Is time timeless?

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Guest

Short n Sweet

If a Person was to travel back in time say 100 Years, Would the time to travel back from pushing the start button to completion be the same as if the travler was to go back say 1000 Years.

Would it take time to travel through time?


Rob
 
Hmm.

Relativity forces me to ask from which point of view?

The person making the "trip" or the external observer "watching him do it?
 
That's a good question.

I suppose that it would depend on the actual laws of the required method, or more precisely upon the laws of the universe that are being utilised or bypassed. That is obviously knowledge that is presently beyond us.

There is a trend in modern science fiction (through which the leading theories are played out, with varying degrees of accuracy I guess) of instantaneous travel. That is that the traveller leaves a given point in 'time' and instantaneously arrives at another, with no intervening 'travel time', as in 'Back to the Future' for example. (Don't get me started on the immense temporal faux pas of that particular, incredibly enjoyable nevertheless, saga though..) This makes the most logical sense to me personally, perception wise. I encourage you to read my postings regarding the actual nature of 'time itself' - ie, "Is time a physical law of the universe, or simply the way in which we perceive the universe?" It may make you think about your question from a different angle.

Then you have the classic 'The Time Machine' by H.G. Wells.
This proposes that the traveller in question travels back and forth by actually 'fast forwarding' or 'rewinding' himself through time. He can thus watch events unfold around him at an incredibly increased rate, or effectively watch them rewind, depending on whether he travels forward or back. If you haven't seen the film, you really should. It's a fascinating process to watch. The fashions changing on the boutique mannequins as the years fly by is especially fine, as is the greatly accelerated passage of night and day.

Then there is the idea of travelling through another physical plane to your destination, namely being able to percieve the passage of time relative to yourself in this plane. You may remember this type of concept as shown at the end of 'Flight of the Navigator'. There are probarbly numerous better examples, (The Time Tunnel?... I never watched it though).

These are three different ways that a time traveller may percieve his journey. Actually again, I think perception is the key.

Maybe one of these may eventually turn out to be the case, maybe the question is academic because we'll never find out, I really couldn't say.

I suppose 'time' will tell..
 
Re:Re:To Lee

Hi Lee

thanks for your reply, the question relate's to how the travler may percieve the time travel experience.

Many Thanks

Rob
 
Re:Re:Re:To Lee

It's an excellent question in that it forces one to look at the whole business from a different perspective doesn't it.

S.F. writers from H.G Wells to Stephen Baxter have expressed their own ideas on this one, each in their own way.

If you've read very many of my posts you know that I'm hard pressed to admit that it is even possible, but...

I suppose if it were...

It's difficult for me to imagine how, from the view of the traveller, it could ever appear as anything but instantaneous. I mean, aren't you only ever 'here' or 'there' as the case may be? If you percived some sort of "period" in which you were making the transition, I'd have to say that you were neither 'here' nor 'there' I suppose, which seems a little silly to me the more I think about it.

I'll have to go with instantaneous on this one.

Neither Wells nor Baxter see it this way, but they never really address THIS issue itself. They write about the consequences and leave the methodologies quite unexplained beyond the concept of some machine that simply does this time travel thing via some undetailed process.

Simple question.....very difficult, problematic answer. I doubt if mine's any better than any one you've already thought of.
 
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