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Time Travel: Probability and Impossibility

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Re: Time Travel: Probability and Impossibility

#2
> Nikk Effingham’s book is an exploration of all things time travel (where time travel is to be read as backwards time travel, that is, travel to an earlier time).

I'd be interested to know if forward time travel is easier than backwards time travel. Seems to avoid a lot of paradoxes.

Re: Time Travel: Probability and Impossibility

#3

> Nikk Effingham’s book is an exploration of all things time travel (where time travel is to be read as backwards time travel, that is, travel to an earlier time). I'd be interested to know if forward time travel is easier than backwards time travel. Seems to avoid a lot of paradoxes.

forward time travel is perfectly consistent with the laws of physics and in fact we've done it experimentally. backwards is only possible observationally (ex. building a big telescope we can look at the past) but we cannot effect it

Re: Time Travel: Probability and Impossibility

#4
This is like saying we will never fly a plane. Do you really think people in the 1200's could fathom a phone or the internet or access all information that ever has been on a device that fits on your phone? Its incredibly naïve to think that time travel isn't possible purely based on "laws of physics".

Re: Time Travel: Probability and Impossibility

#5

> Nikk Effingham’s book is an exploration of all things time travel (where time travel is to be read as backwards time travel, that is, travel to an earlier time). I'd be interested to know if forward time travel is easier than backwards time travel. Seems to avoid a lot of paradoxes.

That's "relatively" easy to do. Get in a space ship that could quickly get to a fraction of c, travel for a short amount of time and then return back to the starting point. You would have traveled to the future from the point of view of some one at the starting point.

Re: Time Travel: Probability and Impossibility

#6
post #4

This is like saying we will never fly a plane. Do you really think people in the 1200's could fathom a phone or the internet or access all information that ever has been on a device that fits on your phone? Its incredibly naïve to think that time travel isn't possible purely based on "laws of physics".

> Its incredibly naïve to think that time travel isn't possible purely based on "laws of physics".

Huh? Would you argue that it's "incredibly naïve" to think perpetual motion machines aren't possible purely based on "laws of physics"? Because I think it's incredibly naïve to think perpetual motion machines would be possible, precisely because they do violate the laws of physics.

Re: Time Travel: Probability and Impossibility

#7

> Nikk Effingham’s book is an exploration of all things time travel (where time travel is to be read as backwards time travel, that is, travel to an earlier time). I'd be interested to know if forward time travel is easier than backwards time travel. Seems to avoid a lot of paradoxes.

It happens to me every night. Gets old pretty fast though…

Re: Time Travel: Probability and Impossibility

#8

> Nikk Effingham’s book is an exploration of all things time travel (where time travel is to be read as backwards time travel, that is, travel to an earlier time). I'd be interested to know if forward time travel is easier than backwards time travel. Seems to avoid a lot of paradoxes.

Forward travel is easy. Go really fast or just hibernate. The physics is easy. It’s just an engineering problem.

Re: Time Travel: Probability and Impossibility

#9
post #4

This is like saying we will never fly a plane. Do you really think people in the 1200's could fathom a phone or the internet or access all information that ever has been on a device that fits on your phone? Its incredibly naïve to think that time travel isn't possible purely based on "laws of physics".

"The universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose" - J. B. S. Haldane

I've seen so many documentaries and articles pessimistically concluding we'll never go to another star much less another galaxy based on the speed of light. Once again, too many smart people conclude we've figured it all out as is the perennial tradition.

Re: Time Travel: Probability and Impossibility

#10
post #4

This is like saying we will never fly a plane. Do you really think people in the 1200's could fathom a phone or the internet or access all information that ever has been on a device that fits on your phone? Its incredibly naïve to think that time travel isn't possible purely based on "laws of physics".

I am always trying to imagine what kinds of stuff will be possible in 10000 years if science keeps progressing. At the present we have things that people a few hundred years ago couldn’t even have imagined. I guess it’s impossible to imagine what people will have in the future but I would really like to know.
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