The method of time travel the scientists discover in Timeline uses a machine that tears the subject down to his or her or its molecular level and sends the molecules through a wormhole in the quantum foam, which is the substance that the world is made of. However the way that it is explained in the book is more like multi-dimensional travel, rather than simple time travel. According to the scientists at ITC, our world is part of a multiverse, in which some of the dimensions exist in the past and some in the future and these dimensions are accessible through wormholes in the quantum foam. The multiverse is the result of the innumerous decisions made by people, and as each choice is made two, or more, other dimensions are created, thus making uncountable parallel dimensions to the present. It actually seems like a reasonable explanation of how time travel, or dimensional travel, is possible.
What are the ramifications of time travel? The most well known danger of time travel is the grandfather paradox which is: you travel back in time and kill your grandfather, thus preventing your own existence. This is part of a deeper issue that plays with the idea of changing history. In the book, it is apparently impossible to alter the past and change the future, because of the nature of the multiverse. Is there any justification for intentionally going back in time in order to change the events of the future? I don’t know of many people who would oppose going back to the 1930s in order to stop Hitler from rising to power, but if that were to happen who is to say that something worse might not happen instead? There are also a lot of smaller problems with time travel, including personal danger, introducing an object into the past that will not be invented until much later in time, and changing not only the things that happen, but also the way that they happen. As with much in life, there are no guarantees, so might it be better to refrain from time travel until there is a time at which one could be certain no problems would arise? This seems like the most reasonable response to the matter of time travel, as fun as it would be to go back in time and witness the conquests of Julius Caesar or the Boston Tea Party.
What are the ramifications of time travel? The most well known danger of time travel is the grandfather paradox which is: you travel back in time and kill your grandfather, thus preventing your own existence. This is part of a deeper issue that plays with the idea of changing history. In the book, it is apparently impossible to alter the past and change the future, because of the nature of the multiverse. Is there any justification for intentionally going back in time in order to change the events of the future? I don’t know of many people who would oppose going back to the 1930s in order to stop Hitler from rising to power, but if that were to happen who is to say that something worse might not happen instead? There are also a lot of smaller problems with time travel, including personal danger, introducing an object into the past that will not be invented until much later in time, and changing not only the things that happen, but also the way that they happen. As with much in life, there are no guarantees, so might it be better to refrain from time travel until there is a time at which one could be certain no problems would arise? This seems like the most reasonable response to the matter of time travel, as fun as it would be to go back in time and witness the conquests of Julius Caesar or the Boston Tea Party.
posted by BrianG at 4:50 PM
1 Comments:
Brian, as a fellow history major I would argue that given the opportunity to go back in time, we both would forgo all reason and travel back in history. One of my nerdiest and oddest "fantasies" has been to go back in time and witness/take part of certain events. Sadly, I am a rather romantic historian, and I fall easily for historical fiction novels that portray great events and characters in history in a grand and dramatic fashion (but still mostly truthful). I know most events wouldnt be as grand as my romantic side imagines (as my studies have often shown me), but imagine being able to witness/take part of the Battle at Thermopylae, Alexanders conquest of the Persian Empire and beyond, Hannibal and the Punic Wars, the rise and fall of Julius Caesar, the crusifiction of Christ (big one), and thousands of other major events in history. I admit that I would be unable to resist the temptation and lower my head in humiliation.
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