explores about 90% of the time, isn't anywhere near visiting a quarter of it, or an eighth. She's got a long time, though.

@Balance

Isn't it infinite?

Myriad Reality

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There's all kinds of unusual places out there in Existence. Equestria is just one of the most common. There's so many different iterations of it.

@Balance

How amazing.