This idea is very, very old.
I first read about it in the book Stalking the Wild Pendulum.
http://www.amazon.com/Stalking-Wild-Pendulum-Mechanics-Consc...
http://www.amazon.com/Stalking-Wild-Pendulum-Mechanics-Consc...
>"Feynman's thesis advisor, John Wheeler, proposed the hypothesis in a telephone call to Feynman in the spring of 1940"