time travel. its never going to happen!?

Question

because deaths such as diana, john lennon and other exceptionally nice and talented people proof enough that there will never be the capabilities to discover time travel, surely if time travel was possible then these kind of people would have been saved.

Answer 1

I disagree. The ethics of time travel would probably prohibit efforts to change the past, especially in individual cases like that. What if changing the past could drastically affect the future in a way we couldn't predict? There's a chance that altering the past wouldn't affect our present at all. Quantum theory suggests multiple universes, so our timeline may just be one of infinite alternate realities.

Talking time travel gives me a headache.

Answer 2

Time travel into the past is impossible simply because it requires a body to move faster than the speed of light. To do this is impossible as Einstein proved that the energy needed would be greater than all the energy that exists within the normal space of our universe. However, travel to the future is possible via time dilation. As you approach the speed of light, time seems to go quicker for the rest of existence from the traveller's point of view. If you do the equations, it's possible to work out the speed needed to go say, 1000 years into the future in what seems like one year. Problem here is the technology to go that fast doesn't currently exist. And it's a bit pointless going to the future to get trapped there. But basically, as far as the physics goes as far as I know, travelling to the past cannot happen. But who knows, people once believed the world was flat!

If any means of travel to the past was found, there would surely be something that would prevent interference with the time line, otherwise anything could happen and we'd never know. Perhaps some things have been altered in the past, but we'd never be able to tell as everything would be effected. It results in a horrible number of paradoxes as the traveller wouldn't need to go back, but then would, etc. Best to leave time travel to Star Trek and Doctor Who I'd say.

Answer 3

Time travel is only possible in movies where it is easy to fool the moviegoers into believing that it is true. Not for a thousand years will the concept of traveling through time be realized. But you say that nobody thought computers will become a reality? In the past, films and other entertainment venues concocted the idea of computers even before scientists thought of inventing such things. Well then, I say, inventing computers is much easier than inventing a machinery that could travel through time. Time is one thing man cannot change.

Answer 4

How do we know time travel is not possible? If a reality had been changed, how would we know? The changed reality would become the real reality. Maybe in another reality John Lennon was not murdered by some nutter or The Princess of Wales was not killed by some drunk at the wheel of a Mercedes in Paris. That reality was changed by some time traveller who had no respect for good music and was a Republican and not a Royalist.

Answer 5

Not to mention six million innocent victims of the Holocaust. And 20 million Soviets in WW2. And over a million people in Rwanda. And Cambodia. One cannot go back and change the past. First of all, that would allow the possibility of the time traveller affecting his own likelihood of being born. Paradoxes galore in this subject. The Back to the Future and Terminator trilogies dealt with the matter in interesting ways. Even Bill and Ted's Most Excellent Adventure had some interesting and amusing twists.
No, NO! I didn't actually *watch* that movie. I only *heard* about it!!!

(Yeah, right. Sheesh.)

Answer 6

Although you may be right, I'd never say never about it. With all the amazing things that have happened over the last hundred years, we just don't know. Should time travel ever happen, there may be rules in place concerning the altering of history. If so then celebrities will not be saved, as this would change the course of events.

Answer 7

So where is our intrepid time traveller? History shows that no time traveller has ever visited us from the future, therefore it's never going to happen. This appears at first glance to be a good solid argument against the possibility of time travel, but the argument is flawed. It may be that time travellers from the future have visited us, but have not revealed themselves in order to avoid changing the future. Alternatively, time travel may be possible, but only into the future, the past already having been determined. Finally, time travel into the past may be possible, but only into a different (alternative) universe, thus avoiding paradoxes. The fact that we have no record of having been visited by time travellers does not exclude its possibility.

Answer 8

I disagree. The ethics of time travel would probably prohibit efforts to change the past, especially in individual cases like that. What if changing the past could drastically affect the future in a way we couldn't predict? There's a chance that altering the past wouldn't affect our present at all. Quantum theory suggests multiple universes, so our timeline may just be one of infinite alternate realities.

Talking time travel gives me a headache.

Answer 9

nurgle69- In theory, Tachyon's don't exist, either, because they show an instability in Quantum Mechanics, from the same source you quoted!

But, as to time travel, in theory travel forwards in time is relatively easy, just travel fast enough and far enough for time dilation to take effect then come back to your starting point. The astronauts on the International Space Station experience it to a limited degree- they are several minutes younger per year living on the station than people on the Earth. (They have to take time dilation into account when transporting Atomic Clocks, as well.)

But, as to travelling backwards in time?

Highly unlikely, as it would require more energy than there is in the whole universe to accelerate one atom of Hydrogen to the speed of light- so breaking the light barrier is impossible.

Certain exotic theories do allow the potential to send certain sub-atomic particles backwards in time. But, that is not 'time travel' as we understand the term- as no 'information' is sent- because the sending of information would violate the laws of causality.

One theory, which I particularly like- based on an idea put forwards by Stephen Hawking, is that whilst you can travel backwards in time, you cannot travel any further back in time than to the time machine was first created. e.g: If the first time machine is created 01/01/2100, for arguements sake, then any time traveller using it cannot go backwards any further than 01/01/2100.

Which might explain why we've never seen any time travellers?
(Of course, it might also just be that time travel is impossible.)

Answer 10

Your logic is flawed, someone could have just as easily went back in time to assasinate them and we would never know.

Remember its not a question of will we discover time travel, but have we discovered it in the future. For all we know WW2 could have been won by Germany, then a German speaking decendant of the English could have went back in time and killed Hitler, burned his body before disappearing again. Thus creating an alternate future which we are part of

(Yes i know Hitler was 'assasinated by a time traveller' after he lost the Battle Of Britain and after the Soviets turned against him [again] I'm just getting you thinking)