Podcast Summary: Platonic Computation and the Dodleston Messages with Simon Duan

Podcast: New Thinking Allowed Audio Podcast
Host: Jeffrey Mishlove
Guest: Simon Duan
Date: December 12, 2025
Episode Theme:
A deep dive into the mysterious Dodleston Messages, exploring their implications for our understanding of reality, time, consciousness, and computation—focusing on Simon Duan's "Platonic Computation" hypothesis as a possible framework for interpreting paranormal anomalies.

Main Theme Overview

In this episode, host Jeffrey Mishlove and guest Simon Duan discuss the Dodleston Messages—a legendary but controversial case in parapsychology involving apparent communication with entities from both the distant past and the future via a BBC Micro computer in 1980s England. Duan introduces and applies his theory of Platonic Computation, which posits that our reality (and others) is rendered by a nonphysical, archetypal "Platonic computer", offering a fresh explanatory paradigm for such phenomena.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introduction to the Dodleston Messages

• What happened:
  • Between 1984 and 1987, strange messages appeared on a BBC Micro computer in a house in Dodleston, UK (06:28).
  • Messages claimed to be from a person in 1541 (16th-century England), as well as an entity from 2109 (the future) (12:51).
  • The computer had no modem, no Internet, and was incapable of external communication (09:06, 09:49).
• Associated phenomena:
  • Poltergeist activity: Six-toed footprints appeared on freshly painted walls; objects arranged in bizarre configurations (09:49, 10:38, 15:04).
  • Handwritten notes sometimes accompanied computer messages (15:19).

2. Authenticity and Ongoing Debate

• No clear conclusion:
  • Despite years of investigation, no consensus exists; the phenomenon is highly controversial, often dismissed as fraud but difficult to debunk (05:47, 16:11).
  • The central participants (Ken Webster, his partner, and linguist colleague Peter) did not seek publicity; Ken Webster in particular avoided media (07:39).

3. Content and Linguistic Analysis

• The messages referenced specific, verifiable historical facts and used early Modern English (11:15, 16:11).
• Only Peter, a linguist, could interpret much of the language (11:15, 12:51).
• Content ranged from poetic/metaphysical to historically detailed (15:46).

4. Time Travel vs. Platonic Computation as Explanations

• Traditional hypotheses:
  • Most researchers frame the case as evidence for time travel or physical anomalies (15:04, 17:17).
• Simon Duan’s approach:
  • Proposes a post-materialist cosmology where nonphysical realities (the Platonic realm) are as real—or more real—than the physical world (17:49, 19:15).
  • The physical universe is seen as a shadow or simulation produced by archetypes ("forms") in the Platonic realm (19:15, 22:54).

5. The Platonic Computer Hypothesis

• What is it?
  • Reality is rendered by a "Platonic computer," an archetypal computation device existing outside physical reality (22:32, 22:54).
  • All mathematical entities, archetypes, and even intelligences exist first in this nonphysical realm; the physical world is a manifestation of these underlying structures (19:15, 25:28).
• Supporting perspectives:
  • Mathematicians often implicitly adopt a Platonist stance, as mathematics isn’t bound to physical space (21:21, 21:26).
  • This metaphoric-computational view is not new; John Wheeler, Edward Fredkin, and others have proposed information and computation as fundamental to physics (27:37).

6. Layers, Parallel Universes, and Higher Selves

• Nested universes:
  • The Platonic computer creates multi-layered, parallel universes. Each universe "layer" is nested within a "higher" one—like Russian dolls (03:29, 36:39).
  • Each reality has an observer or higher self at each level (33:06, 36:39).
• Implications for the Dodleston case:
  • Messages may originate from higher-level consciousnesses (higher selves) manipulating different layers via the database of the Platonic computer (38:28).
  • The apparent "time travel" is actually information synthesized or rendered from outside linear time (32:15, 33:06).

7. Why Dodleston? The Specificity of Anomalous Events

• Higher self interaction:
  • Only select locations or people are involved based on choices made by higher levels of consciousness (38:28).
  • The higher self or intelligence can access any point in space-time in the lower reality layers, providing reason for the highly specific nature of the Dodleston case (38:28, 44:30).
• Purposeful puzzles:
  • Such anomalies may be "puzzles" from higher intelligence to aid human evolution or provoke insight (43:55).

8. Toolbox of Models and Metaphors

• The simulation and computation metaphors are modern tools; past eras used clockwork or electrical metaphors (31:16).
• Theories are models—aids to understanding, not the reality itself (30:42, 31:16).
• Diverse interpretations are not only inevitable but essential for progress (25:55, 30:42).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the complexity and ongoing investigation:
  • "It's very active. There's forums online, there's podcasts, and people are still doing research... So it's still growing. It's ongoing project, actually. It's not dead yet. It's ongoing."
    — Simon Duan (05:09)
• On the impossibility and authenticity:
  • "It's very difficult to debunk. Because the language they use, Ken cannot type that message... lots of fact, historical fact are being confirmed, verified day by day."
    — Simon Duan (16:11)
• On physicality vs. Platonic forms:
  • "Physical reality is a shadow or poor imitation of this realm of forms... we think physical reality is real. Anything non physical... is not real. Yeah, that's a mistake."
    — Simon Duan (19:15)
• On the nonphysical nature of mathematics:
  • "Most mathematicians consider themselves Platonists. Otherwise where can they locate mathematics? Because mathematics is non local. Non local means it's not in this space..."
    — Simon Duan (21:26)
• On models as metaphors:
  • "Model isn't the reality... they're just tools we can use to answer questions... But it's [a] mistake to take it as a reality. Oh, this is actually what it is. It is not. It's just a model."
    — Simon Duan (30:42)
• On multi-layered universes and higher selves:
  • "In this model we have a post materialist cosmology. In this cosmology we have a multi layered parallel universes. Each layer below is nested in the layer above."
    — Simon Duan (36:38)
• On manipulation from higher levels:
  • "Because at high level, you can also manipulate the computer, therefore manipulate the outcome of the computer. Manipulate the rendering of the computer."
    — Simon Duan (38:28)
• On higher intelligence and the purpose of anomalies:
  • "...a higher intelligence decided to help us along in our evolutionary journey by giving us a puzzle to solve. That seems almost impossible."
    — Jeffrey Mishlove (43:55)
  • "That's a good insight actually. Yeah. And a higher intelligence is not somebody else. It's our higher self."
    — Simon Duan (44:30)

Important Segment Timestamps

• (06:28-09:49): Basic description of the Dodleston Messages and associated poltergeist phenomena.
• (11:15-16:11): Details on historicity, language analysis, and why the case resists debunking.
• (17:17-19:15): Introduction to post-materialist, Platonic model as alternative to time travel hypothesis.
• (22:32-25:28): Core explanation of the Platonic Computer theory and its relationship to mathematics and reality.
• (33:06-36:39): Detailed analogy of layered universes, higher and lower selves, and information flow.
• (38:28-44:30): Why peculiar anomalies like Dodleston occur, the operative role of higher intelligence, and purposefulness behind such events.
• (44:30-47:49): Ultimate cosmological conclusions and the convergence of individual higher selves toward a universal source.

Conclusion

This episode provides a thorough exploration of the Dodleston Messages through the innovative theoretical lens of Platonic Computation. Simon Duan's model reframes reality as a multi-layered simulated cosmos, with nonphysical archetypes as causal agents and higher selves as the true manipulators behind apparent worldly anomalies. The conversation underscores not only the enduring mystery of the Dodleston case but proposes bold new ways to expand our scientific and metaphysical toolkits, inviting listeners to consider post-materialist perspectives for understanding consciousness, time, and unexplained phenomena.