The Nature of the Universe, Time Travel and More...

[Will The Serious]

Can I go back to 1997 and buy Apple stock?
This is the Time Traveler's Paradox. If I go back in time and kill my poor self by giving me a wealth of knowledge about the future, would I still exist? I wouldn't be poor therefore, I wouldn't go back in time to tip myself off about Apple Inc. On the other hand, maybe I wouldn't believe that Apple would become the largest seller of PCs in the world and I'd take the tip and chuck it.

I mean, if some old fat guy who looks kinda like you shows up and says, "I'm you 28 years from now, and I traveled back in time to help us become rich," would you believe him?

-Will

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

There might exist almost countless timelines. In that case, one is not special. One cannot enter the same river twice - just as Heraclitus stated. Even if one knows the winning lottery numbers - or whatever - for a given instance of a timeline, they will likely not apply to most other timelines. When everything happens and one realises individuality is an illusion, time travel - other than the parochial kind we all perceive - becomes pointless.

 

[Will The Serious]

time travel - other than the parochial kind we all perceive - becomes pointless.

Not necessarily pointless. The possibility of time travel may be the secret to faster than light travel that allows us to reach out across the galaxy and colonize beyond our star neighborhood.

Maybe moving backwards or forwards in time Is less important than its suspension. Instantaneous travel to anywhere. Considering that we are limited to exploring our universe at only light speed, nothing we see or there is actually where it is now. But, stop time, and we have the opportunity to see a picture of our universe accurately in a single moment.

Forget about moving forward or backward in time, what would the energy expenditure be in just stopping time? My guess, all of it.

-Will