If one could travel back in time, would it be possible to interact with persons/events or only to observe?

Question

Many time travel movies have been produced, fascinating many sci fi fans for years. My question is whether it is possible to interact with people, places, and events and affect outcomes in the future from that time or rather that our role would be merely that of an observer, having read a book that had been written but cannot be edited.

Answer 1

When we watch a video we are observing the past but we cannot interact with it.
If we could interact with the people in the video we could, conceivably, create a paradox (if it were possible to create a paradox, which it is not).
A paradox is an impossible state of affairs, and it is not possible to create one.
Because it is impossible to create a paradox, it is also impossible to interact with the past in any way, with the exception of observing only.
So, to recap: Interacting with the past would inevitably create paradoxes, but paradoxes are impossible, so, interacting with the past is also impossible.

Contrary to popular belief, traveling at greater than light speed will not make you go back in time.
For example,
Alpha Centauri is 4.2 light years away.
But let's say that I travel to Alpha Centauri at four times the speed of light.
It takes me 1.05 years to get there.
Do I arrive before I left Earth?
No, I get there 1.05 years after I leave Earth.

Also, the notion of parallel universes has no scientific basis.
The quantum theory does not suggest their existence.
Parallel universes are the creation of people who want to go back in time and need a loophole.

Answer 2

The theory of Presentism states there is no reality in the future or past, only the present is real. The past has happened and is gone - no longer real and does not exist. The future has not happened yet - can't be real. By this theory, there is no past or future to travel to.

In addition, think of our world. Events occur, create an effect, then are past. However, once they are in the past, the events are no longer tangible. By the same reference of time, however miniscule the changes may be, the earth is constantly changing and every infinitely impossible advance in time presents a changed world which leaves it's old self in the past - no longer real or tangible. So how can someone travel back or forward in time when there is no real thing there to visit?

It also seems to me that the Law of Conservation of Matter (matter can neither be created or destroyed) would be violated because, a time traveler for example, would appear in a world where he already existed and induce extra matter which could have arguably severe ramifications. This also goes for the world in which the time traveler left. Time travel theories are only valid if they fit to the laws of physics. A theory cannot be valid if it violates certain laws or demonstrates properties of the the universe that don't exist. So, by the way we presently understand the universe, I don't believe time travel is at all possible.

However, if time travel were possible, I believe there is no way that a traveler could only observe without altering time. His very prescence would create an alteration in time.

Answer 3

science believes time travel is possible, but not exactly how to do it yet. Science also believes that there are infinte amount of other universes, and that our universe is just a bubble in a ocean of other bubbles(universes). Stephen hawing said 30 years ago that black holes eat information (the info doesnt exist anymore). And then other scientists got mad, saying that "no, how can a black hole eat information". Stephen hawing then revised, and restated that "in universes without the black hole, the information doesnt get erased."

So in a nutshell, you can interact with all the people you want because by going "back in time" you would just create a tangent reality that manifests based on something you did.

IE: you go back to time, and make your parents not have you. It wouldnt make you dissapear,instead it would just create a tangent reality where you dont exist. (but that reality already exists now). Everything that can happen IS happening right now.


Hope this is of some help,

ywCrZ

Answer 4

It depends. You can do some things, but not others. For example, you can't eat the food because in the past people ate things that were different from what we eat now. Same thing with sports - the rules change over time and you probably would not be good at the games they played in the past. Also, there was no TV. So forget about catching your favorite show. You have to make some sacrifices when travelling back in time. (Unless you travel beck in time just to watch a show that you missed. Which is fine).

Answer 5

If time space is linear, then you cannot go back in time, period. Going back in time would permit you to kill your grandparents, thereby negating your parents existence, thereby negating your existence, thereby making it impossible for you to kill your grandparents. This is called a paradox. So, if time is linear, you couldn't travel back in time, at all.

However, there is the theory of multiple universes, which is backed up by quantum theory, which suggests that their are an infinite number of alternate universes, that differ by at least one particle all the way up to an infinite number of particles. So in the next universe, you might have a typo in your question, and in the next one you never wrote the question, and in the next one you don't even own a computer...etc. In a distant universe you've been dead for the past 5 years, and in another you are running for president...etc. You follow?

If this is the case, then you could travel back to another universe that only differs from your own by a teeny bit, and could interact with others and kill your own relatives without it affecting the reality in the universe you belong to.

A while back there was a guy named John Titor who claimed to be from the future that used this theory in his account of how time travel would be possible. His account of everything (including the future) was very compelling and a lot of scholars picked at his brain for the longest time, and then one day he mysteriously disappeared. I think he was living in Florida. You might want to look into it. His account of what happens to the world in the near future is not very pretty btw.

Answer 6

You can't affect outcomes, because if you did, you would never have needed to time travel in the first place, and thus the outcome would never have been changed...and so on.

Time travel creates a lot of paradoxes, which is why I find it hard to believe it will ever be possible.

Answer 7

I believe that if time travel were possible, we could interact with events and people and greatly or ever so slightly change the future.

Answer 8

I think that if you travel back in time, the past time you go to will not resemble the one you remember in any way shape or form. Nothing in the universe violates the principle of causality, so if I could 'rewind' my existence, and go back to 5 years ago, would there be me and my 5 years younger self? If I kill my younger self, do I die? If we cannot answer these questions, then we cannot conceive of time travel to the past 'rewinding' our understanding of reality.

Answer 9

Well, according to Einstein's theory of relativity, time travel is possible. But, you have to travel faster than the speed of light to go back in time.
The theory is that everything we see in real time is at the speed of light. If you travel faster than the speed of light, you'll pass up everything that's happening right now. When you stop, the light that you passed up will catch up to you in reverse order. So you'll see everything in reverse order and see everything going back in time. You'll be able to interact with everything that's around you but you won't be able to interact with the things that you're seeing going backwards in time because it's just light and not real objects.

Let's say you flew faster than the speed of light. Well, when you stop, you'll see yourself flying back because your eyes are catching the light closest to you first, and the rest of the light that you left behind are just barely catching up to you.

I'm not sure how well that explains it but read Einstein's Theory of Relativity to understand it better.

Answer 10

lol no one is really qualified to answer this but my question is if u did travel back in time what if u traveled right before u did go back in time and stopped ur self would this stop u from existing in the past?lol who knows gl with u question.