Anyone here been able to get to the past?

T

thejoke

Temporal Novice
Why I'm asking this is I'd like to write a letter to myself in the past to warn me about the situation I'm in. I need to warn myself about some things.

Has anyone here ever done it? I'd like info. If I win the lottery, I'm going to build one. I just want to make life better for myself, I'm being selfish. I want to do other things to save humanity.

Is it possible? Anyone?
 
This could be risky. A warning directed to you in the past to avoid future situations could cause more harm than good. For example let’s say I developed health problems related to smoking cigarettes for the past 20 years. I have the ability to travel back to the past, so I warn my younger self not to start smoking. My past self heeds the warnings, starts exercising regularly and decides to take up skiing. One day my past self goes on a skiing trip with my best friend . We both have an accident. My friend dies and I become paralyzed for life. Do I return to my timeline now paralyzed? My best friend no longer living? What about his family? The people he is close too? As a result of my causality violation, does a divergent timeline occur where I return to unsuccessful with my attempt? It’s unknown and too risky.
You need to look at your situations that you want to change in detail and analyze all potential repercussions. Even so, you will not be able to foresee or guarantee everything.

"A man is called selfish not for pursuing his own good, but for neglecting his neighbor's."
Richard Whately
 
I never thought of carefully going over it. If there is the ability to go back, I'd like to know. But I guess it's going to take time to write the letter carefully when you mentioned it being risky.

I need to write it a few days and send it to my past in June 2002 before I leave to a university for Meeting the Students type gathering. It's going to take time to figure it out and how to write it, but I really want to change my situation so I'm not in this mess I'm in today.

Thank you cpEndevaor!
 
Well met! Actually I must thank you for considering my words, and choosing to err on the side of caution.
Any would be or current Time Traveler reading these posts, and planning selfish gains should think carefully about what I said, please.
 
I've been thinking about it and I would still do it, but be very careful about it. How did you do it?

The only thing going through my mind is it worth sacrficing the memories that I expierienced back then to now? Is it really worth it?
 
thejoke,

Believe me, I would love to back in the past as much as you, if not more. Sadly I don't know how. My statement was a poor joke (sorry about that). It's just a not-so-obvious way of saying that I was born in the past and now the only way I can get back there is through my memories. I hope you find a way to get to the past. If you ever find out how, please let me know.
 
If I did, I might not be able to give the message to you. Heck, I would probably not be on this board.

testingwaytwo, I have been giving it some thought. Something tells me I should when the other one says I shouldn't. I mean, I met a lot of people since I came back home and helped others in little ways. If I did, who would help them if I stayed? I'm thinking that I was selfish when I wanted to make that decision. I don't know if I was meant to be there or not.

A lot of people tell me to move on and don't think about the past. They are right, it's just if I stayed I'd be finished with school now. You have to adapt to change or you'll become extinct, I learned it the hard way.
 
If the past event is so significant in your life, then going back and changing it could definately alter your future (current present). I'd guess you would have to be OK with that. However, if in the past you made "the other decision" and your current present was a result of making that "right" decision, I can almost assure you that this new present will also have things you wouldn't want to change either. It would be hard to say, if you lived both alternate presents, which present would be more important to you. I'd think you would always be biased toward your current present. That being said, if the alternate present turns out not to be to your liking, couldn't you just go back in time again and once again make the other decision?
 
If the past event is so significant in your life, then going back and changing it could definately alter your future (current present). I'd guess you would have to be OK with that.
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Here's the real paradox. This event has taken place. We know that because he told us that it happened.

If he managed to TT back to the event he'd find his younger self contemplating the offending action. His problem is convincing his doppleganger self not to do whatever it is that he wants undone. But we already have the evidence that he actually carried out the act. The presence of himself there as his future time traveling self probably means that he caused the act - he fulfilled the history as he knows it by being there.

So he decides, today (after reading my post) that he shouldn't time travel to the event. But the history is what it is. By not time traveling to the event he still fulfills history because he wasn't there to prevent the act.

I don't know how to resolve this conondrum. It makes logical sense when put in the admittedly illogical realm of a time traveling experience - but there it is.

There doesn't seem to be a way out of the situation. (And I don't want to introduce the Many Worlds Interpretation "lazy" short-cut because its pure formulation is intended to apply to sub-atomic particles of the quantum world and not massive bodies of the classical world.)
 
Yes it is quite perplexing to think about. That's where the many world interpretation takes a load off the mind. But lets ignore that. The possiblility that he could affect not only his future but the futures of countless others really makes it hard to swallow. Let's say the event is to stay in school and there was a definate decision point. Perhaps he was in line at the registrar and right before his turn, he initially decided that he doesn't want to go to school anymore so he gets out of line. His future self returns to this point and convinces his past self to stay in school (I don't think it would be too hard to convince your past self, as just seeing an aged copy of yourself asking you not to make that decision would probably be enough). To keep this post short will make it simple, but you can imagine how things could unfold. Now when he gets in line he gets up to the window to register. He makes the comment that he was at one point thinking about dropping out, but decided that would not be a good idea. It just so happens that the lady at the counter is also a student that initially decided to drop out. Hereing his subtle argument is enough to convince her to start to think, ultimately keeping her from dropping out as well. Her future has now changed and all the futures she effected are changed as well. Her staying in school now affects others the same way, so on and so on. He could even be very careful not to say anything, but perhaps it wasn't his subtle comment that changed the woman's mind but the look on his face when registering that got her to thinking. Perhaps his future self fails to mention the fact that he got to the past because of this site. He never makes the initial post, so we are not discussing this and I am not typing this post right now. Knowing that time travel to the past is theoretically not impossible, it makes it easier to digest adopting the many world interpretation.
 
Actually testingwaytwo, I'm still in school. I got my Associate's last year and have two more years left. I'm just angry becasue I'm not graduating with my high school class. I transferred to a community college in Winter 03 (I started school at another college in Fall 2002). I'm sorry if I did not say that before. There are also other factors that I would like to change.

Can I PM you to explain more?
 
the idea of time travel fuels me but its many out there that sya histiry is written and cannot be undone.for example i am driving down the street and run a red light causing a girl to get it by a truck and die.if i found a way to travel back in time to stop myself from running the red light,some people say that an unseen forces (some even say nature/time it self will stop me from changing the future.like i am close to the past me and about to stop past me from driving and get hit over the head with a branch or slip etc,stopping me from ever stopping past me.have any of you ever thought of that? what if you cant change history,that there is a unseen force that wont allow it.i can see about traveling into the future because that what you make it a probablity not a gurantee but that past thats another story.what do some of you think?
 
i can see about traveling into the future because that what you make it a probablity not a gurantee but that past thats another story
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By the same logic, if you travel forward through time then you have "set" the future. Then those in your present future (or future past) should not be able to change things as if you never traveled to the future since their future has been set by you. Just a thought.
 
i mean just look i what i am saying.can you rewirte the past. i can see about the future because it is not yet wriiten so anything can happen,you can win the lottery or blow off a foot.some friends of mine say that traveling to the future is a probability of the present.for example i let all the convicted serial murders/rapist out and travel in time 20 years.there will more than likely be an increas in death and murder than if 20 years ago we strengthen the punishment for the murders/rapist and 20 years from now there are little murders and rapes left.i know it sounds a little confusing but you should get what i am saying.any body have a similar theory?

also timeline i am not high on meth but high on science
 
How do we know that time travelers didnt change our time line ?

As an example, suppose that a time traveler became Hitler to bring about changes in his original time of the future ?

Maybe the original World War 2 never took place, and thus the statis of specific political powers were completely different.

There could have been many "key events" in our time line that someone from the future was responsible for.

Who knows.

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May I offer a suggestion? Don't take offense, since I myself am not a professional writer. But in constructing your posts, they would be much more effective if you seperated your sentences.

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I.e....

I mean just look I what I am saying. Can you rewirte the past?

I can see about the future, because it is not yet written... so anything can happen.

You can win the lottery or blow off a foot.

Some of my friends say that traveling to the future is a probability of the present.

For example, if I let all the convicted serial murders/rapist's out and travel in time 20 years, will there be an increase in death and murder ?

Or 20 years ago I strengthen the punishment for the criminals and now there are less murders and rapes. I know it sounds a little confusing, but you should get what I am saying.

Anybody have a similar theory?

And Timeline, I am not high on meth, but high on science, you Hinglemeyer Flargenugen!

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I can see the thread got some responses.

Sorry if I haven't been here, I've been busy with school. I feel bad about some things in the past, but I'm not letting them bother me.

Your post interests me Ovrlord. I remember from Command and Conquer Red Alert where Einstein met Hitler after his release from prison and as a result never got to power. WW II is different with Stalin wanting to conquer Europe and communism is seen as a threat instead of Nazism.

Time travelers could be switching our timelines, you never know.

One day, I hope to do it.
 
the way i see it is, you cant possibly go back and warn yourself and change your current living circumstances.

(im a bit simple but ill try and explain)

think about it this way, if you were possible to go back and warn yourself of something,a future version of you would go back and change it, therefore you would never have had the experience in the first place. but then comes the paradox because if you never had the experience then you have no reason to travel back in time to warn yourself.
basically if time travel backwards existed, all it would take to alter the past would be to think about it. i think they did a red dwarf on it lol.
imo unless there are an infinite amount of universes, going back in time is impossible. im all for believin in goin forward in time, but unless someone gives me a decent theory, goin back in time is as believable that the queen shape shifts into a lizard at the weekends (infact i believe that more lol)
 
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