Cable Forum - View Single Post - Time Travel

Raistlin · 23-05-2005, 17:23

Ok. Just to get a few things straight.

Time travel is not impossible, but it is impossible to go back in time and do any damage.

Let's take the Back to the Future example.

Marty goes back in time, stops his parents falling in love, stops them having him, and therefore stops himself being born.

Not possible.

If he had never been born he couldn't go back in time, therfore his parents would still have met, therefore he would have been born.

So, what can we sumise? Well.....

If someone goes back in time to 1950 and changes something it won't alter anything in their current (future) timeline. Why not? Easy, in their original (future) time 1950 has already happened, along with all of the things that they supposedly went back and changed. The version of time they are living in in the future has already been affected by the consequences of their time travel.
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So, what about time travel into the future then?

Again, a fairly easy thing to work out.

Travel into the future is possible. The problem is that the future you arrive in will only be the future as it would have been at the time you set off.

Every decision we make, every action we take, directly influences our future (and, to a limited degree, the future of the world generally). The second you come back to your own time you have already begun to change the future that you saw.

Unlike travel into the past, the future has not happened yet (duh) and is therefore flexible.

It should be possible to craft your future in any way that you see fit. Unfortunately you cannot rely on any knowledge you gain from travelling into the future time to be accurate as it will begin changing the moment you arrive back in your own timeline.

23-05-2005, 17:23	#18
Raistlin Inactive Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Services: Depends on the person and the price they're offering Posts: 12,384	Re: Time Travel - should we? Ok. Just to get a few things straight. Time travel is not impossible, but it is impossible to go back in time and do any damage. Let's take the Back to the Future example. Marty goes back in time, stops his parents falling in love, stops them having him, and therefore stops himself being born. Not possible. If he had never been born he couldn't go back in time, therfore his parents would still have met, therefore he would have been born. So, what can we sumise? Well..... If someone goes back in time to 1950 and changes something it won't alter anything in their current (future) timeline. Why not? Easy, in their original (future) time 1950 has already happened, along with all of the things that they supposedly went back and changed. The version of time they are living in in the future has already been affected by the consequences of their time travel. __________________ So, what about time travel into the future then? Again, a fairly easy thing to work out. Travel into the future is possible. The problem is that the future you arrive in will only be the future as it would have been at the time you set off. Every decision we make, every action we take, directly influences our future (and, to a limited degree, the future of the world generally). The second you come back to your own time you have already begun to change the future that you saw. Unlike travel into the past, the future has not happened yet (duh) and is therefore flexible. It should be possible to craft your future in any way that you see fit. Unfortunately you cannot rely on any knowledge you gain from travelling into the future time to be accurate as it will begin changing the moment you arrive back in your own timeline.