Time is a continuous flow. The moment right now becomes "past" just the next moment and the coming moment is the "future". But do the "past" and "future" really exist? You live in your present, you do everything right now. All you experience is the present, not the past or future. So think once again, does the "past" or "future" exist or is it just illusion? What exactly are they?
Is it just some terminologies which humans invented to talk about time and refer to the events occurring in time? Is their no past, present or future? Is all their is just a flow and nothing else?
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| Image by Veri Ivanova on Unsplash |
An egg dropped from a height falls and breaks. Now it's not possible for it to go back and restructure itself. It's just a sequence of events that happened. So now I want to come to the question, is time travel possible? What does it mean to time travel? If I ask you to move forward or backward or stand still in space, you can do so easily. But what if I ask you do so in time? Clearly, your answer will be no.
Many scientists and researchers who fantasized time travel have proposed theories as to how we could travel in time. According to the theory of time dilation which is based on Einstein's Theory of Relativity, the speed of time depends on factors like gravity and motion. If two people are in different regions and the one of the region has higher gravity, the time will flow slower for that person.
Therefore, taking control of the gravity level could be one of the ways we can time travel. But the question then arises is that it will only speed up or slow down time but could it make us travel in time as how we watch in the movies?
There is another intriguing theoretical concept which is about the Closed Timelike Curves (CTCs). It represents the paths through space-time that loop back on themselves. So the idea is that if you were able to follow one of these closed curves, you could potentially return to a previous point in time, essentially creating a closed loop where an object interacts with it's past self or revisits a previous moment in space-time. This notion sparks the possibility of time travel to the past.
Physicists try to understand how closed timelike curves could function within the framework of the consistent physics. Currently, their is no evidence of for CTCs and they remain hypothetical constructs that challenge our understanding of spacetime and the laws of physics.
So now the question arises, why humans would want to travel in time? What is the benefit? What's the point? Well the simple answer is to take (nearly) full control over our lives and over the world. Our acts are the results of the future, what we do right now creates the future. Different acts and choices have the potential to result in a totally different future.
If humans somehow learn to travel in time, they will have far more control over their lives, knowing where certain choices will lead them to. Governments and organizations might harness this power for steering the course of innovation and revolutions, essentially shaping the world's evolution in the direction they desire. And just taking control over the fate of humanity.
Imagine you made some choices which totally messed up your life. You lost friends and family. Now people hate you and want to stay away from you. Would you want to go back in time and make things right for yourself or would leave the situation as it is? This is one of the cases when an individual would want to travel back in time and make things right.
But what's the point of all this. Our decisions hold meaning only because of the results, either consequential or fruitful. So wouldn't time travel basically nullify any meaning from our decisions. If we could always just change them, using some kind of time travel technology, what would be the meaning of doing anything at all.
The biggest reason I should say to use time travel technology would be when the whole humanity is facing existential risk. Either when the AI will reach Singularity or when humanity is doomed by some meteorite or anything else. So that we could go back and change things.
Misuse of time travel also have a potential chance by organizations such as historical manipulation, financial gain, espionage and surveillance and more. The organizations which will have the time travel technology will surely eliminate competitors and rule over the world. And maybe, try to take control over the world and over humanity's fate for their own interests and wish.
Time travelling if achieved can also pose huge risks to the universe itself. All of this continuous travelling back and forth in time, messing with the gravity and stuff, could be consequential. Chances are that it could make the nature of time unstable and the universe itself. Leading to the destruction of the universe.
If we are going to continue time travel research, then we have to keep in mind all of the potential consequences. As I wrap up on the discussion of time travel technology, here's a crazy idea: why not create a mural or graffiti at a well known place, a sort of message to any potential time travelers from the future, inviting them to drop by and say hello? And see whether anybody shows up from the future when they look our message on that wall in future.
References:
https://www.space.com/21675-time-travel.html
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-time-travel-possible/
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