I'm confused...

[swolf]

All right, could somebody explain how time-travel is supposed to theoretically work. This comes from talking to my father-in-law and brother-in-law talking with me while watching some show that had geniuses discussing time travel and aliens. First, the odds of finding an intelligent alien race is slim to none. That would have to be after we find an alien planet that could sustain life forms. Also, how many species on our planet would we consider "intelligent" or intelligent enough that we would learn from them? Well, then how can we expect to find species outside of our galaxy. In essence, I'm saying that humans are evolutionary freaks (not only because of intelligence but because we fight wars and other actions that animals don't do).
On to time travel, how would that work? They say that it would happen by going fast enough. First, I doubt that's even possible without every piece of machinery involved heating up and falling apart. Second, speed is distance divided by time so that equation is broken when you remove time...I think it's 2 different planes and going to the max of one will not cause transportation through the other.

OT: they were wondering what would happen if you went back in time and shot your "old self". Well, I have to say that I don't see the logic in shooting myself for any reason other than morbid curiosity in the first place. Anyways, they found that concept intriguing since you would not be able to shoot yourself without eliminating your ability to go back in time and shoot yourself creating a paradox.

So, could anybody explain this stuff to me?

 

[FallenJellyDoughnut]

Techincally you couldn't go back in time and shoot yourself, the universe would most likely make it impossible for you regardless of circumstances, otherwise you would already be dead.

 

[Quaxar]

Techincally you couldn't go back in time and shoot yourself, the universe would most likely make it impossible for you regardless of circumstances, otherwise you would already be dead.

Of course only if we assume a single linear timeline. I don't know how the theory is called but there was this suggestion that we could be able to travel back in time, only then we'd enter a parallel timeline where this event indeed has happened and never be able to return to our own.

OT: there are numerous suggestions as to how one could build a time machine, some require exotic matter that we don't have and probably never will, some require immense speeds we are probably not able to reach...
If I remember correctly there is a university professor who at this very moment tries to build a time machine with magnets in a high tower. The ideas are endless.

 

[Frequen-Z]

I don't know the answer to these deeply scientific questions, but I do know I'd love to go back in time and shoot myself, just to see what happens. I'm thinking, end of the first Futurama film here, proper tear in the universe.

 

[HSIAMetalKing]

Traveling backwards in time is impossible because causes happen before effects. Traveling forward is theoretically possible and involves moving really fast. Trust me, Stephen Hawking told me on TV.

 

[xmbts]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni1SjFY07Lk

That's how this made me feel.

 

[Bobic]

To answer your question: No, no-one can accurately explain this to you, we don't know how time travel would work and how it would affect anything. Some people have theories but no-one anywhere knows.

Also, as a side note, the first thing I'd do upon travelling back in time would be to shoot myself for shiggles, it's nice to know others have had this thought.

 

[Sneaky-Pie]

Techincally you couldn't go back in time and shoot yourself, the universe would most likely make it impossible for you regardless of circumstances, otherwise you would already be dead.

Your avatar is relevant to this topic.

OT: If you went back through time and shot yourself in the past, you wouldn't be here typing up your post.

 

[Ridonculous_Ninja]

Traveling backwards in time is impossible because causes happen before effects. Traveling forward is theoretically possible and involves moving really fast. Trust me, Stephen Hawking told me on TV.

Travelling forward in time is a simple matter of speeding up. That's it. It's actually slowing time for you, though everyone else is moving forward faster than you so you reach a future point at your current age.

Going back in time is going faster than the speed of light, which requires infinite amounts of energy, and is therefore 99.99999999% impossible. Until proven otherwise.

Also my thoughts on timelines. We exist in a one possible timeline in a multiverse that contains EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE ACTION OR CHOICE in the form of its own timeline. So, you wake up at 7 a.m., new timeline, you wake up at 7:01 a.m.? New timeline. You squish the spider, timeline; you don't, other timeline.

So everything that was possible or is possible exists at some point, there should even be timelines that exist for if you time travelled. You still wouldn't be able to kill yourself without cloning yourself first though, it would have already happened so you couldn't go back in time and kill yourself because you don't exist.

Random note, if you could move at a negative speed (not negative direction, negative SPEED), then you would age faster than everyone else.

 

[ThatPurpleGuy]

I won't get into all the depths but from the docos and info I have seen on it (which is quite a bit because its very interesting)its pretty much using light speed and accellerating 'through' time..You kind of have to think of time and space as one thing. It all come back to the theory of relativity.

Using unexact numbers if someone or something was to travel at light speed and travel for one year (human time) and then back again, in the theory of time travel this person would have gone forward 5000 years in time (remember inexact numbers, this is just to try and get the point across) because relative to the person or object they have only travelled two years but in space/time its been 5000 years...I know its confusing but remember this is all still theory even though there is alot of evidence to support it. There is tonnes more to it, of course but I think this is the basics of the theory.

The theory of travelling backward in time is much more complex..What you mentioned in the OP is what physicists call 'paradoxes'..If I went back in time and say that some circumstance changed and I killed my mother I could never have been born or existed. So they tend to try and use pretty far out theories like "string theory" to try and explain how it 'could' work but that stuff is very much just theory.

Its a fascinating subject hope I haven't confused you more with what I just wrote..Also I just wrote it for discussion sake so I hope some person truly in the know doesn't come and tear apart what I have written as there probably is some inaccuracies..This is just my basic understanding of it.

 

[||XIII]

Right, I'm still just a student, so my knowledge about this is rather limited, it's a hugely interesting subject though, and I'll try to answer to the best of my abilities.

All right, could somebody explain how time-travel is supposed to theoretically work. This comes from talking to my father-in-law and brother-in-law talking with me while watching some show that had geniuses discussing time travel and aliens. First, the odds of finding an intelligent alien race is slim to none. That would have to be after we find an alien planet that could sustain life forms. Also, how many species on our planet would we consider "intelligent" or intelligent enough that we would learn from them? Well, then how can we expect to find species outside of our galaxy. In essence, I'm saying that humans are evolutionary freaks (not only because of intelligence but because we fight wars and other actions that animals don't do).

Technically, you see all the traits that humans have, in other animals around the globe, there are even tribes of monkeys who wage simple war on each other, and kill in rage.

On to time travel, how would that work? They say that it would happen by going fast enough. First, I doubt that's even possible without every piece of machinery involved heating up and falling apart. Second, speed is distance divided by time so that equation is broken when you remove time...I think it's 2 different planes and going to the max of one will not cause transportation through the other.

First of all, your machinery wouldn't really heat up in space, considering that it's vacuum. Secondly, I do believe that you have actually observed the time altering effects of high speed, and concluded that time actually passes slower for an object which travels through space at great speed.

OT: they were wondering what would happen if you went back in time and shot your "old self". Well, I have to say that I don't see the logic in shooting myself for any reason other than morbid curiosity in the first place. Anyways, they found that concept intriguing since you would not be able to shoot yourself without eliminating your ability to go back in time and shoot yourself creating a paradox.

Well, time isn't really linear, but to explain that we have to get in on the allegedly 10 dimensional nature of existence, which is of course, impossible for us 4 dimensional beings to perceive. But basically, shooting yourself in the past would simply open up a new possible dimension of existence.
About actually going back in time, eh, I once saw a theory which explained that you theoretically could travel back in time, if you flew into the event horizon of two twin black holes.

 

[swolf]

Traveling backwards in time is impossible because causes happen before effects. Traveling forward is theoretically possible and involves moving really fast. Trust me, Stephen Hawking told me on TV.

Travelling forward in time is a simple matter of speeding up. That's it. It's actually slowing time for you, though everyone else is moving forward faster than you so you reach a future point at your current age.

Going back in time is going faster than the speed of light, which requires infinite amounts of energy, and is therefore 99.99999999% impossible. Until proven otherwise.

Also my thoughts on timelines. We exist in a one possible timeline in a multiverse that contains EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE ACTION OR CHOICE in the form of its own timeline. So, you wake up at 7 a.m., new timeline, you wake up at 7:01 a.m.? New timeline. You squish the spider, timeline; you don't, other timeline.

So everything that was possible or is possible exists at some point, there should even be timelines that exist for if you time travelled. You still wouldn't be able to kill yourself without cloning yourself first though, it would have already happened so you couldn't go back in time and kill yourself because you don't exist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmWuIgwDE_Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SijakVyXqD0

Random note, if you could move at a negative speed (not negative direction, negative SPEED), then you would age faster than everyone else.

I won't get into all the depths but from the docos and info I have seen on it (which is quite a bit because its very interesting)its pretty much using light speed and accellerating 'through' time..You kind of have to think of time and space as one thing. It all come back to the theory of relativity.

Using unexact numbers if someone or something was to travel at light speed and travel for one year (human time) and then back again, in the theory of time travel this person would have gone forward 5000 years in time (remember inexact numbers, this is just to try and get the point across) because relative to the person or object they have only travelled two years but in space/time its been 5000 years...I know its confusing but remember this is all still theory even though there is alot of evidence to support it. There is tonnes more to it, of course but I think this is the basics of the theory.

The theory of travelling backward in time is much more complex..What you mentioned in the OP is what physicists call 'paradoxes'..If I went back in time and say that some circumstance changed and I killed my mother I could never have been born or existed. So they tend to try and use pretty far out theories like "string theory" to try and explain how it 'could' work but that stuff is very much just theory.

Its a fascinating subject hope I haven't confused you more with what I just wrote..Also I just wrote it for discussion sake so I hope some person truly in the know doesn't come and tear apart what I have written as there probably is some inaccuracies..This is just my basic understanding of it.

Traveling backwards in time is impossible because causes happen before effects. Traveling forward is theoretically possible and involves moving really fast. Trust me, Stephen Hawking told me on TV.

Travelling forward in time is a simple matter of speeding up. That's it. It's actually slowing time for you, though everyone else is moving forward faster than you so you reach a future point at your current age.

Going back in time is going faster than the speed of light, which requires infinite amounts of energy, and is therefore 99.99999999% impossible. Until proven otherwise.

Also my thoughts on timelines. We exist in a one possible timeline in a multiverse that contains EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE ACTION OR CHOICE in the form of its own timeline. So, you wake up at 7 a.m., new timeline, you wake up at 7:01 a.m.? New timeline. You squish the spider, timeline; you don't, other timeline.

So everything that was possible or is possible exists at some point, there should even be timelines that exist for if you time travelled. You still wouldn't be able to kill yourself without cloning yourself first though, it would have already happened so you couldn't go back in time and kill yourself because you don't exist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmWuIgwDE_Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SijakVyXqD0

 

[GrinningManiac]

You cannot change the past

If you were to go back to 1933 and try to kill Hitler, for example, it would end in failure, because, as of 2010, 1933 has ALREADY HAPPENED, meaning that You being in 1933 HAS ALREADY HAPPENED.

Whatever you do does not change the timeline, or even change the way in which the timeline occurs. As far as the linearity of time is concnered, YOU WERE IN 1933.

Thus, nothing can be changed, and any attempt to do so will merely end in failure and/or causing that event to happen

 

[Tharwen]

It is impossible to change time, since time doesn't really exist.

You could, however, move every particle in the Universe to where it was exactly at the point that you intend to go to, although that's realistically impossible.

 

[||XIII]

You cannot change the past

If you were to go back to 1933 and try to kill Hitler, for example, it would end in failure, because, as of 2010, 1933 has ALREADY HAPPENED, meaning that You being in 1933 HAS ALREADY HAPPENED.

Whatever you do does not change the timeline, or even change the way in which the timeline occurs. As far as the linearity of time is concnered, YOU WERE IN 1933.

Thus, nothing can be changed, and any attempt to do so will merely end in failure and/or causing that event to happen

Then again, how much do we truly know about time? Time isn't necessarily linear just because we perceive it to be so.

 

[GrinningManiac]

You cannot change the past

If you were to go back to 1933 and try to kill Hitler, for example, it would end in failure, because, as of 2010, 1933 has ALREADY HAPPENED, meaning that You being in 1933 HAS ALREADY HAPPENED.

Whatever you do does not change the timeline, or even change the way in which the timeline occurs. As far as the linearity of time is concnered, YOU WERE IN 1933.

Thus, nothing can be changed, and any attempt to do so will merely end in failure and/or causing that event to happen

Then again, how much do we truly know about time? Time isn't necessarily linear just because we perceive it to be so.

I'm following a scientific reasoning of "Going with what we know so far". Of course, should I travel through time and find things to be different, I will come upon a new theory based on the 'true' workings of Time.

For now, however, I'm going with what I've got

Also, Spike is awesome

 

[||XIII]

I'm following a scientific reasoning of "Going with what we know so far". Of course, should I travel through time and find things to be different, I will come upon a new theory based on the 'true' workings of Time.

For now, however, I'm going with what I've got

Also, Spike is awesome

Well, can't really argue with that. It certainly is pragmatic viewpoint, but damn it, don't ruin my hope of experiencing the 20's and 30'!

Oh, and I agree whole heartedly.

 

[Canid117]

All right, could somebody explain how time-travel is supposed to theoretically work.

There is your first problem. Its not. Wormholes could work but that is because they are a connection of two points in space time and we have no where near the technology or the energy generation capabilities to make a worm hole. They are theorized to occur naturally in Black holes and white holes but actually getting to them is... an issue to say the least.

 

[GrinningManiac]

I'm following a scientific reasoning of "Going with what we know so far". Of course, should I travel through time and find things to be different, I will come upon a new theory based on the 'true' workings of Time.

For now, however, I'm going with what I've got

Also, Spike is awesome

Well, can't really argue with that. It certainly is pragmatic viewpoint, but damn it, don't ruin my hope of experiencing the 20's and 30'!

Oh, and I agree whole heartedly.

Ah, the beauty of MY theory is that you CAN travel back in time (20s is my first choice as well), you just can't change anything, and anything you TRY to change will either happen anyway, or happen BECAUSE of your intefering, thus coming full circle

 

[||XIII]

Ah, the beauty of MY theory is that you CAN travel back in time (20s is my first choice as well), you just can't change anything, and anything you TRY to change will either happen anyway, or happen BECAUSE of your intefering, thus coming full circle

Oh, but doesn't your very presence change it irrevocably? And considering the Butterfly effect, it would probably have dramatic results for the future. Sensitive dependence on initial conditions and all that.