Katie Dune
2007-03-25 04:42:26 UTC
Again channeling for some entity that seems to be obsessed with the
nature of time. I believe him, but don't blame anyone for taking what
he says with an _enormous_ grain of salt.
<begin transmission>
Humans have long known about the possibility of time travel, though no
human in recorded history has ever been able to come up with a theory
of time travel that is both logically consistent and able to
successfully explain what few things we -do- know about the nature of
time.
There is a connection between the mindset of a species and their
potential for ever discovering time travel. It's almost as if the
universe toys with us, as if our world is shaped by an intelligence
which transcends it. That is not the case, but it certainly seems
like it once one begins to understand the conditions which must exist
before any being can succeed in time travel.
The gist is that a traveler cannot interfere in any way, shape or form
with any other era in time. Any given traveler may only interact with
its native temporal realm - in any other time, all they can do is
observe.
And yet, it's not physically impossible for a time traveler once in
the past to interact with it like a normal person might. A
contradiction? No, believe it or not.
Any time traveler is just as physically real in the time in which they
arrive as the natives of that time. A time traveler can reach out and
do things to the world of their past. The hitch is that once they do,
they cease to exist, along with the entire new timeline (or what some
call a "world line") which they'd begun initiating with their action.
From this, you should be able to tell that the only timelines that
survive are timelines in which nobody ever tried to go back in time
and alter history.
See how that works? You _can_ go back in time and alter history, but
doing so will obliviate any timeline in which such an attempt was in
your future, leaving only timelines in which you either would not or
could not attempt to do such a thing.
Modern man has glimpsed what might be necessary for time travel, but
they won't be able to use it if they approach it like they do most
other endeavors. The only people or groups who can succeed at time
travel are those who will take every step needed to insure that they
alter nothing of the past during their travels.
Of course it should be easy enough to be in such a group and then once
in the past, change your mind and act out. Shouldn't it? Again, no.
If a timeline emerges in which a group is able to travel through time
because they take extra care to avoid altering the past, and at some
point an individual joins that group with the intention of altering
the past, all timelines in which that individual was going to make
such an attempt would obliviate. This would leave only timelines in
which that individual may exist, but had only ever thought about such
a plot in a daydream sort of way without ever trying to act it out.
The group of time travelers would still have formed, but the part of
their history in which the rebel traveler joined them will never have
occurred.
As one might expect of any phenomenon, there is certainly room for
occasional fluctuation and deviation. But it's a very narrow space,
and very easy to slip outside of. However, by exploiting that narrow
space, a timeline can be "groomed", in a manner of speaking.
Suppose this narrow space is 1% of the total content of a given
timeline. This means that a time traveler can alter the past by that
1%, but only if it doesn't cause any sort of paradox to erupt. A
timeline can be altered that way very, very slowly by repeated
exploitation of that 1%. The timeline overall will consist of the
same events at the same points in time, but the "look" of the timeline
will change. Insignificant details which have little to no impact
upon the world around them are fairly malleable, but only to a point.
After so much alteration, the timeline will reach a state where it
cannot be altered any further without unleashing an almost cataclysmic
maelstrom of changes within the affected region of history, as well as
all of that history's futures. That is where the obliviation event
kicks in again, and so order is maintained.
There are ways around this paradox clause, but you can only discover
them once you've succeeded in traveling through time. The multiverse
theory is quite true, so once you manage to work your way around the
paradox clause, you'll be able to alter your history - but only by
creating a new timeline in which your altered version of history
occurred. The original history that you wanted to alter will still
have happened.
The ability to travel through time eventually leads to the ability to
generate new timelines. When it does, a species finds itself capable
of "farming" timelines. Simply generate a timeline, hunker down onto
whatever world you're planning to mine resources from, and take
whatever you want. Growing and harnessing the resources of timelines
in such a way is a very common practice among species who have
attained time travel. It puts to end the need for competition, as an
endless supply of anything you desire can easily be obtained.
There are, of course, rules to follow even in that circumstance. But
we'll chat about those later. For now, this communication is ended.
<end transmission>
nature of time. I believe him, but don't blame anyone for taking what
he says with an _enormous_ grain of salt.
<begin transmission>
Humans have long known about the possibility of time travel, though no
human in recorded history has ever been able to come up with a theory
of time travel that is both logically consistent and able to
successfully explain what few things we -do- know about the nature of
time.
There is a connection between the mindset of a species and their
potential for ever discovering time travel. It's almost as if the
universe toys with us, as if our world is shaped by an intelligence
which transcends it. That is not the case, but it certainly seems
like it once one begins to understand the conditions which must exist
before any being can succeed in time travel.
The gist is that a traveler cannot interfere in any way, shape or form
with any other era in time. Any given traveler may only interact with
its native temporal realm - in any other time, all they can do is
observe.
And yet, it's not physically impossible for a time traveler once in
the past to interact with it like a normal person might. A
contradiction? No, believe it or not.
Any time traveler is just as physically real in the time in which they
arrive as the natives of that time. A time traveler can reach out and
do things to the world of their past. The hitch is that once they do,
they cease to exist, along with the entire new timeline (or what some
call a "world line") which they'd begun initiating with their action.
From this, you should be able to tell that the only timelines that
survive are timelines in which nobody ever tried to go back in time
and alter history.
See how that works? You _can_ go back in time and alter history, but
doing so will obliviate any timeline in which such an attempt was in
your future, leaving only timelines in which you either would not or
could not attempt to do such a thing.
Modern man has glimpsed what might be necessary for time travel, but
they won't be able to use it if they approach it like they do most
other endeavors. The only people or groups who can succeed at time
travel are those who will take every step needed to insure that they
alter nothing of the past during their travels.
Of course it should be easy enough to be in such a group and then once
in the past, change your mind and act out. Shouldn't it? Again, no.
If a timeline emerges in which a group is able to travel through time
because they take extra care to avoid altering the past, and at some
point an individual joins that group with the intention of altering
the past, all timelines in which that individual was going to make
such an attempt would obliviate. This would leave only timelines in
which that individual may exist, but had only ever thought about such
a plot in a daydream sort of way without ever trying to act it out.
The group of time travelers would still have formed, but the part of
their history in which the rebel traveler joined them will never have
occurred.
As one might expect of any phenomenon, there is certainly room for
occasional fluctuation and deviation. But it's a very narrow space,
and very easy to slip outside of. However, by exploiting that narrow
space, a timeline can be "groomed", in a manner of speaking.
Suppose this narrow space is 1% of the total content of a given
timeline. This means that a time traveler can alter the past by that
1%, but only if it doesn't cause any sort of paradox to erupt. A
timeline can be altered that way very, very slowly by repeated
exploitation of that 1%. The timeline overall will consist of the
same events at the same points in time, but the "look" of the timeline
will change. Insignificant details which have little to no impact
upon the world around them are fairly malleable, but only to a point.
After so much alteration, the timeline will reach a state where it
cannot be altered any further without unleashing an almost cataclysmic
maelstrom of changes within the affected region of history, as well as
all of that history's futures. That is where the obliviation event
kicks in again, and so order is maintained.
There are ways around this paradox clause, but you can only discover
them once you've succeeded in traveling through time. The multiverse
theory is quite true, so once you manage to work your way around the
paradox clause, you'll be able to alter your history - but only by
creating a new timeline in which your altered version of history
occurred. The original history that you wanted to alter will still
have happened.
The ability to travel through time eventually leads to the ability to
generate new timelines. When it does, a species finds itself capable
of "farming" timelines. Simply generate a timeline, hunker down onto
whatever world you're planning to mine resources from, and take
whatever you want. Growing and harnessing the resources of timelines
in such a way is a very common practice among species who have
attained time travel. It puts to end the need for competition, as an
endless supply of anything you desire can easily be obtained.
There are, of course, rules to follow even in that circumstance. But
we'll chat about those later. For now, this communication is ended.
<end transmission>