(name)Lee
(emailaddy)lhill@accessability.com
It is the fact that all postulations regarding time travel
eventually lead to a paradox that is the best evidence it cannot be done.
We humans have defined 'time' as a method for organizing our
lives and recording the observances that describe "cause and effect".
I suggest that we begin to contemplate the possibility of the simple fact that there is only ever "Right Now".
Hypothesizing "time" travel based on the assumption of a real "past" or "future" as if they were actually tangible "whens" one could actually travel "to" could be what is actually keeping us OFF track in solving the superluminal and other relativity problems.
It's fun to think about, but I can think of no situation in which it does not eventually lead to a paradox of some kind.
I use this as a sort of "negative hypothesis" that time travel is impossible.
As a serious scientist, albeit an amateur at this, I love a good
methodology where hypotheses can be shot down. So...
I would ask if anyone can think of a time travel scenario where
there is NO possibility for a paradox to arise? i.e. - Can someone "prove" my negative hypothesis wrong? I certainly hope so. If not, I'll have to assume it (time travel) can't be done.
Multiverse Theory even leads to paradox. It eventually becomes the infamous "Holodeck" of Star Trek. It would be the LAST invention of mankind. And it would be evident even to us since so VERY MANY people among us would actually BE travelers from another dimension trying to recreate an alternative "future" for themselves, or perhaps escape some undesirable "past". When timelines and dimensions become infinite, it is infinitely likely that some one or even many would have "traveled" into this one. Here and now. THEY would be aware of their own situation.
However, as yet, we know of no one who IS aware of this and I
seriously doubt it could be kept hidden for very long. It then
becomes the classic "conspiracy theory" hoax where lack of
evidence proves the conspiracy is working. Lack of evidence of
course does not necessarily prove something is NOT so, but it
can never prove that it is.
If, on the other hand, you believe no one is aware this has happened (or is in fact happening), that can only lead to it being a natural phenomenom we have no control over. (No awarness, no naturalist "inventor" to control the process.) Something we have no control over and no awarness of becomes virtully non-existant or at least irrelevant. In this case, any discussion or hypothesizing on the issue is entirely moot since whether it exists or not can never be proven. It becomes a pseudo-theistic-like philosophy in which everyone is by default, an agnostic.
The further you get into Multivers-ity, the further you actually
get away from the concept of "time travel" itself. This is not so much a paradox as it is simply something other than the original issue itself. It doesn't solve "time travel" because it in fact is not "time travel". If all time exists everywhere always, how is that fundamentally different from time not existing at all?
An excellent fictional account of this is "Einstein's Bridge" tho I can't recall the author. It concerns the concept of the unverse being a "bubble" and that there are infinite universes.
At the quantum level it is possible to make any two "bubbles"
tanget and pass from one to the other at that point.
At least that's the hypothesis.
Welcome, Lee. You have strong observations and I'm sure you expect that I'll have to disagree with you on some points. I do agree with you on one point, though. Manipulation of a Multiverse would not be timetravel as paradox would have to occur in a single, non escapable timeline. It would be, actually a subjective experience of "create as you go"
The questioning mind is what moves humanity forward; a naysayer will kill progress, as will a yes person. There is most certainly much more that we, as a species, don't know than do know. Everything that has been invented or discovered to date should serve as a reminder that rash predeterminations and assumptions serve up stone walls and wrong turns. Everything that is, cannot be summed up in a mathematical equation, typed into a paper or listed in a textbook. Thankfully, there are theories to work with.
The many worlds theory is looking more and more sound to me as I read speculations and observations about it. We can't say for a fact that time is only linear and non-tangible. In our minds, it certainly is a sense of duration and we experience it in one direction, but that doesn't mean that this is the true reality- no way to prove it.
I have read some of your posts on different boards and one comes to mind concerning the decimal system metaphor. While I found it interesting, I wasn't able to make the quantum connection. Oh well, as THEY say, "variety is the spice of life", and that's what makes the world go round. THANKS for stopping by and posting!
Chuck
(name)John McClare
(emailaddy)omegaman42@hotmail.com
(location)Burlington, Ontario
A very interesting essay.
You mentioned the idea of the perception of time distortion, in either direction, that one would experience during near lightspeed or superluminal flight "deadheading". Well I have a hypothesis about time. What if time can be distored, not only during near light speed, but any given time. A simple example
would be when you're having fun, time seems to go by quickly, but
if you're bored it seems to go by slower. But what if time really
DOES speed up when you're having fun, and really DOES slow down
when you're bored? This is a pretty simple example, it's just
something that everyone can relate to, but I think there are many, many variables, maybe an infanite number of variables that can't distort time in different ways, in different places, to different people and things. This idea might bring up a lot of new questions, but I think it might be able to answer a lot of others...
Hi John,
Yes, I think you're right about the time distortion. I mean, it IS a real experience for you; "Where did the time go?", or "How much longer is this going to take?" But, unfortunately, the experience is only for you. Once the "distortion" is measured or OBSERVED by someone besides you, it is, of course discovered that both experiences ticked by at 60 seconds per minute. The key word here, anyway is SEEMED. It SEEMED like it took a long time. It SEEMED like it didn't take any time at all.
There's two things that could be expanded on here; the quantum tests of observation affecting an outcome of an event & the question of one's own reality as the observer of that reality.
See some of the discussions between M.J. Young and myself.
I appreciate your time, John. THANKS for the input.
Chuck
(name)Anthony Edwards
(email addy)timetravel@antcom.compulink.co.uk
(location)U.K.
Hi Chuck,
Thank you for taking the time and trouble to complete the Feedback Form again. It is great to hear from you. Sorry it has taken me so long to reply but things have been really busy lately.
I'm working on the Classics section at the moment and should do
an upload in next fortnight. As you can guess I'm trying to use the usual ones like the Grandmother and Twins Paradoxes.
I have thought about posting the forms but I don't get as many as I know you do and the comments are not that many. Still I may look into it. I do keep an eye on the web stats that I get from my ISP and it is good to see some people at my site for over half an hour and see that they have looked at a great deal of it even if they don't fill out a Feedback or Email.
By the way have you seen a BBC light Entertainment programme called "Goodnight Sweetheart" starring Nicholas Lyndhurst? It involves the star being able to travel through a time travel gate back to the 1940's war torn London at will. The two 'times' run together so he can spend 2 hours in the 1990's or 2 hours in the 1940's. He has a wife in both times so he is really a time travel bigamist! All the time travel side stands up really well to analysis and it is also very funny. The 3rd and last series has just started over here. Well worth tracking down on video if you can.
Thanks again,
Anthony Edwards
Hello again to you, Anthony. I'm always anxious to see what new information you've added each time I visit. I consider your site an excellent one and am taking this opportunity to add another "plug" for it here!
A DISCUSSION ON TIMETRAVEL
Anthony Edwards offers an excellent philosophical viewpoint. Check his site out!
and...
if you haven't been there already, be sure to check out my other TIMETRAVEL LINKS now on a separate page!
And about the show, sorry, I haven't seen or heard of it.
Chuck
