Hi Everyone,

For the past few years, I've occasionally spent a few hours thinking about the possible outcomes and problems associated with time travel. Finally, I've come up with a revised theory on which I need some input. So here's my theory:

It has been the general opinion for quite some time that travelling into the past and altering events would have significant impact on the present. This, however, would create a paradox, which is impossible. By definition, a paradox can not exist in our universe. Although the prospect of changing the past in movies and television can often make a very compelling plot, in reality, I do not believe the universe is so badly designed. It sounds very unlikely that the death of my grandfather in the past would result in myself suddenly being wiped from existance. Instead, I believe the event it's self would simply not occur. For example, if I was to place a blue box on my desk, I know the box is there, because I placed it there in the past. If I then travel back in time to destroy this box before I placed it there, another seemingly random event would occur to prevent me from doing so. Since I already know the box has been placed on the table, there is nothing I can do to change that. It has happened, and it will happen. This event would go unnoticed to the people of that time, therefore the present would be unaltered.

In my opinion, this is the most logical theory of time travel.


Troy,

That's a theory supporting a single dimension I think. Basically meaning that time traveling won't create an alternate dimension with a different future.

I personally don't believe that time exists. Since time passes twice as fast for us as it does for a fly, it's all a matter of perception. Your theory would mean that any and all time traveling that will ever happen has already happened. Sort of like the universe playing through once to find out what the people of the future will do, and then starting all over again with the new data/events input into the earlier frames of history to create a paradox-free flow of time(for lack of a better word).

As far as I remember the "river of time" can split, which opens up for the possibility that if you travel back in time to prevent you placing that blue box, it will not be the blue box that you placed, but it will be the same blue box down to every last atom. That doesn't make sense?
Well it is suppose to mean a split in the river of time is made and a dublicate of the past is made for you, which won't have any effect on the future you come from specifically.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnkE2yQPw6s...feature=related I will let this guy explain it

LOL @ that video.

Time flows in one direction only, so if I tried to change something in the past which prevented me from travelling to the past in the first place, something must occur to prevent that. The nature of a paradox is that it can't exist in this reality. It's more than likely that many of our theories are not considering certain universal conditions of which we are currently unaware.

That time only flows in one direction doesn't rule out the 'Branching Universe' hypothesis, although it doesn't validate it either.

However, to consider the hypothesis of 'some random event' preventing a temporal paradox implies that the universe has an 'awareness' of how things must be. There is certainly no evidence this is the case.

Yes, but there is also no evidence against it. I'm not sure if this would count as evidence, but when travelling back in time, when you are intent on changing a certain event, the fact that you are still travelling back in time proves that what you are about to do will have no impact on the future - as in the timeline you just came from - it has already happened.

Wow, this really does become more confusing the more you think about it, lol .

EDIT: Sorry, I must have missed the end of that post. I didn't mean to imply awareness of any kind. I mean't to say that in travelling to the past with intent on changing something, your own plans may ultimately defeat you.

What your saying makes pretty good sence to me Troy (IMO - from my own consideration of these things).

Basically, what you're saying is that if an event where to take place that alters the past - a reciprocal event takes place to cancel it out - therefore, it doesn't happen.



Think the concept of 'time' is a universal mindnumber - you end up trying to think how the past/present/future all interact.

Having said that I pretty well subscribe to the idea that whats in the past - is past - rather it gets more interesting when trying to consider (IMO) issues about covering large distances through space. In which case it isn't so much an issue of 'time travel' - rather 'time altering' IMO.

ie the concept of 'time' in terms of philosophy - and the concept of 'time' in more practical terms.

While I won't necessarily disagree with you here, I'll also remind you of one simple fact.

You're describing a barrier.

And throughout human history, barriers have been broken. The world was once thought to be flat, and it was found that it wasn't. We couldn't fly faster than the speed of sound........but we could....and do. We couldn't break from our atmosphere into space, but we have.

The only difference nowadays is that you're not as likely to get burned at the stake for suggesting something that isn't mainstream.

You might have your career ruined, but at least you don't end up as charcoal.

If there is one thing that we, as a species should have learned by now................it's to not put barriers on anything.

If there IS one barrier, it's that there isn't a trowel big enough to scrape the egg off the faces of those who've been foolish enough to suggest a barrier in the first place.

I'm not suggesting a barrier, per say... But in one dimension, only one set of events can exist. To change the events of the past would more likely create the history of another, parallel dimension. This also raises the question of how one would return to the original point in time and space which they departed from, since two timelines in two dimensions now exist...

I guess it'll be a while before we find out anyway .