The Philosophy Of Time Travel

i think we need a better understanding of what time actually is and be able to quantify that mathmatically.. but then again this is labeled the philosophy of time travel.. so guess i shouldnt say much. i wont.

-G

philosophically speaking.....

So many people see time as purely linear, with any decision/ change " splitting" the thread so to speak....

I would hypothisize instead time being like a river of water, and any specific act or decision as essentially inconsequential....

not to be critical, but i dont think their would be a butterfly effect, any change or alteration would simply be swallowed up by a counter decision action made by the flow of time (god"?) so as to render it neutral....

go back in time 2 kill hitler, perhaps goering or another steps into his shoes, prevent jfk from attending his fate in the motercade, he is assasinated another day....

I do believe in freedom of choice, but with that said i also believe in predetermination

whats meant to be is meant to be.....and so it will be

just my 2 cents

sometimes i wish i had a remote. this was before they came out with the movie "Click," and i could pause, rewind, and fast forward time until i essentially had the perfect life. but, as i got older, i realized that i dont want a perfect life. it is healthy NOT to have one. if everyone walked around with a perfect life, they would be bored out of their minds and depressed becarse nothing excited them anymore.

i dont want that, and thats why i believe time should be played out by God and God alone.

sometimes i wish i had a remote. this was before they came out with the movie "Click," and i could pause, rewind, and fast forward time until i essentially had the perfect life. but, as i got older, i realized that i dont want a perfect life. it is healthy NOT to have one. if everyone walked around with a perfect life, they would be bored out of their minds and depressed becarse nothing excited them anymore.

i dont want that, and thats why i believe time should be played out by God and God alone.

Originally posted by canuck7500

You make a good point. I suppose if time weren't linear (Foward, backward etc..) then this whole Idea of traveling through time to change events would become pointless and futile. But take your theory, the river. Throw a rock in a flowing river, it splashes and makes ripples but within seconds the river is flowing normally again. But, that rock is now in the river slightly altering the flow of the water that hits it. Therefore, there is still an effect. Even though it is not noticeable to the naked eye.

An observer sees only that which is measurable right then and there, the lasting effects never cease. Which is where we get the "Butterfly Effect" even if time is more like a river than it is measurable.

I think you will find this story amusing and interesting. This guy named Michael Marcum accidentally opened up a Stargate or portal. This is just part 1 of 7 parts.

you know what i just dont think time travel i possible. all because of free will. it seems to me like you cannot have both. i think one of the biggest things that makes me a sentient being is my free will, its what sets me apart from a robot. if you could travel in time for example into the future to see what happens, your basically saying that the future is predetermined, so where does free will come into this. if the future is set in stone and you can see it by traveling in time then then our lives are all planed out for us, predetermined and we are just traveling along set time . time travel or free will don't think you can have both , probly could explain it better but im tired. basically i dont want to believe in time travel because other wise its just another reason for our consciousness to be explained away as a marvelous soulless natural computer program. hope thats philosophical enough to fit with the title im off to bed

Originally posted by luka1222
you know what i just dont think time travel i possible. all because of free will. it seems to me like you cannot have both. i think one of the biggest things that makes me a sentient being is my free will, its what sets me apart from a robot. if you could travel in time for example into the future to see what happens, your basically saying that the future is predetermined, so where does free will come into this. if the future is set in stone and you can see it by traveling in time then then our lives are all planed out for us, predetermined and we are just traveling along set time . time travel or free will don't think you can have both , probly could explain it better but im tired. basically i dont want to believe in time travel because other wise its just another reason for our consciousness to be explained away as a marvelous soulless natural computer program. hope thats philosophical enough to fit with the title im off to bed

You have the same dilemma that so many people do. If, in fact, free will is the case then I suppose time travel to the future would be impossible. But if you base the assumption that it IS possible, then quantum theory comes into play. The multiverse theory. Where free will is just an illusion. In this theory, every possibility is played out somewhere. Here, you decide to get a Dr. Pepper instead of a Coca Cola. Somewhere else you decided to get the Coca Cola. You each made a different choice depending on what you wanted, but the possibility for both already existed. Therefore, determinism is real because you can only have but so many choices for any given situation.

reply to post by MKULKTRA121


We already have the "means": ourselves.
(And I am not being sophistic here.)

On a more practical note: have you read "The Yoga of Time Travel" or some other F. A. Wolf's books?

From what little I've seen, they seem to be among the best on the subject.

Ive only read the original OP.

But your friend is wrong.

That logic doesnt go anywhere near outside the box (isnt that what time travel is anyways?).

His premise is an assumption. That is, he ASSUMES that a time traveller would somehow reveal themselves to us all and everyone eveywhere would know about it.

That may not be the case (in fact, for those who 'remote view' this is not the case at all - and you who know, know what I am talking about.)

If I were a time traveller, I may (or may not) feel the need (need-to-know-basis?) to let you in on the secret. My mission may not have anything to do with you, and therefore you wouldn't know anything about it, unless I personally wanted you to know.

THERE MAY VERY WELL BE TIME TRAVELLERS AMONGST US AND WE WOULDNT KNOW IT.

It does of course sound far-fetched, but its true nontheless.

(and for just a quick shiggles, check this out - you could not possibly prove that I or anyone else is NOT a time traveller... how could/would you do it?)

Just like anyone you meet could be an Angel, anyone you meet could be a Time Traveler... and you wouldnt even know it...

Personally, I dont think Ive ever encountered one, but I dont close-off the possibility of its reality just beacuse of that... the window is still open to possibilities that I have yet to encounter...

Grock

We can only assume that during some point in our evolution we will figure out how to go back in time. Given the fact that we haven't heard from the future probably tells us that it is against the rules. If someone were to go against this rule then he could be suspended from ever making the trip in the first place, creating a paradox...lol

reply to post by deadangel23


There is no reason to assume that everybody has to somehow reach a level where that would be possible "for all". (Has that ever been the case with anything else in human history?)

It already IS possible.
Those who can do it, CAN do it.

As to why we don't "hear" from them... ANY answer would presuppose yet another assumption - and assumptions are not healthy, believe you me.

But there would certainly be many possible answers to juggle with.

Perhaps "they" are not fully aware that they ARE in the past;
perhaps they are afraid;
or, my personal favourite, perhaps they just don't feel the need - or the RIGHT - to "tell" anything.
After all... what would YOU tell somebody from the past - knowing that telling it would change that same past?
(Which, by the way, need not be as "fatal" as it it usually presented, but that's a different story...)

But whoever is waiting for technology, is wasting time, in my opinion.




p

[edit on 13-12-2007 by Vanitas]

reply to post by deadangel23


unless the present time is somehow the "first occurance of time." if we are at the front of the line on the timeline so to speak, and if there is no time ahead of us, then we are doing everything for the first time. also, there is no future us, so how can a future us go back in time to our current time? its not possible.

the chances of my little unbased theory of being true is slim, but its just a suggestion that i was thinking of that i thought might keep the conversation moving.

There is no real answer to that, only theories. The theory that I am still propagating is that every possibility exists because at some point we will be faced with decisions. We face decisions every second of our lives. Our future selves will be based upon what decisions are made between the now and the future. Now, assume you are in the present which is the future compared to the present that you existed in 3 years ago. You are in the future compared to then, but it is still your present. That means that the past existed and the future also exists because every second brings you to the future as compared to the second before. In the present, you decide to go back to the former present which is now the past. That past has become the present because you are experiencing it, therefore any decisions that you make that differ from what was already played out will have an adverse effect on the future.

Now you can argue that since you went into the past that became the present, the future is now the past because you no longer experience it. That is the beauty of it. The past can be changed, which will change the future, which is now the past. I believe I have just proved my point that time is only relevant to the observer. Past, present and Future all exist as one. Altering one alters all. Perhaps an in depth understanding and action with this type of Knowledge is what God is.