Re:Some creativity, please.
on
Time Travel
·
· Score: 1
I disagree. All he has to do is create two working prototypes, and use one prototype to send the other prototype through time, with a message attached telling whoever receives it to use it to send something to our time. Voila. Proof of time travel made easy.
That won't work for the original timeline. We'll call the starting timeline A. Let's say you send a time machine back, it will create a parallel timeline which we can call timeline B. Travelling to the future of B doesn't tell people in A anything. Again, the original timeline will never see evidence of time travel. Plenty of parallel realities will have proof though.
Re:Why there will never be a time machine
on
Time Travel
·
· Score: 1
On further thought I'm wrong. There is no reason a timeline with one time traveller couldn't have more. They would just be from the future of the timeline created by the arrival of the first time traveller.
Re:Why there will never be a time machine
on
Time Travel
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
That at least is covered by the reference to parallel timelines. From our timeline, we'll call it Alpha, time travel would seem like a quick trip to oblivion. A time traveller in Alpha steps into the circle of light or whatever and dissapears. No one from timeline Alpha will ever see him or her again. Of course in timeline Beta someone just appeared out of nowhere and they have plenty of reason to believe time travel is possible. Except that from their point of view their time machine will work the same way. You step in and disappear.
In fact thinking about it if this view of time travel is true and workable it would almost seem like a wacked out cult. A person appears and claims to be from the future. They either have schematics for a time machine or they inspire development of one. (We'll ignore they likely outcome that any visitor from the future is locked up with all the Thorazine they'll ever want for the purpose of this discussion). When the machine is built it can't be proven to work. The best evidence any timeline will ever have is one visitor. Would you trust the word of a possible nut ball and step into something that makes matter disappear? I think only borderline psychotics would be nervy enough to do so. Which suggests that the time traveller would be kind of kooky to begin with.
The best he can build is a disintegration chamber
on
Time Travel
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
According to the quote in the article there is a big flaw in the plan"If his idea pans out, won't there be a host of potential paradoxes, such as time travelers killing their parents and making it impossible for them to exist? No, he says, explaining that those travelers would continue to exist in a ''parallel universe.''
In other words, anyone or anything sent into the past create some sort of parallel universe. Which means we will never see any evidence that the time machine works. At best he'll be able to create an effect where you toss something in and it disappears. Sounds to me like a great way to get rid of garbage but a less than ideal way to travel.
Of course there should also be plenty of parallel universes where stray neutrons, lab rats, and grad students will appear out of no where. THOSE timelines will have proof time travel works. But unless that happens I'm not getting into any so called time machine.
Slashdot Mirror
That won't work for the original timeline. We'll call the starting timeline A. Let's say you send a time machine back, it will create a parallel timeline which we can call timeline B. Travelling to the future of B doesn't tell people in A anything. Again, the original timeline will never see evidence of time travel. Plenty of parallel realities will have proof though.
On further thought I'm wrong. There is no reason a timeline with one time traveller couldn't have more. They would just be from the future of the timeline created by the arrival of the first time traveller.
That at least is covered by the reference to parallel timelines. From our timeline, we'll call it Alpha, time travel would seem like a quick trip to oblivion. A time traveller in Alpha steps into the circle of light or whatever and dissapears. No one from timeline Alpha will ever see him or her again. Of course in timeline Beta someone just appeared out of nowhere and they have plenty of reason to believe time travel is possible. Except that from their point of view their time machine will work the same way. You step in and disappear.
In fact thinking about it if this view of time travel is true and workable it would almost seem like a wacked out cult. A person appears and claims to be from the future. They either have schematics for a time machine or they inspire development of one. (We'll ignore they likely outcome that any visitor from the future is locked up with all the Thorazine they'll ever want for the purpose of this discussion). When the machine is built it can't be proven to work. The best evidence any timeline will ever have is one visitor. Would you trust the word of a possible nut ball and step into something that makes matter disappear? I think only borderline psychotics would be nervy enough to do so. Which suggests that the time traveller would be kind of kooky to begin with.
According to the quote in the article there is a big flaw in the plan"If his idea pans out, won't there be a host of potential paradoxes, such as time travelers killing their parents and making it impossible for them to exist? No, he says, explaining that those travelers would continue to exist in a ''parallel universe.''
In other words, anyone or anything sent into the past create some sort of parallel universe. Which means we will never see any evidence that the time machine works. At best he'll be able to create an effect where you toss something in and it disappears. Sounds to me like a great way to get rid of garbage but a less than ideal way to travel.
Of course there should also be plenty of parallel universes where stray neutrons, lab rats, and grad students will appear out of no where. THOSE timelines will have proof time travel works. But unless that happens I'm not getting into any so called time machine.