Published 2026-09-18.
Time to read: 3 minutes.
posts collection.
I thought I would share how I interact with certain individuals and groups of people.
Quantum Reality
Because reality is fundamentally quantum, multiple potential futures coexist as overlapping possibilities until a critical event forces them into a single, concrete outcome.
In physics, superposition describes how a system exists in a combination of multiple states or locations simultaneously, rather than being restricted to just one. This means that until a measurement is made, the system exists as a fluid distribution of overlapping potentials, where all possible outcomes are held at once. When a measurement is performed, the superposition collapses into a single, definitive state, revealing only one of those outcomes. This concept is fundamental to modern physics and provides a powerful framework for understanding how potential transforms into reality.
Griffin the Archanan
In Men in Black 3, Griffin the Archanan can perceive an infinite set of branching timelines at the same moment. Small changes in the present appear to him as a shifting cloud of overlapping possibilities rather than a single fixed path. Until a decisive event locks one future into place, every potential outcome remains live. The character is science-fiction, yet the cognitive posture he embodies is useful in ordinary human encounters: the capacity to keep several incompatible hypotheses about another person active at the same time.
I am not claiming that minds obey the Schrödinger equation. Instead, I offer a practical model for navigating poorly understood people and groups. When you meet someone whose motives, history, and intentions are largely unknown, classical risk calculation based on past data is unavailable. Once is forced to maintain a temporary superposition of possibilities with many possible types of relationships until evidence begins to collapse the set into observable reality: threat, ally, neutral, and opportunity.
An Encounter Between Two Strangers
Imagine two people who feel compelled to interact yet share no reliable background on each other. Neither can audit prior interactions or reputations. The only available method is limited, deliberate engagement.
Each remark, pause, or shift in posture functions as a probe. Because neither party can yet rule out harmful or beneficial trajectories, both must hold multiple hypotheses simultaneously. Premature commitment to a single interpretation is undesirable because it can close off useful paths or expose a vulnerability. The alternative, sustained ambiguity, is computationally expensive, but it enables a more flexible and adaptive approach.
In the state of not knowing every micro-signal remains an uncollapsed possibility. A boundary may eventually be crossed, or a consistent pattern of motive may emerge, at which point the cloud of future possibilities narrows. Until then, the relationship exists as a fluid distribution of potential rather than a settled narrative.
Defensive Value
Treating the other person as a set of coexisting possibilities rather than a single fixed type is a useful defensive posture.
- It prevents you from overcommitting to a single interpretation of their motives, which can be harmful or provide a means of being exploited if that interpretation is wrong.
- It allows you to maintain a broader range of responses, keeping your own options open until more information is available.
- It reduces the risk of being manipulated by someone.
- It forces continuous updating: each new data point revises the relative weight of the hypotheses instead of confirming a prior conclusion.
- It reduces the chance of being surprised by a sudden transition, such as an unexpected disclosure, a shift in tone, or a revealed agenda, so long as the possibility that the previous state was not prematurely considered to be stable and immutable.
In high-stakes or low-information settings, the person who collapses the wave function too early is easier to manipulate or to harm. The person who continues to track alternatives retains more degrees of freedom.
Offensive Value
The same stance is also a good offensive posture.
- Holding multiple possible futures open allows you to gain insight into the paths the other will reinforce or reject.
- It treats the relationship as a system that might be influenced rather than a prematurely decided fact. Small, well-timed actions can amplify constructive interference among the remaining possibilities and dampen destructive ones.
The capacity to model several realities at once is not passive tolerance of uncertainty. It is an active method of risk management and opportunity discovery. You neither freeze in indecision nor rush to a brittle certainty. You stay inside the cloud of potentials long enough to identify or shape which outcome becomes real.
Conclusion
Griffin’s gift is fictional. The underlying discipline, maintaining parallel hypotheses until evidence forces a collapse, is available to anyone willing to bear the burden of perceiving without knowing until evidence forces a quantum collapse.
In encounters where interpersonal history is missing and motives are opaque, the discipline of maintaining parallel hypotheses is both shield and instrument.
