I was thinking about time travel. There is a standard paradox that says if anyone goes back in time and does anything that means they would never be able to go back in time in the first place causes a contradiction and therefore time travel is not possible e.g. I go back in time and kill myself or further back and kill one of my parents then I cannot exist therefore I cannot have gone back in time. Similarly, if in the past I walked through a meadow and saw a flower, then afterwards I go back in time to just before I walked through the meadow and I pick the flower. I have both seen and cannot have seen the flower in the past! Therefore there is a contradiction and it cannot happen - time travel cannot ever work, any event that has happened cannot be undone, anyone going back in time cannot do anything, nor have any effect whatsoever on the past. The flower example is the same if there are two or many time travellers. Hence time travel is not possible.
Is there a different way to understand time such that time travel could work?
Theory of Physical and Spiritual Unity
Identity is not physical but spiritual and time travel moves the spirit backwards undoing memory. If so, then time travel is possible but of no value. Time travel would move the spirit back in time within the same physical body erasing memory as time goes backwards. There can be no contradictions because nothing changes in the physical world and the spiritual world remain intact because memory is erased. Going back beyond ones birth date results either in death/extinction or in reversion to the previous incarnation depending on which belief system the traveller has.
Theory of Infinity
Every event that has an effect on the physical world creates a parallel universe in which that event is a possibility. A time traveller exists in all of these parallel realities at the same time, and every thing any of these instances of the traveller does fragments reality. Multiple travellers cause a multiplication in the number of realities. In a few seconds the number of realities reaches infinity. Contradictory realities are not created. Infinite reality means a time traveller would end up in a random universe when they travel back in time, a universe totally different to the one they left, but still one in which everything appears consistent. Infinity means that time travellers can also travel forward in time since all possibilities exist, however the traveller would never be able to reach a specific point in any reality, every jump would be to some random reality totally different to the one they left. Time travel then is possible but can only be useful in terms of escaping from one 'reality' to another. Reality itself would then have no definite meaning.
Theory of Convergence
Time and Space are convergent on a single reality. Any event that changes the time-space continuum results in a balancing event that restores the equilibrium of time and space. This means that the time traveller creates a pocket of chaos at the point of leaving and re-entering time-space. The chaos event ripples out from the location of the traveller and reality twists and turns in order to restore the time-line and strange events surround the traveller until the space time events converge on a single reality. The danger caused by the chaos is only a danger to the traveller since the convergence will attempt to restore everything to its original state in time and space and the traveller is the cause of the disruption. Multiple travellers in the same area create greater chaos. Time travel becomes possible but would be very dangerous to the traveller if they travelled back to a time that could have any effect on the travellers future i.e. any point in the time-line of connected civilisations, back to the dawn of the species. This theory would allow very short jumps back in time that would be relatively safe, or very long jumps back in time that would be relatively safe. Anything in between would be very dangerous up until the point of convergence. It is not possible to predict the convergence 'effect', however see the following theory. This theory assumes a theory of continuum exists in time-space, a single reality is 'known' to the universe. The universe is consistent and anything that attempts to break that consistency is eliminated.
Theory of Inconsequentiality
Reality in time and space cannot be perceived. Only 'significant' events that occur in time have any effect on perceived reality. A time traveller can do anything that does not affect significant events in the continuity of time. If the traveller attempts to change anything that has a significant effect on the time stream they 'converge' i.e. as soon as they jump in time they exist simultaneously in two places at the same time, they have a partial existence in the past and the now. Anything they do that would change the time stream results in instant convergence on the 'future' time at the instant they jumped. This effect would be similar to particles that exist in two places at the same time but which converge the instant any attempt is made to detect their position, i.e. anything that would reveal the particles position results in it existing in a single position. Similarly the time traveller would converge the instant they attempted to do anything that changed the time line in a significant way. This theory assumes a theory of consequence exists in time-space, a destiny 'known' to the universe (e.g. significant events in time that has already passed are recorded in the essence of the universe). Anything that attempts to change that destiny is not allowed to happen. The universe decides what is significant not the traveller.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Time travel is something that I've often contemplated and I find it difficult to comprehend. It's easy to delve into the realms of science fiction and I often find myself questioning what's going on on the page/screen in terms of whether it would be possible or not.
I, like many, find it confusing to comprehend as well. Whether that's just because I am unable to think about time travel on a realistic level or whether it's because, as linear beings, it's impossible for us to really comprehend it, I'm not sure. It's a bit like trying to imagine "nothingness" or the scientific description of death, we simply can't.
Having had this debate many times, of the theories you mention, there's two which I personally consider to be the most "feasible", one in particular.
The lesser of those two is the Theory of Inconsiquentiality. The idea that, any changes in time are just accepted and the reality we live in already takes account of all the changes that have been made seems the easiest to understand. However, it still brings into account irregularities for the people in particular who do the time travelling.
The Theory of Infinity is the one I most identify with. The idea that, were you to go back in time, you instantly create an alternate reality or dimension at the point you go back to. The idea that you'd never actually be able to return to your "own" time/dimension is quite a scary one though. You might be able to return to a dimension that is near enough identical, but with regard to the family and friends that you'd have there, they're not REALLY your family and friends, they'd be that of an alternate you.
This theory reminds me very much of the television series "Sliders" which I can remember watching as a teenager. I'm not sure if you've ever seen it, and it's very cheesey, but it's based around a group of dimension-travellers that are basically just trying to get back to their home dimension while journeying through Earth's that have had things change slightly in the past. Sometimes they find places that are pretty damn close but, in all reality, would they ever return to their EXACT home, and would they even know if it was or wasn't? As a person, would you ever be able to come to terms with the people there not being your own parents/partners/children?
I suppose the tip is don't go time travelling!
There a are many films and television programs that include time travel e.g.
Dr Who
Star Trek
Sliders (as you said)
Quantum Jump
Back to the Future
The One (multiple universes)
Each of them makes a choice about how to deal with the paradox created by time travel. I am not convinced that any of them make a serious attempt at explaining why it might actually work.
I tend more towards a combination of Unit and Convergence.
Clearly if time travel is possible then there is no linearity, however if there is no 'guiding' concept of cause and effect then there can be no 'reality', each person lives in a different reality unconnected to any other, any connection is only in the mind of the observer?
I tend to favour the Inconsequentiality Theory, perhaps slightly modified to include Unity. This would mean the Time Traveller occupies the same 'space' in all times but has two simultaneous identities, one in the referenced past (the past measured from the first jump backwards) and one in the referenced future (now plus a negative time reference). This would mean a time traveller occupies the same 'body' in all time frames and any actions carried out by either instance is automatically reflected in the other. Then inconsequentiality means that any action by the traveller resulting in a potential paradox would result in convergence at ‘now’? e.g. The flower picking example is no longer a paradox, both instances of the person are synchronised if the flower is picked in one instance it is picked in both. If a second time traveller picks the flower while the first traveller is somewhere else in time there is no paradox, the flower was always picked because either instance observing the event results in synchronisation of reality. In the killing example, the effect depends on the state of the person being killed. If they are in a single instance (i.e. are not currently time travelling) they die, unless dieing would have an effect on the attacker i.e. cause a paradox to the killer. If they are currently in the past and the present the killer is automatically converged to the now. How is a paradox detectable? Imagine a thread unwinding behind you as you travel through time, every time you have a significant interaction with anything it sticks to the thread attached to the thing you interact with. When you are born your thread attaches to your parents thread, and so on until the beginning of your ‘line’. If a time traveller attempts to do anything that would break his own thread anywhere through all time, the time traveller converges. In popular belief systems this is a silver thread that attaches to a traveller when the become ethereal. It may have a basis in the laws of the universe, if so then time travel could possibly work :-)
Post a Comment