if you go backwards over the international date line, isn't that like going back in time 1 day?

Answer 1

You can enjoy your birthday twice! Just be careful you don't do it wrong or you could get screwed out of your bday--it happened to me!

Edit--wow, Dr. Spock gave this question a far better answer than it deserved. :p

Answer 2

WOW, YES! And if you want to go back a week, you just go round the world seven times, or to go back in time a year, you go on round 365 times ... . The possibilities are endless! I assume that you've booked your ticket to Stockholm !!

I hope you realize that I'm not being serious. You can achieve the same "effect" by simply taking your watch and RESETTING it EARLIER by 24 hours, because basically that's all you're doing when you "go backwards" over the IDL. It DOESN'T mean that you have backtracked a whole day in the actual course of your life.

If you continued travelling (quickly) in the same direction around the Earth, you'd have to set your watch forward by one hour for each time zone that you crossed. So, by the time you got back to where you started, your time would of course agree EXACTLy with whatever time it would be by then in the zone that you started from.

Again, you could achieve the same effect standing still, by deciding to put your watch forward by 1 hour periodically, 24 times (after initially setting it back 24 hours)!

The point I'm trying to make is that whatever time a clock shows, whether it's on your wrist or in the zone you happen to be standing in, is merely a convention chosen for convenience. The effect that happens when you cross the IDL is merely something necessary to PREVENT ABSURD RESULTS which you might otherwise THINK could happen if you went whizzing many times around the Earth in rapid succession, as I was first suggesting you could do.

Whatever conventions we humans adopt like this for dealing with locally agreed time at different places on Earth has NOTHING to do with, and does NOT affect, the passing of our own personal time.

Live long and prosper.

Edit. Why, thank you, Bekki B! Truth is, I give almost EVERY question "a far better answer than it deserve[s]," although, alas, that is not always recognized. Thanks again for your acuity and rare insight.

Answer 3

I stood with one foot on each side and made a fortune in the stock market

Answer 4

If you cross going east you'll gain a day. Go west you cross in to yeserday.

Answer 5

AWESOME! I HAVE DISCOVERED TIME TRAVEL!
SWWEEEEEET!