(Excerpted from an E-Mail to Kevin Smith)
Time travel requires solving some very basic problems. Not the least of
which is that we don't really know how to do it. However, it is known that
there are theoretical ways of achieving time travel that are just not
practical at present. For example, it is theoretically possible using a
large rotating black hole to enter along the axis of rotation and exit at
another time-place. If the black hole is large enough and rotating fast
enough the tidal forces exerted on a traveler might be survivable and allow
real time-space travel. The obvious problem is that either finding or
creating such a rotating black hole is presently not possible.So, rather than dealing with large rotating black holes let's assume we can
construct a machine that can envelop us in some kind of protective bubble
that can then move through time. Such a machine has to solve some very
fundamental problems. One problem we have to deal with is that every second
here on earth our location is moving through space due to the rotation of
the earth, the earth orbiting the sun, the sun orbiting the galaxy and the
galaxy itself moving. If we move through time without making a
corresponding move through space we could easily find ourselves leaving the
surface of the earth. At a minimum, even for short time trips, our time
machine would immediately crash through the walls of whatever building it is
in if it moves through time without moving properly through space.Let's assume we can tide lock our time machine to the rotating gravitational
field of the earth. This will probably allow short time trips for maybe a
few hundred years without serious special offsets. This was the stated
mechanism used by the time machine of time traveler John Titor of internet
chat fame. However, trips of tens or hundred of millennia are probably out
of the question and John even stated he was generally restricted to 50 or 60
years of travel with any degree of accuracy. Over millennial periods
continental drift alone is going to cause the location of our time machine
to appear to be moving across the landscape. At some point we would
probably find our location to have moved to the middle of an ocean. In the
process we might also find ourselves crashing through mountains or flying
over canyons.Let's assume that crashing through other matter might not be immediately
terminal. This might be possible if as we travel through time we only exist
an infinitely small amount of time in any particular time interval. That
is, were just not anytime long enough to be noticed by the surrounding real
matter nor can we interact with it. This beats the problem of crashing as
long as we don't stop traveling while we are imbedded inside a mountain. If
we did stop we would be immediately entombed. We also might be responsible
for a very big explosion as our mass tries to occupy the exact same location
as the mass of the mountain.All of these problems may be solved, but they won't be solved easily with
machine-based time travel. However, one of the better answers to solving
many of them is having a time machine that is also a space vehicle. In this
case you take the vehicle off of the surface of the earth so there is less
trouble interacting with the mass of the earth while making a time jump.
Also, by carefully calculating the motion of the earth through the universe
we can jump from where-ever/when-ever to other discrete points in time from
which our space craft can execute a rendezvous with earth. For example we
might jump to next year and intercept the earth as it comes around on its
next orbit. We might jump to tomorrow and catch the earth one 24 hour
revolution later. In both cases the vehicle has to be able to re-achieve
orbit and landing conditions otherwise the time jump would leave us stranded
in space.Another more intriguing possibility is that all points in time actually
exist simultaneously and are locked to the local inertial reference system.
Essentially this is the possibility required for stories like H.G. Wells
"Time Machine." This says that it is possible for me to remain stationary
in the local inertial reference system and simply travel back and forth in
time assuming I can find a mechanism for doing so. In this case I only have
to figure out what separates our perception of one point in time from
another. Perhaps we can build a machine that allows us to "phase out" of
the present and "phase in" to another moment in time that exists right where
we are already located. In a sense this makes time travel more a matter of
dimensional travel. We are leaving the present dimension and moving into a
future or past dimension that coexists at the same point in inertial space.This leads to an even more intriguing possibility. What if the only thing
that separates us from the coexisting points of time is our perception of
what it is that constitutes the present? We consider the moment we are
perceiving to be the present. Can we change our perception and be able to
shift to a different point in time that will become our new present? This
was the mechanism explored in the movie "Somewhere in Time." In that movie
Christopher Reeves time traveled into the past by changing his mental
perception of what point of time he lived in. He merely slipped through
time by letting himself be where he wanted to be. Could it be this easy?
Probably not. Even in the movie the character was only successful at doing
this once and was never able to do it again (he died trying).The possibility that all points in time exist simultaneously but are only
separated by our perception could explain a lot if it is true. For example,
precognition becomes much more easily explained. People may actually
perceive their coexisting futures to a limited extent and therefore sense
coming events of great importance to them. Perhaps events of great
emotional importance break through the barriers of our normal perception
that is locked into the present. Perhaps some cases where people find
themselves abducted by aliens are instances where the person has
time-slipped accidentally. This might also have something to do with cases
of "lost time" where people lose hours, days, or even weeks with no apparent
explanation.The answer to time travel, if there is one, will likely be stranger than the
speculations.____________________________________________
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