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February 21, 2009 01:40 PM
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I enjoy time-travel stories, so I'm going to answer this purely hypothetically. ie. Assuming time-travel was actually possible, how might time-travellers intervene in history, what might the signs of that be, and do any actual historical incidents match that?
I'm assuming that you are like me, someone that enjoys sci-fi, and is interested in the fun of the question, rather than seriously looking for evidence of time travel having happened.
1) How might time-travellers intervene in history?
Here we encounter a paradox right away, a version of the famous grandfather paradox. Suppose that some disaster had happened, let's say Winston Churchill was killed in a car accident in 1935, and as a result World War II was won by the Nazis.Ok, a time-traveller that's not happy about that goes back and saves Churchill's life. But now the future will be different, and the time traveller wll never have a motive to go back. Paradox!
So what kind of things might a time traveller do that don't get into that paradox? Well one possibility is they might just go back and take part in some great event. They could even participate actively in those events, but only to cause what they already knew to have happened, not to change what to them was the past.
For example, they could go back to the 1930s and encourage Churchill in his warnings about the Nazis. The time traveller wouldn't be so much changing history, as enjoying the ride of being part of those great events.
2) What might the signs of joy riding time travllers be?
What would be some of the clues? One might be that a person seemed to pop into existence out of nowhere, without records of their childhood, early life etc. Just arrive on the scene as an adult.
But maybe a careful time traveller could fake the records. They could go to 1900, and plant a birth certificate. And pop over to 1910 to fake some school records. Then appear in 1935, aged 35, with documentation to prove it. So perhaps it wouldn't look so much like there no evidence at all, but that the evidence about their life story was pretty patchy.
Another sign could be that the time traveller happened to have exceptional foresight or luck. They had the knack of being in the right place at the right time, or making the right calls about things that are hard to predict, of predicting things that no reasonable person would, and then turning out to be right.
3) Do any actual historical incidents match that?
Well, when I think about it Barack Obama's career has shown a great deal of being in the right place at the right time. and making the right calls about things that are hard to predict!
However, his life story seems to be very well documented, and has been examined by every journalist under the sun. So I don't think he can be a time traveller himself.
But, what about some figure close to him that's advised him? The kind of person that'd encourage him to run for the senate, and then as freshman senator run against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Who but a time traveller could imagine he'd win that one?
Personally I suspect David Axelrod:
http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2009/02/15/1234756319_8847/539w.jpg
"Every politician has a guardian angel, and every presidential hopeful has a right-hand dispenser of wisdom. ... it is Mr. Axelrod who has been at Mr. Obama’s side the longest and has the most interwoven relationship with him."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/us/politics/27axelrod.html?_r=1
Dig deep into his background I say, and you may discover your evidence of time travel! :)
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Source(s):
Quantum mechanics
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Answered Question

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Are there any historical incidents that could lend themselves to theories of time-traveller intervention?
Not looking for a left behind laser rifle :)
Possibly a recorded incident that unexpectedly went one way instead of another, due to an intervention of one 'historical' figure or event perhaps?
Possibly a recorded incident that unexpectedly went one way instead of another, due to an intervention of one 'historical' figure or event perhaps?
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Best Answer Chosen by Asker
| February 22, 2009 03:42 AM |
I'm assuming that you are like me, someone that enjoys sci-fi, and is interested in the fun of the question, rather than seriously looking for evidence of time travel having happened.
1) How might time-travellers intervene in history?
Here we encounter a paradox right away, a version of the famous grandfather paradox. Suppose that some disaster had happened, let's say Winston Churchill was killed in a car accident in 1935, and as a result World War II was won by the Nazis.Ok, a time-traveller that's not happy about that goes back and saves Churchill's life. But now the future will be different, and the time traveller wll never have a motive to go back. Paradox!
So what kind of things might a time traveller do that don't get into that paradox? Well one possibility is they might just go back and take part in some great event. They could even participate actively in those events, but only to cause what they already knew to have happened, not to change what to them was the past.
For example, they could go back to the 1930s and encourage Churchill in his warnings about the Nazis. The time traveller wouldn't be so much changing history, as enjoying the ride of being part of those great events.
2) What might the signs of joy riding time travllers be?
What would be some of the clues? One might be that a person seemed to pop into existence out of nowhere, without records of their childhood, early life etc. Just arrive on the scene as an adult.
But maybe a careful time traveller could fake the records. They could go to 1900, and plant a birth certificate. And pop over to 1910 to fake some school records. Then appear in 1935, aged 35, with documentation to prove it. So perhaps it wouldn't look so much like there no evidence at all, but that the evidence about their life story was pretty patchy.
Another sign could be that the time traveller happened to have exceptional foresight or luck. They had the knack of being in the right place at the right time, or making the right calls about things that are hard to predict, of predicting things that no reasonable person would, and then turning out to be right.
3) Do any actual historical incidents match that?
Well, when I think about it Barack Obama's career has shown a great deal of being in the right place at the right time. and making the right calls about things that are hard to predict!
However, his life story seems to be very well documented, and has been examined by every journalist under the sun. So I don't think he can be a time traveller himself.
But, what about some figure close to him that's advised him? The kind of person that'd encourage him to run for the senate, and then as freshman senator run against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Who but a time traveller could imagine he'd win that one?
Personally I suspect David Axelrod:
http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2009/02/15/1234756319_8847/539w.jpg
"Every politician has a guardian angel, and every presidential hopeful has a right-hand dispenser of wisdom. ... it is Mr. Axelrod who has been at Mr. Obama’s side the longest and has the most interwoven relationship with him."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/us/politics/27axelrod.html?_r=1
Dig deep into his background I say, and you may discover your evidence of time travel! :)
| Asker's Rating: |
• Yes indeed, I wasn't really hoping for actual evidence...more a discussion of the 'what if'. Thanks!
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Other Answers (3)
February 21, 2009 07:01 PM
Time travel is only possible at the size of tacheon. A tacheon has no mass. It would take infinite energy for a mass to time travel. According to the theory of relativity the closer to the speed of light you approach, the greater your mass. However, a worm hole may have different properties. Quantum tunneling has been proven using entangled atoms. Quantum teleporting would be based on entanglement and probably not actual movement.
Source(s):
Quantum mechanics
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However, if you went back in time, since the future is known, all possible dimensions would arrive at the same future. It would be impossible to change the future.
I love the movie, "Some where in time", because the professors says time travel is all in the mind. Maybe time travel can only be observed but actual movement or displacement is impossible. If you could see through a worm hole, you could see into the past or into the future, but travel would be impossible. However, to look into the worm hole would require exposure to infinite power. You would burnup in the attempt.