Mom's Basement

[Speaker to Animals]

It would be incredibly comforting to know that time travelers from the future still exist to time travel.

But different time lines. This one can still end up in nuclear war even though we had visitors from the future where a nuclear war did not happen.

Bah, fuck 'em then. Useless.

Well, if you can find one, you can jack his time machine and go to the far-flung future for a longevity vaccine.

I spend probably too much time thinking about how to detect those motherfuckers and identify them. Once you get it in your head that time travel could be possible, it follows that there probably are time travelers visiting us every now and again.

[SuburbanFarmer]

But different time lines. This one can still end up in nuclear war even though we had visitors from the future where a nuclear war did not happen.

Bah, fuck 'em then. Useless.

Well, if you can find one, you can jack his time machine and go to the far-flung future for a longevity vaccine.

I spend probably too much time thinking about how to detect those motherfuckers and identify them. Once you get it in your head that time travel could be possible, it follows that there probably are time travelers visiting us every now and again.

It's not. They aren't.

If they were, there would be much more interesting/safer places to visit.

[Speaker to Animals]

Bah, fuck 'em then. Useless.

Well, if you can find one, you can jack his time machine and go to the far-flung future for a longevity vaccine.

I spend probably too much time thinking about how to detect those motherfuckers and identify them. Once you get it in your head that time travel could be possible, it follows that there probably are time travelers visiting us every now and again.

It's not. They aren't.

If they were, there would be much more interesting/safer places to visit.

Why not?

The only reason I can think of to shit on the idea outright is if the past and future are not real. Otherwise.. there's probably a way around things.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Well, if you can find one, you can jack his time machine and go to the far-flung future for a longevity vaccine.

I spend probably too much time thinking about how to detect those motherfuckers and identify them. Once you get it in your head that time travel could be possible, it follows that there probably are time travelers visiting us every now and again.

It's not. They aren't.

If they were, there would be much more interesting/safer places to visit.

Why not?

The only reason I can think of to shit on the idea outright is if the past and future are not real. Otherwise.. there's probably a way around things.

This, to me, is the same as religion - accepting an idea and building around it, with zero supporting evidence, because you want it to be true.

Show me a shred of evidence, other than some lonely forum posters, and I'll start thinking about it. Otherwise, it's just kids and schizos looking for attention.

[Speaker to Animals]

It's not. They aren't.

If they were, there would be much more interesting/safer places to visit.

Why not?

The only reason I can think of to shit on the idea outright is if the past and future are not real. Otherwise.. there's probably a way around things.

This, to me, is the same as religion - accepting an idea and building around it, with zero supporting evidence, because you want it to be true.

Show me a shred of evidence, other than some lonely forum posters, and I'll start thinking about it. Otherwise, it's just kids and schizos looking for attention.

I didn't accept it or deny it. You are the one making a positive claim here.

If the past and future are not real (i.e. only the present moment is real in the philosophical sense), then time travel shouldn't be possible.

My other statement was that, if time travel is indeed possible, then the zero-one law dictates that there must (or at least very probably) be time travelers unless there is some reason why humanity cannot or will never discover the technology. Think about it, given practically endless time to develop advanced technology, if some technology we all think about and wish we had is possible, then we will eventually uncover that technology and use it. But because we are talking about time travel, this means there must be time travelers on some very real time line (not just a present moment).

[SuburbanFarmer]

Why not?

The only reason I can think of to shit on the idea outright is if the past and future are not real. Otherwise.. there's probably a way around things.

This, to me, is the same as religion - accepting an idea and building around it, with zero supporting evidence, because you want it to be true.

Show me a shred of evidence, other than some lonely forum posters, and I'll start thinking about it. Otherwise, it's just kids and schizos looking for attention.

I didn't accept it or deny it. You are the one making a positive claim here.

If the past and future are not real (i.e. only the present moment is real in the philosophical sense), then time travel shouldn't be possible.

My other statement was that, if time travel is indeed possible, then the zero-one law dictates that there must (or at least very probably) be time travelers unless there is some reason why humanity cannot or will never discover the technology. Think about it, given practically endless time to develop advanced technology, if some technology we all think about and wish we had is possible, then we will eventually uncover that technology and use it. But because we are talking about time travel, this means there must be time travelers on some very real time line (not just a present moment).

I forget where I saw it, but this was argued by a mathematician once. Basically, 'if time travel is possible, then we should be swamped with time travelers'.

It's impossible, by any definition that I can think of, but fun to think about. It's just one of those things that we really want to be true.

[Speaker to Animals]

This, to me, is the same as religion - accepting an idea and building around it, with zero supporting evidence, because you want it to be true.

Show me a shred of evidence, other than some lonely forum posters, and I'll start thinking about it. Otherwise, it's just kids and schizos looking for attention.

I didn't accept it or deny it. You are the one making a positive claim here.

If the past and future are not real (i.e. only the present moment is real in the philosophical sense), then time travel shouldn't be possible.

My other statement was that, if time travel is indeed possible, then the zero-one law dictates that there must (or at least very probably) be time travelers unless there is some reason why humanity cannot or will never discover the technology. Think about it, given practically endless time to develop advanced technology, if some technology we all think about and wish we had is possible, then we will eventually uncover that technology and use it. But because we are talking about time travel, this means there must be time travelers on some very real time line (not just a present moment).

I forget where I saw it, but this was argued by a mathematician once. Basically, 'if time travel is possible, then we should be swamped with time travelers'.

It's impossible, by any definition that I can think of, but fun to think about. It's just one of those things that we really want to be true.

It depends upon how the universe works. If we live in a multiverse, then probably not swamped at all. Occasional visitors would show up, but that's about it. Each "time travel" event would just be a new tangent in the multiverse forked off where a traveler at one point in his timeline travels to a point another timeline that mostly corresponds to a previous time in his timeline. More likely, an entirely new thread branches off from some other timeline that represents that timeline with the traveler in it as opposed to that timeline with no traveler.

As to why they wouldn't announce themselves, I gave you a pretty good reason. Lots of people want to escape the present moment for something they perceive as better. Governments would want the technology.

I suspect, if time traveler is possible, then the rules change once you develop them. At that point, you might have some receiving areas for time travelers, including trade depots and whatever else. I guess it would depend upon the restrictions and dangers involved.

Assuming it's possible, anyway.

[SuburbanFarmer]

I didn't accept it or deny it. You are the one making a positive claim here.

If the past and future are not real (i.e. only the present moment is real in the philosophical sense), then time travel shouldn't be possible.

My other statement was that, if time travel is indeed possible, then the zero-one law dictates that there must (or at least very probably) be time travelers unless there is some reason why humanity cannot or will never discover the technology. Think about it, given practically endless time to develop advanced technology, if some technology we all think about and wish we had is possible, then we will eventually uncover that technology and use it. But because we are talking about time travel, this means there must be time travelers on some very real time line (not just a present moment).

I forget where I saw it, but this was argued by a mathematician once. Basically, 'if time travel is possible, then we should be swamped with time travelers'.

It's impossible, by any definition that I can think of, but fun to think about. It's just one of those things that we really want to be true.

It depends upon how the universe works. If we live in a multiverse, then probably not swamped at all. Occasional visitors would show up, but that's about it. Each "time travel" event would just be a new tangent in the multiverse forked off where a traveler at one point in his timeline travels to a point another timeline that mostly corresponds to a previous time in his timeline. More likely, an entirely new thread branches off from some other timeline that represents that timeline with the traveler in it as opposed to that timeline with no traveler.

As to why they wouldn't announce themselves, I gave you a pretty good reason. Lots of people want to escape the present moment for something they perceive as better. Governments would want the technology.

I suspect, if time traveler is possible, then the rules change once you develop them. At that point, you might have some receiving areas for time travelers, including trade depots and whatever else. I guess it would depend upon the restrictions and dangers involved.

Assuming it's possible, anyway.

Crossing to a different point in the multiverse wouldn't be 'time-travel' though, would it. It would simply be 'travel'.

The past that you find in another universe wouldn't necessarily be anything like your own universe's past, so not really useful for either the traveler, or the observer.

[Speaker to Animals]

I forget where I saw it, but this was argued by a mathematician once. Basically, 'if time travel is possible, then we should be swamped with time travelers'.

It's impossible, by any definition that I can think of, but fun to think about. It's just one of those things that we really want to be true.

It depends upon how the universe works. If we live in a multiverse, then probably not swamped at all. Occasional visitors would show up, but that's about it. Each "time travel" event would just be a new tangent in the multiverse forked off where a traveler at one point in his timeline travels to a point another timeline that mostly corresponds to a previous time in his timeline. More likely, an entirely new thread branches off from some other timeline that represents that timeline with the traveler in it as opposed to that timeline with no traveler.

As to why they wouldn't announce themselves, I gave you a pretty good reason. Lots of people want to escape the present moment for something they perceive as better. Governments would want the technology.

I suspect, if time traveler is possible, then the rules change once you develop them. At that point, you might have some receiving areas for time travelers, including trade depots and whatever else. I guess it would depend upon the restrictions and dangers involved.

Assuming it's possible, anyway.

Crossing to a different point in the multiverse wouldn't be 'time-travel' though, would it. It would simply be 'travel'.

The past that you find in another universe wouldn't necessarily be anything like your own universe's past, so not really useful for either the traveler, or the observer.

For the purposes of time travel and basic experience, it would be the same thing. If I traveled back to medieval England on a different timeline, it would still seem quite a lot like time travel to me.

Personally, I think the only way this can be possible is if there exists a multiverse. Otherwise, I don't think the past or future are real.

[SuburbanFarmer]

It depends upon how the universe works. If we live in a multiverse, then probably not swamped at all. Occasional visitors would show up, but that's about it. Each "time travel" event would just be a new tangent in the multiverse forked off where a traveler at one point in his timeline travels to a point another timeline that mostly corresponds to a previous time in his timeline. More likely, an entirely new thread branches off from some other timeline that represents that timeline with the traveler in it as opposed to that timeline with no traveler.

As to why they wouldn't announce themselves, I gave you a pretty good reason. Lots of people want to escape the present moment for something they perceive as better. Governments would want the technology.

I suspect, if time traveler is possible, then the rules change once you develop them. At that point, you might have some receiving areas for time travelers, including trade depots and whatever else. I guess it would depend upon the restrictions and dangers involved.

Assuming it's possible, anyway.

Crossing to a different point in the multiverse wouldn't be 'time-travel' though, would it. It would simply be 'travel'.

The past that you find in another universe wouldn't necessarily be anything like your own universe's past, so not really useful for either the traveler, or the observer.

For the purposes of time travel and basic experience, it would be the same thing. If I traveled back to medieval England on a different timeline, it would still seem quite a lot like time travel to me.

Personally, I think the only way this can be possible is if there exists a multiverse. Otherwise, I don't think the past or future are real.

I agree. And, for the traveler, it would no doubt be a hoot. But if you sent a history professor to a random historical timeline, he'd probably notice instantly that something was off.

And, when any theory uses a concept like 'infinite', you have to remember that X number of universes never developed gravity, and X universes never even formed matter to begin with. You'd probably have a VERY long search, just to find one with humans in it.