Odd science/philosophy question... thoughts?

[usmcrebel]

What happens to the past?
It has to go somewhere so what happens to it?
Is it destroyed, forgotten,or stored somewhere like information is in our computers?
What keeps us from being able access the past, after all it already happened, and would it be "time travel"
If it happened could you change it? Could you interact with it or would you be outside of time where interaction wouldn't be possible?

 

[WireEater]

I heard that it goes into a jar that sits on Jim Snover's mantle piece.

 

[harry gilbert]

You're thinking of the past as a physical entity. It doesn't "go" anywhere. Time is not a physical dimension.

 

[Njc0las]

The past is an alternate universe.. or whatever.

 

[carrrnuttt]

Haven't you ever read/watched "The Langoliers?"










With that joke out of the way, you should look up the word "multiverse." Technically, if you subscribe to this theory, you can't really alter the past of your known timeline. Everything that has happened has already happened and cannot be changed. If you somehow managed to get back to the past and alter something, all you're doing is either entering an existing universe where the same changes already occurred, or creating a new one. Upon attempting to go "back to the future" as it were, you'll actually have choices of which future you want to go back to: the new one you just created, or the one you just came from, where everything is the same--as well as any one of billions upon billions where a decision or action happened that's minutely different from one universe to the next.

This is just one theory. I'll let the smarter astro-type folks around here explain the rest.

 

[Sniperdog]

also waiting for Jim to respond,.,. because I know that he knows the answer :-D

 

[Njc0las]

If anyone wants some past, I'll sell you some for cheap. Lemmeknow

 

[oldmodman]

These kind of question always make my head hurt.

Time cannot be traveled around, only with. We (all physical matter) are riding on a traveling "NOW" wave.

If you fall off you have died. And are no longer part of the NOW universe. So if a machine was invented, and you did use it to travel to the past or future you would be instantly dead upon leaving NOW.

Why do I believe time travel is impossible? If it was possible we would be overrun by time tourists. And someone would have published a book of stock market tips that could not be beat.

 

[UFGatorGuy20]

Ahhhh but my friends... every time you look up at the stars in the night sky... you ARE LOOKING AT THE PAST. Light travels at the speed of light. Light from many stars we see in our sky have been traveling for THOUSANDS of years to reach us. Stars we look up and see may not even physically be there anymore... their light from long ago is finally just reaching us.

 

[usmcrebel]

You're thinking of the past as a physical entity. It doesn't "go" anywhere. Time is not a physical dimension.

I understand that, but there is an order to everything. what that order is is what i am asking in a round about way.

 

[P49Y-CY]

is there really a past, or a future? some philosophies say that all there is is "now".

but like everything we experience, the perception of it only exists in our consiousness as humans

deep shit...


edit: eckhart tolle had some good quotes (philosophically) that relate to this :beer:

 

[Outlaw99]

you are reading the past....right now.

 

[01cobravortech]

Time itself is a created physical property as one of our four known dimensions of our universe or reality that we can experience. Since it appears that we live in a 10 dimensional universe or reality and quite possibly a hyper-hologram, I definitely have to believe that the past is "stored." I mean more and more each day it looks like we live in a hyper-hologram where everything is just a ghostly image, with a deeper reality behind it. The deeper reality being what is eternal and our current reality that we experience, being temporal. But this has been known by many people for a very long time. Its news to some but not to many. The language in explaining these things has been made very complicated by some today, but the idea of it all is much simpler. Is it possible to step outside of our time and space domain? Absolutely.

 

[WireEater]

[youtube_browser]V7vpw4AH8QQ[/youtube_browser]

 

[usmcrebel]

These kind of question always make my head hurt.

Time cannot be traveled around, only with. We (all physical matter) are riding on a traveling "NOW" wave.

If you fall off you have died. And are no longer part of the NOW universe. So if a machine was invented, and you did use it to travel to the past or future you would be instantly dead upon leaving NOW.

Why do I believe time travel is impossible? If it was possible we would be overrun by time tourists. And someone would have published a book of stock market tips that could not be beat.

What causes the "now" wave? Even if you die wouldn't you still be riding the wave? The decay and stuff didn't stop, but your vial functions did but the time wave still continues...if it is outside our

physical

realm then would the physical realm be affected by that...after all TIME doesn't kill us.

Ahhhh but my friends... every time you look up at the stars in the night sky... you ARE LOOKING AT THE PAST. Light travels at the speed of light. Light from many stars we see in our sky have been traveling for THOUSANDS of years to reach us. Stars we look up and see may not even physically be there anymore... their light from long ago is finally just reaching us.

Here is a way out there thought...
everything operates on wavelengths right? Light, sound, even our bodies. What if light at some point through space matches certain wavelengths in space and it allows it to "SKIP" across large distances faster or slower.
work with me on these examples
1st
when you skip a rock on a lake, pond, or whatever it hit the water at the right angle glances and travels a distance, hits the water again and repeats, what if light did this? It could travel distances at speeds great than itself. What if matter it what slows light down through dispersing no matter how small it may be.

2nd
for starters make a piece of paper look like a sin wave (this will represent matter) and poke a pen/ pencil through it (The pen will represent light) light is a faster wavelength, BUT it aligns itself at some point with the matter and punches holes however tiny through the matter allowing it to travel distances at seemingly faster speeds than anticipated, when in reality it's more or less punching through space/time.

 

[stangin99]

These kind of question always make my head hurt.

Time cannot be traveled around, only with. We (all physical matter) are riding on a traveling "NOW" wave.

If you fall off you have died. And are no longer part of the NOW universe. So if a machine was invented, and you did use it to travel to the past or future you would be instantly dead upon leaving NOW.

Why do I believe time travel is impossible? If it was possible we would be overrun by time tourists. And someone would have published a book of stock market tips that could not be beat.

Not necessarily.

What makes this point in time an exciting point in time? What makes you think that anyone would want to travel back to the year 2010? Just for kicks?

 

[stangin99]

Here is a way out there thought...
everything operates on wavelengths right? Light, sound, even our bodies. What if light at some point through space matches certain wavelengths in space and it allows it to "SKIP" across large distances faster or slower.
work with me on these examples
1st
when you skip a rock on a lake, pond, or whatever it hit the water at the right angle glances and travels a distance, hits the water again and repeats, what if light did this? It could travel distances at speeds great than itself. What if matter it what slows light down through dispersing no matter how small it may be.

2nd
for starters make a piece of paper look like a sin wave (this will represent matter) and poke a pen/ pencil through it (The pen will represent light) light is a faster wavelength, BUT it aligns itself at some point with the matter and punches holes however tiny through the matter allowing it to travel distances at seemingly faster speeds than anticipated, when in reality it's more or less punching through space/time.

You are forgetting the physical boundary of space.

To travel flat across space, requires time. If you want to skip or bend something, you have to actually bend space. And I believe it IS proven that large enough masses DO bend space itself.

So basically, you need a ton of gravity/mass to bend space, and then jump across that gap. You have just traveled in time.

 

[WireEater]

Not necessarily.

What makes this point in time an exciting point in time? What makes you think that anyone would want to travel back to the year 2010? Just for kicks?

Who's to say they aren't here among us? Maybe they have time travel laws that doesn't allow them to "interfere" with the past. Maybe they aren't allowed to introduce themselves as time travelers from the future, or relatives from the future because of the impact it causes. Maybe the hide themselves as "normal" people around us. Maybe as friends, coworkers, or someone you bumped shoulders with in the elevator?

 

[FL-Orange]

What makes you think that anyone would want to travel back to the year 2010? Just for kicks?

Money.

 

[stangin99]

Who's to say they aren't here among us? Maybe they have time travel laws that doesn't allow them to "interfere" with the past. Maybe they aren't allowed to introduce themselves as time travelers from the future, or relatives from the future because of the impact it causes. Maybe the hide themselves as "normal" people around us. Maybe as friends, coworkers, or someone you bumped shoulders with in the elevator?

Exactly!

Money.

Again, why 2010? What if we are on the verge of an even BIGGER great depression in the next few years? Or WW3?

Those events might be un-avoidable, and all time travelers are only going to some time frame after they are finished/cleaned up.