Time Travel

[Linkette]

We all know that Link is able to travel through time. But is it really possible? Post your theories here.

When we look at stars we don't see them how they look just now we see them what they looked like millions of years ago.

But if we were travel in the future, it would be harder than travelling to the past because I heard someone saying that the future depends on us and our actions so there's no thing such as destiny.

Quite a few times I had dreams and they came true later. It was creepy.

Do you have any time travelling theories? Have ideas for building a time machine? Post them here.

[Master Kokiri 9]

I like the idea of time travel. Although it sadly is mere science fiction. Or is it? They said the same thing about Cat Scans and now they're common medical procedure like X-Rays. They also said the same thing about cloning but they did that too (not saying I agree with it though). Basically what I'm saying is that Time Travel at this particular moment is science fiction but may become science reality some day. If anything can make someone (or something) travel through time it's probably a black hole. I dunno why but it's the best shot. After all the matter they suck up... nobody really knows where (or when) it goes.

[Claire]

Time travel theories have been discussed concerning their plausibility for centuries. Albert Einstein's theory to relativity allowed the theoretical ability to travel through time. No one has yet demonstrated whether or not time travel is practical, but there are plenty of theoretical physicists who are persistent in showing a practical demonstration time travel. According to Einstein's theory of special relativity, time slows as an object approaches the speed of light. This leads many scientists to believe that traveling faster than the speed of light could open up the possibility of time travel to the past as well as to the future. The problem is that the speed of light is believed to be the highest speed at which something can travel, so it is unlikely that we will be able to travel into the past. As an object nears the speed of light, its relativistic mass increases until, at the speed of light, it becomes infinite. Accelerating an infinite mass any faster than that is impossible, or at least it seems to be right now.

Perhaps the most common, hypothetical methods for time travel to the past are via rotating black holes, wormholes, and cosmic strings. There are many theoretical physicists presenting their theories and opinions on time travel, or once have, including Carl Sagan, Kip Thorne, Stephen Hawking, Matt Visser, and Michio Kaku. There are also theories as to how to travel into the future, though, I'm more familiar with the time travel theories involving travel into history, or in the past.

[Linkette]

I've also read somewhere that it's possible to get out of a black hole but it takes millions (or thousands, I'm not sure) years. So if a person wanted to use black hole warp they would have to live for ever (or at least a lery long time)

[Subrosian]

Time is the human brain's inability to percieve everything at once.
So no, it wouldn't be possible.

[dug428]

How do you know that a guy that is standing in the house right beside you is not a timetraveler? We wouldn;'t know. Maybe one of us is time traveling, but we forgot. It sure is a mystery. It's not time traveling i'm worried about. It's time paradoxes. (The world exploding)

[miranda]

well time is relative

it would probably be a painful experience to travel through time anyway, and not really all that much worth it

[Seizure]

There is no such thing as "time travel" in the way most of us think of it. As Miranda said, time is relative.

According to the theory of relativity, time travel is indeed possible. The problem however is that the conditions under which it applies are virtually impossible for us to accomplish at this time, and possibly forever.

But if one were to entertain the possibility of traveling at speeds equal to, or even greater then the speed of light, then from what I understand, it isn't so much that time is slowing down (since time is relative to everything) but rather that, according to a very complex set of laws and derived equations, you are in a "pocket" of time, if you will, that in relation to everything else, goes slower then any objects around you that happen to not be moving as fast.

An example would be if you had identical twins. One becomes an Astronaut, and the other becomes a secretary. After an indefinite amount of rides on the rocket ship, the Astronaut will be noticeably "younger" then the secretary.

[zeldusfanaticus]

here be a bit of an explanation into einsteins ideas about space-time


imagine space-time as a flat plane ----------------------
this plane coulb also be percieved as a flexible sheet


gravity pulls in the space around it, right. so why not time as well, space-time being a single entity

on our s/t line place an object like the sun
--------O/--------

the mass of the sun pulls at the t-s stretching it tighter making s/t move around it faster to keep up with the rest, thus a second on the sun could be an X hours around or on earth.
so a black hole, which is an extremly dense object with extreme high gravity, high enough to catch light and pull it in.

a black hole on our s/t sheet might look like this

llllllllllllllllllll/-----------------------( the "l" are to keep the shape)
llllllllllllllllll/
llllllllllllllll/
llllllllllllll/
llllllllllll/
llllllllll/
llllllll/
llllll/
llll/
0

that might be a bit of an exxagaration but you get the idea
1 sec in black hole=(maybe)= X amount of years on earth, thus "time" moves on without you.
__________________________________________________ _______________

Now for some of my opinions on the issues with time travel.

1) you go back, whatever you do, its already been done. you could go back to try to avert a disaster, and you may find you were directly responsible.

2) all depends on how you go back
2a) jump from time-to-time, but in yearly increments. you "drop" out of time the earth still on its orbit.
2b) perhaps space-time many layers, every second recorded, large enogh force=temporary rift in space-time
2c) traveling faster than speed of light my be possble, but would require an enormous amount of energy, 'cause faster you go, more atoms pile up in front of you, increasing mass.

3) if #1 is true then really maybe the future is pre-destined. THE FUTURE IS SOMEONE ELSE'S PRESENT. OUR PRESENT IS THEIR PAST.


there's something for you to ponder

[Shadsie]

I think time traveling to the future would be dangerous. They say that time travel to the past would be the most dangerous, because of causality (you effect something small in the past and it botches up your "present" hence why Adolf Hitler gets assassination-immunity in most time travel stories). I think future time travel could potentially be more dangerous, at least on an individual level.

Frankly, I don't want to know my future. If I knew my "future" (present) in the past, I might have let myself die before my time. In fact, I once wrote a really bad short story spurred by an idea I had that "maybe I was supposed to die back in the past, and I'm temporally-displaced and that's why I'm so miserable now." I've gotten a *bit* better since then, but only by a bit.

Seriously, if I were to travel to the future and look my future-self up, I might find my future-self as an old woman, homeless and eating discarded Taco Bell out of a dumpster. If that is my fate, I do not want to know it. I would lose all hope for the present.

Likewise, if I were to travel to the future and find out that I've become the next grand fantasy novelist, or that my art has changed the art world or something cool like that, where my vision is seen and my voice is heard - all my wildest dreams... I might come back to my present with a loss of ambition. If I'm going to achive these great things anyway, why *work* so hard, why *try* so hard? That would lead to apathy, and to boredom, which would be just as dibilitiating to me as a loss of hope.

Also, imagine, if you will, traveling to the future so far that you wouldn't run into your future self, just to see what the world and society are like. What if you came to a future where everything's been destroyed in a firey cataclysm?

Or, perhaps even worse, the world is a shining utopia where everyone gets along and everything is just utterly happy, BUT this world is one that has no room for "people like you." Say, you're a Republican and this perfect world has abolished the Republican party, or you're religious in some fashion and this world is the shining athiest utopia that so many science fiction writers have thought will eventually happen in the future, or, conversely, perhaps you are an athiest and this world is, as strange as it might be, an explicitly religious utopia where people have come to agreement or some kind of "right way." Or, to give a Futurama reference, maybe you like Star Trek and in this world a thousand years in the future has come to see Star Trek fandom as dangerous and has banned all things Trek with extreme predjudice....

Long story short, you come upon a perfect, world, but find out that you are and always were WRONG and, what's more, this world has had to *rid itself of people like you* in order to become right. Now, how would that make you feel? Would you go back to your time and commit suicide for the sake of perserving the future? Perhaps you would gather others like you and tell them of this, encouraging them to "die and get out of the way" for the sake of your decscendants' happiness?

And all of these things could drastically change the futurescape from what it was once going to be.

Unless of course, your time travel into the future is as such as it does not allow you to return to the past or "your time." One-way trip. I think causality is minimized if not elimiated if it's only a one-way trip. After all, we are *all* traveling into the future in momentary increments and it's a one-way trip.


Also, I see time travel, particularly in regards to the future and changing stuff and being able to come back as something that would create multitudes of different offshoot universes - either that, or we'd all be traveling, messing up things so much that, much like the rest of nature, we humans would ruin things. I could see we humans, should we gain TARDS-es or Flux Capacitors just turning Space-Time into soup. Gray soup.

[fredthehylian]

Here are some reasons I think time travel wouldn't be possible:

1)If you went back in time, you would gradually grow younger and younger until you are un-born (I think that would be the correct term). I got this one from Calvin + Hobbes (It's a good comic for philosophy and humor). It only makes sense if you think about it. The time would affect your body, unless you used a complicated enough math equation, it should keep time busy.
2)If you were to see, touch, or hear yourself IRL back in time, it would be a paradox. You and your past self would fuse together thus sort of going back in time but I think the fusion may kill you, stay as two separate beings your whole lives not being able to go back to the way it was, or the universe would explode because the logics would go beyond universal comprehension, therefore the universe would be overwhelmed and combust.
3)Going back in time in the first place would erase either your original era, or you because you would go back in time, and in order to do that, you would need a mechanism that adjusts the timeline, therefore erasing whatever is in the future ahead of it.
4)The mechanism would not be able to cross time because it's neither invisible or nonexistent; it's everything around us.
5)In order to time travel, the machine would need to be able to remember every single thing that happened. That's not possible since the machine was just made, the hard drive would have to be at least the size of Asia, and in order to program it to remember every exact thing, we would need to copy the memory from every living thing, and some of them wouldn't want that, most of them are dead, and we can't copy memory from the brain onto a machine. Also, no one knows whats in the futures so you can cross that off.

But I'm just ruining our fun. If I could time travel, I would go back to a time of inflation in America (preferably the 1920s) and get all of the money which is worthless in that time, but over here it's worth alot. Then I could be extremely rich.

[Goron Guru]

I am curious to know: What time period would you most want to visit? For me... I'd want to go to the early 20th century, say, 1900-1930's. The main reason-- The time of the great airships. I'd kill to be able to ride in one of those, to be able to float across the skies like a cloud. And the cars-- a while back I watched as someone pulled up in a vintage car, and I thought about how awesome it'd be to see more of those around.

[ironknuckle1]

you know i always thought that it would be interesting to have a history class where they used time machines to teach. but on to your question IDk i might go back to famous events in history

[Ikana]

Hmmm I really don't know.Maybe to some of the years that I found interesting.Like early 1900s or so.

[Bigelover88]

Maybe I would like to go back to the 70's to watch my fav Hockey team win the Stanley Cup :p I am born in the 70's so I was too young to know :D

[Y2K3]

I'd go back to the mid-thirties, to the pace where I grew up. I've always had a huge interest in the history of that area, and combined with seeing my grandparents as teenagers would be kinda cool. :P

[octorok74]

The time period I would go to would be between WWI and WWII. Man, I would love to see a zeppilin fly overhead. I would also make sure to be at Lakehurst Naval Air Station to watch the greatest dirigible ever explode. Farewell Hindenburg, may you rest in peace and may Americans realize in the future that they should have given you Helium.

[Claire]

I'll assume we're sticking strictly to moving back in time, and not forward. In this case, there is an incredibly long list of where and when in time I'd like to visit. In particular, I'd be interested in spending a lot of time within the 16th and 17th centuries. The opportunity to sit down with Newton, Leibniz, Galilei, Kepler, and Brahe would be not only extraordinary, but nothing short of inspiring for an individual who takes a love in the sciences; whom is habitually inquisitive with a determination to learn. However, due to my gender, my rights would be extremely limited even in such a recent century. Due to this set back, I'd be more than happy to travel further back, as I couldn't pass up the chance to observe, first hand, the evolution of early hominids and other creatures from prehistoric time. Even the ability to test and study the environment and life forms present in prehistoric time would provide huge benefits to modern science and our understanding of the world.

[Zarom]

I would like to go back to the 70's. It seems like this era was one of the best. And then I could also see the first video games come out, as well as music at that time. I've always liked music, and there was some interesting artists during that time.

[Dark Princess]

I would love to go back in time to the Renaissance. That's when people started getting interested in many different things, such as learning and art. I love to learn, and I love to draw, and being able to learn how to paint like they did would be truly amazing. :3

[Justin]

Without heavily going into Theory of Relativity, I'll just say that theoretically time travel can only go into the future, not in the past. The earliest someone could go into the past, is the time that they left. The science channel does a really nice flash/slide show of time travel without getting into physics too much. http://science.discovery.com/interactives/time-machine/time-machine.html

For me, I would be happy just to go back 5 minutes back. I would go to casinos and use the ability to gamble and win. Lol.

[K4KING]

I would go back 5 years in to my own life. I want to undo the things that i have done to my friends and enemies and make things right. I wanted to do things before it's too late and prevent misfortunes in the future. Everything i can do within that time will be good as long as everyone i meet is satisfied. I also wanted to stop my addiction to Yu-Gi-Oh. It was crazy.

[Pop 360]

If you had a time machine would you re-live anything in your life?...

Maybe you did something you regret or want to do again...?

Me?
I want to re-live going to kingswood in year six Good times:lol:

[athenian200]

I think I'd want to relive High School, because I'd like to go back and set myself up better for going to college. If I'd known back then how important it was, I would have tried to get into a better position to go to college.

I focused too much on my High School diploma, and thought college preparation was a distraction and too far in the future to worry about.

[Atsuma]

Yeah, I'd go back in time and stay there forever if I could. Not really, but if I could, I would relive several moments from my life, yes. Who wouldn't? XD

[Shadsie]

I'd merely prepare a speech or a letter warning my younger self not to make the mistakes I have made and to get treated for certain problems early.

I'm not sure I'd actually want to re-live anything in my life... *possibly* kindergarten, because kindergarten was fun and was the last time I remember being happy every day. After that, it was all downhill.

[Austin]

Somewhat along the lines of what Athenian said. I'm still in high school and can get into a college, but definitely not as good as the ones I could have gotten into, had I treated freshman year a bit more seriously. I failed about... four classes that year, so even if my junior and sophmore year GPA's are around a 3.5, my freshman year grades bring it down to a 2.7-ish. Even if I do amazing on all my tests, I still won't be able to erase what happened that year. If the admissions office look at the background behind my GPA I won't do so bad, but if they simply see a 2.7 they may just rule it out then and there.

[Xinnamin]

There are a few things I really really regret in my life and wish I could change.

For one, I would want to stop myself from ever quitting Chinese School as a kid. That is the single greatest mistake I've ever made in my life and I've never lived that down.

I'd probably also want to retake my Sophomore year's PSAT (a test that can qualify you for a scholarship if you score high enough). I didn't take it seriously and simply refused to study, still placed among the top in the nation, but my score was just a few points (about 2-3 points) shy of qualifying for that scholarship. So close! I'm never going to live that down either.

[enemytracker]

I would stop a rivality with a friend of mine... Plus I would edit/correct some of my posts...

[Pocket Asian]

If I had a time machine, I would probably do two things:

First, I would stop myself from becoming big. I was pretty chubby in 7th and 8th grades and it took me two years to burn the fat. I'd rather just avoid that.

Second, I would tell myself to be more social. I'm not talkative, I think it started in the seventh grade when I moved down to Florida. I was pretty quiet, didn't talk to anyone and I have few friends. And even now I'm still very quiet, and still have few friends now in my second year of high school, which is almost over.

[penguinboy82]

I would go relive third grade. I loved that year!!! But, I would come back RIGHT after 3rd grade year Summer, because my 4th grade... Well, it SUCKED!

[Zeruda]

I've heard this question before and have considered how I would answer... really, I'm one that believes that everything happens for a reason. No, I don't mean destiny or fate, because I don't believe in that, but I do believe that things happen because of the choices we make, and those choices greatly effect us down the road. I am the person I am today because of the choices I made and experiences I had in the past, and I'm extremely proud of who I am-- faults and all.

Given the option of using a time machine, would I go into the past and relive my life or make changes? Maybe, maybe not. I'm unsure. Like anybody else, I've had my fair share of hardships and I've made plenty mistakes. There are instances of my past where, had I chosen a different path, some parts of my current life might be changed for the better; however, there are also many good memories and experiences I have that, if I made a good choice where I had previously made a bad one, I probably wouldn't have some of those good memories or experiences.

When my duty in the Army was done, my Granny had recently taken a fall. My brother had been around that day, and when he heard her calls from the other room, he ignored her because he thought she was just doing her usual nagging. When he eventually found that she had fallen and hurt herself, he was mortified and blamed it all on himself. My Granny was hospitalized and would have made a full recovery had one of the nurses not dropped her on the hard floor and injured her further.

It was at this point that my now fiance, who I had met through the internet, bought me a ticket to visit him in Pennsylvania on the opposite side of the country. I visited, and he and his mother asked me to stay. I knew my Granny's condition. My dad warned me that she wouldn't last much longer. I made a mistake: Granny was terrified of dying, and she wanted me around. Instead of being with her, and instead of helping my brother realize it wasn't his fault, I chose to stay in PA. I thought, "Oh, they'll be alright."

They weren't. My Granny died only about two weeks later. My brother took a hard mental hit, and here I was, livin' it up with my honey. It was a big, big mistake.

But, if I had a time machine, would I go back and change things? No, no I would not. Because of my mistake, I learned many lessons. I learned to appreciate life more and I learned to pay more attention to those who loved me. I learned that I need to cherish what moments I do have. My fiance has a brain/cancer-- if I hadn't experienced the issue with my Granny, I probably wouldn't be taking the time to truly cherish what I have now, because who knows how long he could last? I learned that people depend on me, and I have responsibilities that need to be taken care of. I learned that people like my brother learn from my actions.

If I had just visited and then gone back home, I don't think my relationship would exist right now. I'd never have got into the gaming industry. I probably wouldn't be living independently. I wouldn't be the responsible person I am today.

Maybe I'm answering this question a little too seriously, but it's something I've thought about a lot. So.... if I did have a chance to relive my life- the good and the bad- then maybe I'd do it.... but I wouldn't change a thing.

[February Eve]

If I had to go back and time, I'd probably tell myself to be more athletic in high school. My family never placed a big priority, and I think I missed out on getting the "team" experience during some of my formative years. I also think it influenced my (lack of) fitness as an adult.

Of course, along the same lines as what Zeruda says, who knows what may have happened if I had. Perhaps I would have injured myself and made it impossible to play a sport in the future. Still, it's a lesson for the future I ever have kids - I'm not going to push them into sports, but I'm going to be supportive of any interest they show no matter their natural ability.

Also, I lived in Japan for a couple years, and I wish I had visited more places while I was there. At least this gives me a reason to visit again, though. :)

[Master Kokiri 9]

Extremely wise words

Agreed Zeruda. Things happen for a reason and both the good and bad things shape us. Basically speaking, I don't want to make my bad times good times which will erase all the good times I had.

But, I'd definately relive a lot of things. I'd relive my early years of gaming (back when I was three) to have the same good times I had beating Aladdin and my cherished mornings of playing SMB3 with my mom. I'd also relive my days of when Gen III was the main focus in Pokemon.

[TreeHuggerPanda]

I think I'll re-live my 4th and 5th grade year, thank you very much. They were like the best years of my life so far. Awesomely awesome teachers, awesome family vacations, (going to Canada:D, which I don't go on vacations very often, except NYC and DC) going to the best religious summer camp ever, (my family is really religious, but I try to avoid church when I can and really, it wasn't that religious, it was more fun) meeting one of my best friends... (she moved in in the fourth grade, into the old house of my other best friend... it's a long story...) and more gaming in Zelda... yeah, good times... but I'd tell myself to try to not make stupid mistakes and not to worry about 5th grade graduation, because that was my biggest fear of not going back to elementary school and living in stress and homework (aka, 6th grade... stupid lit. teacher...)

[Meego]

I would have never quitted dance school when I was five then I would be in a really good grade by now... I would probably undo all the arguments I had and stuff like that.

[Shadsie]

Very interesting story, Zeruda... and I'm able to see "miracles in the mundane" with a lot of things, including a lot of my mistakes. For instance, I wouldn't go back in time to catch myself falling down the stairs like I did recently - I had pain and inconvience, but I learned a lot from it, so it's a painful experience I'm actually glad happened.

However, I think that if I could get ahold of my teenage or even younger self and say "Okay, kid, you are bioplar. Now, I know, I know, you've been denying the symptoms becuase your brother has that and he's an *******, but trust me you *aren't* an *******, you aren't like him, GET TREATED," I think my life could have been significantly better. I think I would have had at least a slightly a better time of it (maybe been able to keep a non-charity given job) if I'd been drugged from an early age.

Now, now, suffering and pain are what fuels art and writing for me... sometimes. I think some of my work - particularly my original wiriting work - is as rich as it is because of what I suffer and what I have suffered. My unique experiences become my work. However, if I don't get my work published and known, if my voice fails to get out there, then the pain of my past experiences pretty well mean nothing today, and yes, I think me with a Time Machine just might try to change things, even if it meant the prospect of current-me fading from existance as a result. (And I'm *terrified* of non-existance).

Maybe if I ever get power/money one day, I'll use my experiences to crusade for mental health awareness. If this happens, yeah, maybe some good has come from my life.

[Tyler]

I would fix mistakes I've made in my life. Then again, that could dramatically affect present-day

[Ninten*]

Well I would change the fact that I would have broken my Rubik's Cube. By that I mean the pieces have broken off. I would also go to where I last put MKDS so I wouldn't have lost it. But it could be hard to not let past me see present me. Good thing I had dinner at Chilie's.

[splashmans]

i would like to be a kid again...live my life...again..... :)

If you had a time machine would you re-live anything in your life?...

Maybe you did something you regret or want to do again...?

Me?
I want to re-live going to kingswood in year six Good times:lol:

[Hyrulianking]

I would go back to a day at the beginning of October last year, when I was running cross country, an re-run a race that we won. cross country teams are scored by taking the places of their top five to finish, and adding up the score. I was 15 yards away from the finish line, and I was my teams fifth person and I was right behind another team's fifth person, whom I had been following the entire time. I was crying because at that point I was in severe pain, but everyone on my team was yelling at me to get that one guy, so I sprinted past him right there at the finish line. There was less than a second's space between our times, but because I was able to pass him, we won. I have never felt as satisfied about how I did in something as I did that day. And it's real proof that if you keep you eyes on your goal, and work hard, it will pay off.

[Skull Kid]

I would go back to freshman year in high school! I know that the year everyone thinks thats a bad year and freshman friday stuff like that. But my year was great and those times were great!! :) :) :)

[OrlovYan]

Time traveling is cool, but I wouldn't do it, humans tand to make mistakes, and a time travaling human might **** up everything and everyone, creating paradoxes etc...

[Cincoplation]

Well i think it might be possible in theory but i dont think human technology is capable of that. In theory if you where to get into a ship that goes at 99% the speed of light time for you would go slower than time for the people out of the ship. If you where to observe the people from the ship you would see them going alot faster than normal because the time your experienceing would be much slower. If you where to stay there for a year and come back to earth everyone you knew would either be really old or dead.

[Kybyrian]

Well i think it might be possible in theory but i dont think human technology is capable of that. In theory if you where to get into a ship that goes at 99% the speed of light time for you would go slower than time for the people out of the ship. If you where to observe the people from the ship you would see them going alot faster than normal because the time your experienceing would be much slower. If you where to stay there for a year and come back to earth everyone you knew would either be really old or dead.

You must have been watching the same program as my uncle, was it perhaps on a month or so ago?

Anyway, time travel. I believe it could really be possible, but man, I hope it doesn't come around. Just think about all the things time travel could do. We'd rip the universe a new one. Imagine everybody being able to travel back and forth through time, just doing whatever they please. When you think of it that way, you already know that if it ever comes up the best thing to do is kill yourself, or join in and kill George W. Bush's ancestors.