Sort of similar to the Great Filter theory, but applied to time travel technology.

  • 3volver@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Time travel within the same universe is not possible, it is a fun fiction which is always contradictory in some way. The only time travel possible would be the one that William Gibson uses in The Peripheral. His idea is that every time you go back in time a new parallel universe is created, and it doesn’t impact your current universe because of that.

    My theory is that we’re one of the most advanced species in our galaxy, and yet we still can’t reach another solar system. The probability of intelligent life forming from unintelligent life is extremely unlikely, and we had life on Earth for a LONG time before humans evolved. Intelligent life is very difficult to form, you need the perfect conditions and perfect stressors over millions of years. Then on top of that intelligent life which can reach another solar system is even less likely.

    There’s life out there thinking the same thing right now:

    • Dasus@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Time travel within the same universe is not possible

      Not exactly true. Technically, paradox free time travel would theoretically be possible.

      As long as the time travel follows the Novikov self-consistency principle, there’s no need for parallel universes.

      Essentially the type of time travel employed in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. So you wouldn’t be able to change anything, even if you did do things — as if you did something, it had always already been done previously (before you travelled back).

        • Dasus@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          “it’s a fun fiction which is always contradictory in some way” <-- that is not true.

          General relativity allows for closed time-like curves and the existence of those means time travel isn’t necessarily impossible, and if that is the case, it has to abide by the Novikov self-consistency principle.

          Willfull ignorance wastes only your own time.

          • 3volver@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            In that case time travel would be meaningless regardless, impossible to prove, and doesn’t matter.

            • Dasus@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              Dumbledore disagrees. The type of timetravel that happens in HP: Prisoner of Azkaban is self-consistent. Same as with Rick’s timetravel in the snake episode of Rick & Morty (specifically excluding the snake time travel, which is an example of non-consistency, leading to endless paradoxes).

              Now ofc having a timeturner and/or a timemachine would be the impossible part there, but again, CTC’s are technically allowed by GR.