I had a dream that I sent a message from my future self
To my present self
And I thought
How would I know if I was in the right place and time
To pick it up
My future self would know
Because at one time, it would have found it
And suddenly, it came to me
Now
Now would be a good time
Then I thought
What if the message was too specific
Like
"Don't by a parakeet on February 17th"
That would be no good
Because if I avoided the parakeet
Then the future would be different
And my future self wouldn't have to go to the trouble of warning me about the parakeet
and thus the message would be rendered meaningless
So what message could I send
That was specific enough to be helpful
But not so specific that it sets up
The parakeet paradox
And the answer is
Golf advice
The fact that I don't play golf
Means that my future self can safely
Give me advice or information pertaining to golf
And I will automatically understand
that this is a metaphor
And not an instruction
"Drive for show: Putt for dough" is a well-worn trope
And knowing this
My future self asks
the Socratic
Why not use your putter
as a driver?
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