The trouble with temporal agents

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Why aren't there a succession of temporal agents tackling each other?

Agent 1: *tackles killer* "I'm here to stop this tragic disaster!"
Agent 2 : *tackles 1* "I'm here to stop you from stopping it! Because of you, there was a horrible war!"
Agent 3: *tackles 2* "No! Because there was no war, our economy failed and so many people died!"
Agent 4: *tackles 3* "Stop! Because all these people lived, one of them grew up to annihilate our planet!"
Bob: "Cool, a timeship...what does this button do?" *time travels away*
Agent 1: "Great. Now my future is wrecked."
Other Agents (in unison): "Your future?"

 

[1001001]

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[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I was thinking of this Calvin and Hobbes storyline where 6:30 Calvin tries to get his completed homework from the 8:30 version of himself. Realizing he still hadn't done it, they both travel to 7:30 and blame that Calvin.

http://web.mit.edu/manoli/mood/www/calvin-full.html

 

[B.J.]

Read this:
http://www.tor.com/2011/08/31/wikihistory/
(Trust me, it's funny!)

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

*Sigh*

 

[uniderth]

Because, you can't change the past that why.

 

[locutus101]

Or maybe something like a scene from back to the future.

 

[Cyke101]

After a certain point, the cost-benefit analysis starts to break down.

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[Mr. Laser Beam]

Because, you can't change the past that why.

You never know till you try.

 

[uniderth]

You never know till you try.

If time travel is possible and somebody from the future did try to change the past, they clearly failed because whatever they did became part of the past that we/they know. Thus not changing their own past.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ When you have the chance to observe this IRL, be sure and let the rest of us know.

In fiction? You can change the past whenever the writers want it.

 

[locutus101]

If time travel is possible and somebody from the future did try to change the past, they clearly failed because whatever they did became part of the past that we/they know. Thus not changing their own past.

Unless we're trapped into a temporal loop and we've been having this same conversation about two thousand times already.

 

[uniderth]

^ When you have the chance to observe this IRL, be sure and let the rest of us know.

Already observed. Because the past has already been observed. Any action by future time travel agents has already been included in the past the we know. This is due to the fact that this past is what we have observed.

In fiction? You can change the past whenever the writers want it.

True. And annoying.

Unless we're trapped into a temporal loop and we've been having this same conversation about two thousand times already.

That's possible, but we will have no way of knowing. Unless... I can mysteriously predict what you're about to say! I'm writing it on a piece of paper right now.

 

[ItIsGreen]

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[Mr. Laser Beam]

Already observed. Because the past has already been observed. Any action by future time travel agents has already been included in the past the we know. This is due to the fact that this past is what we have observed.

And of course the flip side of this argument is: No one will ever know of successful changes to the timeline (except the aforementioned temporal agents). So even if it is possible to change things, nobody will ever be able to verify it.

The simple fact is this: Time travel is wholly fictional. And thus, whatever rules are invented for it by the writers, are going to be the law. Like I said, if a writer wants it, you can change time, and if they don't want it, you can't. So it entirely depends on what you're watching or reading.

Until and unless time travel is invented for real, saying "you can't change the timeline" is a non sequitur, because an entirely fictional concept is completely dependent on the writers.

(I hereby apologize for being as pedantic as Christopher, but...sometimes you gotta take one for the team.)

 

[locutus101]

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Not bad!

 

[The Old Mixer]

"There is no problem with changing the course of history—the course of history does not change because it all fits together like a jigsaw. All the important changes have happened before the things they were supposed to change and it all sorts itself out in the end."

--Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe​

I hereby apologize for being as pedantic as Christopher

Let's be careful here...crossing the blurry line between posts and poster....

 

[Spot261]

That's possible, but we will have no way of knowing. Unless... I can mysteriously predict what you're about to say! I'm writing it on a piece of paper right now.

You only wrote that because I went back in time to make you do it

 

[locutus101]

You only wrote that because I went back in time to make you do it

I was certain you were going to say that.

 

[Spot261]

That's cause I told your other self