There was once a scientist who found an opening to a time-portal, and invited a group of his artist friends to come experience it for themselves. This time-portal lead to the future. The artists were all so excited to enter the portal and learn whether or not they’d become rich and famous later in life. They also knew, however, that time-travel came with a certain degree of risk; they feared they’d get lost in the future and be unable to return. With this in mind, they sent the most courageous artist among them to enter first. Everyone waited anxiously outside the opening, and after a long while, the courageous artist returned. They clamored to ask him what he had seen. He fixed his quantum-mussed hair with his hands and cracked an easy smile as he replied happily, “We’re all very famous in the future, rest assured! I saw everybody, one by one, and can guarantee that we all play a key role in the history of art.” The other artists  asked him to say more, but he refused.

Several years passed. Everyone grew old, and only the artist who actually entered the portal became famous and successful; the others remained unknown. Some say that when he entered the tunnel he plagiarized everyone else’s future ideas. Some say that he was only comforting everyone with false reports when he returned from the future that day, and that he was the only one who would truly become famous. No one will ever know the truth.