Time Travel Won't Change Anything

[Atlas]

From this article.

While there have never been practical demonstrations of time travel, it is not ruled out by the known laws of physics.

I've always liked that teensy hope offered by TLOP.

Professor Greenberger added: 'Once something has happened, the effect is that it kills the other possibilities because there is this feedback into the past. The past is determined. The future is still undetermined, which is consistent with our ideas of free will. It is a nice philosophical solution.'

This kinda killed all my dreams of a second chance. I feel stuck and let down by science. Of course, I never wanted things to change for everybody - just me. Just me would be fine. I didn't think that would be too much to ask.

I think I was happier yesterday before I read this. It's kind of ironic. They're telling me yesterday's happiness can't be changed. Today it feels all hollowed out.

I wonder if there are limits implied on how far back a time traveller could go. Could he travel back farther than his own lifetime. Wouldn't showing up someplace be a change. Would you have to carry your own food back and cart out your own waste? It just seems wrong.

I guess I like the fact that the universe protects itself. But it seems to take alot of fun and adventure out of existence.

[eta]That link doesn't seem to work right. Here's a link to the actual paper.
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/quant-ph/pdf/0506/0506027.pdf

Associated articles:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4097258.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4564477.stm

 

[CurtC]

So your happiness today is dependent on having an option to go back in time and change your unhappiness yesterday?

 

[Atlas]

So your happiness today is dependent on having an option to go back in time and change your unhappiness yesterday?

Thanks for caring enough to try to understand Curt. Actually it's more like tomorrow's happiness was deprived from me today because my plan to change yesterday has run out of time.

 

[CurtC]

Hmmm - Friday's not looking too good for you either.

 

[ahoneycutt]

This has always confused me when people talk about time travel. The way I look at it, if you went back in time to change something, in the future (when you would have gone back to change it) there would have been nothing to go back and change. I'm probably not making sense, but wouldn't, by that logic, there be two seperate instances of time? One where the object you wished to modify existed, and the other where it was modified exists?

 

[Bruce]

But that's only if you follow the Terminator rules. Gagh, must I always be the one to make the South Park references?

Aaron Brown: And now I understand we're going to Harrison Moore, uh, for an explanation on how the time portal works. Harrison?

Harrison Moore: Aaron, I'm standing at the time border which scientists say follow Terminator rules. That is, it's one way only and you can't go back. This is in contrast, say, to Back To The Future rules, where back and forth is possible, and of course, Timerider rules, which are just plain silly. Anyway, it appears that the man from the future is here to stay.

There are also the Sliders rules, in which every time you make a change, a separate universe is created, which can only be traversed by the fat kid from the 1980's film "Stand By Me".

Not that I'm trying to expose any geekiness or anything.

 

[rdaneel]

The idea of being able to observe the past without changing it makes me think of Asimov's time viewers idea and the can of worms that opened up. Assuming that such a thing was even possible, would the consequences of creating such a thing keep scientists from even trying?

 

[treble_head]

There are also the Sliders rules, in which every time you make a change, a separate universe is created, which can only be traversed by the fat kid from the 1980's film "Stand By Me".

Oi! I rather like the work of Jerry O'Connell. He was awesome in his varied roles in Kangaroo Jack, ummm... Joe's Apartment... (that was a hit, right???) and... uh... Tomcats, as a movie, was certainly released. So, uh... Never mind.

 

[Bruce]

Oi! I rather like the work of Jerry O'Connell. He was awesome in his varied roles in Kangaroo Jack, ummm... Joe's Apartment... (that was a hit, right???) and... uh... Tomcats, as a movie, was certainly released. So, uh... Never mind.

Don't forget Scream 2 and Mission to Mars. Anyone who does a film along side Gary Sinise has to be somebody because Gary Sinise acted with Kevin Bacon in Apollo 13. Did you hear me man!? KEVIN FRICKEN BACON!!!