Time Travel... What would happen?

[Wing Nut]

There's a new movie in the works based on one of my favorite short stories.  The story is Ray Bradbury's 'A Sound of Thunder' from the book 'R is for Rocket'  It involves a future where time travel is not only possible, but is a business.  

    Hunters are taken back in time to be given the chance to kill a T-Rex.  As preparation for the trip, advance squads are sent out to determine the exact time of the Rex's death, where he'd fall, and lay down a path for the hunters.  The hunters are told to do nothing but shoot the Rex.  If they affect anything else or even step off of the path it could affect the timeline and the future would be altered.  Even the bulletts must be recovered, to maintain the balance.  

    One person does accidently step off the path and during the return trip finds a butterfly stuck in the mud on his shoes.  That one butterfly ends up changing the course of history over the millions of years, until when they return America is a total dictatorship and life is completely different than they knew.

    I think that no matter what, even the existence of a human millions of year ago though would change the course fo history.  At least the diseases that we have developed since then would cause catastrophe.  There would be no immunity, so millions of animals could die.

   However, other theories state the timeline would be unbreakable and that everything we do is predestined and cannot be avoided.

    What do you think might happen?

[Craig.]

hahah i just said this in my faster than light topic. This is a topic that will drive you crazy trying to figure out.
Said person steps off the track, changes history, but then again if they went back in time it would have already happend anyway so it can change history as it would have happend before even going back in time essentially so therefore it was what was supposed to happen:)

[Hagar]

As I mentioned in Craig's thread - don't think about it too much or you'll end up as daft as me. Life's too short for all that nonsense.

Time travel ain't possible now, nor will it ever be possible. I defy anyone to prove me wrong.

[Katahu]

Now this is a topic that will start me off in an instant.

It is possible to time travel. However, you'll have to consider these factors before you head of into your trip back in time.

[The Grandfather Paradox]

No, I do not mean by old father time. A good example of the grandfather paradox is this:

Imagine you hate your grandfather. You have the tendancy to kill, but the cops will find you. So, you hitch a ride back in time to kill him when he is young and not married.

If you killed him, then you will not be able to exist in the future. Therefore, you will not be around to go back in time to kill him.

Then your grandfather lives because you were not around to kill him. Then you are born in the future and you start hating him at some point.

The cycle will repeat until an outside force stops you. However, no one knows how this outside force would be like.

[another paradox]

Imagine again that you do kill your grandfather. However, you find out that you are still alive. How is this possible?

The answer.........You have accidentally traveled to another dimension.

There's a huge risk involved when it comes to this.

Traveling from one dimension to another is like throwing a dart at a spinning dartboard. You are the dart and the individual markings on the board are the destinations.

Not only that, you have absolutely NO control as to how fast the board could spin. Thus, resulting in the fact that you have no idea as to where the hell you would end up.

Now, about that fact that you still live after killing. Chances are, that your "Alter Ego" [other self] is on his way to kill HIS grandfather, but you did the job for him. Therefore, he can't exist anymore. AT ALL or NEVER because you are the outside force in your Alter Ego's dimension.

Now, let's say that you wish to be the only Alter Ego in the entire multiverse [multi-universe]. There, you would start planning on traveling to another dimension [all of them] so that you could kill your other Alter Ego.

But WATCH OUT!!!!!!! Chances are, your other self could be planning on doing the same damn thing to you. So, wear a bullet-proof vest.

[Jared]

OK here's my question on time travel:

"If in the future we are able to invent time travel, wouldn't we be seeing people from the future about now?"

[Katahu]

Well, Jared.

Even if people did come back in time to us, they will NOT be willing to tell you that they are from the future. Instead, they will disguise themselves as regular, everyday people of our time. Remember what Pippin said? Anything you do in the past will effect the future.

Not only that, they are probably here as time-traveling tourists.

Here's a tip. Go to any place and see if you could talk to someone [anyone]. If that person refuses to even speak to you and you see that the person is not speaking to anyone or doesn't have a home, then there is a 25% chance [or less] that he/she is a time-traveling tourist.

[Jared]

well in that case there must be a very large amount of time travelers just in my town alone! Nobody will talk to me!  ;D

[chomp_rock]

I think time travel is impossible. Which is why you should ALWAYS think BEFORE you act.

[loomex]

Funny, I just finished watch a specail on time travel on the Discovery science channel

[Wing Nut]

Funny, I just finished watch a specail on time travel on the Discovery science channel

Did you really?  Maybe you just think you did, but have actually travelled through a wormhole and have appeared before the program began.  You may watch it tomorrow, but only think you did tonight...

[Tchkinjiu]

hahah i just said this in my faster than light topic. This is a topic that will drive you crazy trying to figure out.
Said person steps off the track, changes history, but then again if they went back in time it would have already happend anyway so it can change history as it would have happend before even going back in time essentially so therefore it was what was supposed to happen:)

For anyone who has read "Sound of Thunder", basically the whole book is like this.

[loomex]

Did you really?  Maybe you just think you did, but have actually travelled through a wormhole and have appeared before the program began.  You may watch it tomorrow, but only think you did tonight...

You still have a cold done you? You might want to cut back on the drugs a bit

[Polynomial]

time travel is impossible unless you called taking the concorde from london to new york time travel  ;)

there is no feasible way u can send a person 'backward' with respect to time, just cannot be done.

[Delta_]

The grandfather paradox just delays time it does not actually go back in time.

[Professor Brensec]

Well.....well. An interesting one! (Not that we haven't been down this road, but I don't care how many times things of interest are revisited!  ;D

Einstein developed a theory that applies to the existence of "Parrallel Universes", which is what Katahu, I think, was referring to in his first post. This although, has nothing to do with time or time travel itself.
In fact, a number of Sci-Fi shows have dealt with this theory (Stargate, ST original, (the naughty Kirk and Spock), ST DS9, Sliders etc). It's a common theory that suggests that there are an infinite (unlimited) number of 'versions' of our universe and the people in it, and each represents a particular scenario if one thing or another did or did not happen.

This theory is often applied to the concept of time travel, in that, as Pippin said to begin with, any deviation whatsoever, from the past that we know, would affect an untold number of events and effects.

BUT.........if this did occur, history would change and we would be unaware of the changes (as the 'timeline' has been altered). So in theory, it could be happening every day, and as far as we are concerned, everything has always been, even though history is changing every day, because of interference from the future!

I personally don't believe in the possibility of time travel, simply because I believe time is 'linear' and not like the 'infinite universe' thoery (which I am inclined to feel is possible - but remember, I said they have no relationship whatsoever). If time is linear, it cannot be travelled. There is not movement within it. If anyone believes there is movement possible - what manner of movement would this be (please don't say light speed or anything similar, as movement in a single dimension, say 'lengthways', will achieve absolutely no movement in the other 'known two'. Regardless of how fast you go). You cannot achieve movement in depth or breadth by moving lengthways - no matter how fast you go)  ;D  ;)